7 limiting beliefs that are preventing you from being successful
Our beliefs and self-limiting beliefs as well are the compass with which we direct our life. Like the physical laws on Earth, they do not immediately stand out to the eye, but they influence our life in a decisive way.
These beliefs influence our behaviour and have a huge impact on the action we take in our professional and private life. Therefore, they can be empowering or limiting and preventing us from being successful and achieving our goals.
Therefore, in this article, we are going to find out the most common self limiting beliefs which may also apply to you.
What are limiting beliefs?
Limiting beliefs are thoughts, opinions that we reckon to be the absolute truth. These beliefs tend to have a negative impact on your personal and professional life by preventing you from moving forward and achieving your goal.
Our limiting beliefs reside in the unconscious, that is, that “unconscious” part of our thoughts. Nonetheless, we can still eliminate them. To do this, the first step is to bring them to light, increasing our awareness.
How do limiting beliefs impact your success?
In a rowing competition, the rowers have synchronized and well-coordinated movements. Now, imagine that one or more members of the team start rowing in the opposite direction.
Likewise, the course of our life depends on the direction we take each day. The team is made up of our conscious thoughts and the unconscious ones, represented by our beliefs.
If the conscious and unconscious row in the same direction, the process we have planned will be linear towards the finish line. However, if they row in opposite directions, the road will be much more difficult, with the risk of standing still.
Therefore, if we are not aware of our limiting beliefs, we may find ourselves in conflict with them without even realizing it.
Below we will discover the most frequent limiting beliefs, i.e. the main causes of our failures.
Common self limiting beliefs and how to overcome them
1. I don’t deserve to be happy
It seems impossible, isn’t it? Still, it is one of the most popular. Like everyone else, we think happiness is deserved. Since we all make mistakes to be forgiven, sometimes we think we don’t deserve it.
How many people are even afraid of being happy? Because they are afraid of losing everything, or they are so used to navigating problems that they have become accustomed to them.
We have to begin to understand that happiness is a right for everyone, from benefactors to criminals.
Moreover, you don’t need to win the lottery or achieve a goal to be happy. Happiness is a state of mind that we can always have, even during problems and difficulties. It does not reside outside of us but inside. It is a state of mind that we carry within our entire life.
So, do you want to be really happy? Begin to train yourself even during the journey, not just when you reach the goal.
2. I can’t do it
“I am an impediment”, “I am denied”. “That beats me”. “I’m really a loser.” You’ve heard or spoken these phrases a few times, haven’t you?
Your brain really believes your beliefs. So if you believe you can’t achieve a goal, you really won’t be. Even if I had the right skills.
If our unconscious does not believe in us, we will act consistently with it. We will ensure that we are not up to par, even if this were not the case in reality.
It looks like a spell or a curse, but it’s not. We simply have to “educate” the most defeatist part of us, trying to minimize its influence on our work.
Saying “it’s not for me” is simply an excuse to shift the responsibility towards something outside of us.
3. Money is evil
Many people have deeply rooted this limiting belief for many reasons such as environment, companies or religion.
Of course, it is true that many still follow the trail of money undeterred, sometimes in an illegal and/or immoral way. Nevertheless, money should not be confused with greed or the morbid need for possession and accumulation.
Money is just a tool, which can be useful to carry out our projects. For example, it can be used to pay for our education, or that of our children.
Attention, this does not mean that there are no wars, corruption or other crimes of various kinds in the name of money.
Therefore, it is up to you to demolish this belief and use money as a stepping stone and not the ultimate goal.
4. Getting rich takes luck
This belief also turns out to be both harmful and wrong. It is true that some people are rich thanks to a lottery win or a rich inheritance.
However, to date, around 90% of the millionaires and billionaires in the world have started from scratch as anticipated in this article on self-made billionaires.
In addition, a recent study found that around 70% of big winners have lost everything. In a nutshell, the majority of winners return as before, or worse, within about 2 years. Therefore, it is not necessary to add more to demolish the truthfulness of this belief.
Wealth is achieved with sweat, effort, sacrifices, mentality and above all skills and competences.
In addition, you must also be ready to be able to manage a lot of money. In fact, those who have built their assets over many years are statistically more likely to manage them better over time.
In conclusion, wealth is only the consequence of commitment and perseverance for an even greater project, not the cause.
5. Whoever is satisfied enjoys
Many people believe that contentment means accepting a mediocre lifestyle, even though it is not part of their initial plans.
How many times have you heard: “Think about who is worse off than you!”
You don’t have to accept a life you don’t feel yours, just because there are people in worse shape. The first comparison to make is the one with yourself.
So, does your life not coincide with your dreams, aspirations, needs? You have the right not to be satisfied, and want an extraordinary life!
So, how to overcome this limiting belief? Start doing something to change course.
7. Rich people are bad, the poor are good
Making a bundle of all the grass is wrong, in any case. It makes us superficial to look at things from a single point of view. There are undoubtedly rich, corrupt and malicious people. However, there are also famous and not very rich people who dedicate their lives to make the world better.
For example, in 2020 alone, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos donated about $ 10 billion to charity. Furthermore, among the largest donations, we find that of P. Knight (founder of Nike), with 900 million dollars.
Nevertheless, there are also those who dedicate themselves to penniless luxury goods, even if only for futile purposes.
What identifies our value is not the current account, but our actions and our mission.
Therefore, believing that the rich are all evil, and the poor are good, is unrealistic and superficial.
7. Wealth does not make you happy
“Money does not make happiness”. How many times have you heard that? This is certainly partially true. Indeed, wealth is not the real reason why you wake up happy every day.
Furthermore, it is also true that there are many rich people who are unhappy, depressed or lonely.
So why does this remain a limiting belief?
Because very often this statement is used unconsciously to justify our failure.
Of course, money isn’t enough to be happy. They will certainly not be the ultimate goal of our existence. However, they could be a great help, both to achieve us and to achieve our goals.
Let’s think, for example, of the dream of knowing cultures other than ours, all over the world. To do this, you will need to travel, and the 2 weeks a year granted to employees will certainly not be enough.
Therefore, you will need financial independence to release yourself from work, and also money to pay for travel.
How to get rid of limiting beliefs
We have seen which are the 7 most frequent limiting beliefs that damage our personal growth. Negative beliefs are chains, which delimit our vision of reality, significantly reducing it.
“It is the fault of the politicians, they are all the same”. “I have no talent”. “Bad luck haunts me”. “Things will never change”. “It’s too hard for me.”
All this blocks your potential, because it discharges the responsibility to something that does not depend on you, inhibiting you from taking action.
The first step in eliminating these limiting beliefs is to first become aware of them. This will not be enough to eliminate them, but it is undoubtedly a great way to start taking action.
Do not expect someone else to write your destiny, the author of the book of your existence is only you.
So, are you ready to make it special?
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