Limiting Beliefs and How To Work on Them

“We learn our belief systems as very little children, and then we move through life creating experiences to match our beliefs. Look back in your own life and notice how often you have gone through the same experience.” -Louise L. Hay

Have you ever wanted something only to realise that you were the one holding yourself back from getting what you wanted? Life doesn’t just happen to us. We hold a lot more control than we seem to realise and our beliefs influence the reality of our circumstances. Those that limit us are often tied to our fears of inadequacy and failure; they are defence mechanisms that hold us back to keep us safe (and small). Beliefs help steer the path of our life, but if those beliefs are negative towards ourselves, they will trip us up throughout our lives, preventing us from taking action. If we do not learn from these limiting beliefs, we will start to encounter repetitive life experiences.

There is a disconnect sometimes between the things we want and the actions we take, caused by our limiting beliefs. We self sabotage ourselves, subconsciously perhaps trying to preserve the status quo or protect ourselves from the unknown. Our beliefs are created, and yet we so often take them as universal truths – failing to acknowledge that we can alter the beliefs that are not serving our purpose in life.

If you have noticed that you are stuck, something might be holding you back, and/or you are finding yourself reliving similar life experiences that are not working in your favour, here are 4 tips to help you discover and work on your limiting beliefs:

1. Notice how you speak to yourself about yourself. When things don’t go according to plan, how do you respond? What do you say about yourself? In what ways are your words influencing your beliefs and in so doing, impacting your reality?
2. Notice repetitive patterns in your life. Life has a funny way of recreating certain situations that will continue to happen until we learn from them and break the pattern. What are the negative beliefs associated with this pattern?
3. Replace limiting beliefs with more positive ones. Work with affirmations, mantras, positive reminders. Create new thought patterns through repetition.
4. Do things that help you to discover and see the real you. What hobbies do you enjoy? What can you create that will help to bring fulfilment in your life? Creativity in any form of expression is a great way to get better acquainted with who you are, helping to contradict a lot of limiting beliefs.

Our brains can conjure up any manner of situations, quite often making the trivial, grand. We spend enough time trusting our minds, it’s time to start trusting our hearts. Your head unfortunately often creates noise and limiting thoughts; your heart knows your true essence and your infinite capabilities. The mind may not always see the possibilities as it cowers with fear; the heart will always see with love and through love find the courage it needs to succeed.

The universe guides us with generosity, be brave enough to tell it what you want and give your heart permission to take you there. Once you are willing and open to change, you will find the orientation, conscience and inspiration you need to make things happen. Start to remove your limiting beliefs by having a sense of self. Connect with who you truly are, who you want to be, where you want to be going. Honouring ourselves is a difficult path to choose, but it’s a choice worth making. When you allow yourself to see your world differently, you show up differently and your world changes. It’s time to take a stand for ourselves, to live the lives we dream of…and be happy.