It can be very hard to overcome limiting beliefs about ourselves. Sometimes we just need a little extra help. This blog post is all about unlocking your full potential by overcoming self limiting beliefs.
Do you ever struggle with low self-esteem, low self-worth, or negative self-talk?
At some point in our lives, I think everyone struggles with some part of their self-worth.
People who have low self-esteem and self-worth often struggle with depression and anxiety. Which can then affect other aspects of your life.
Doubts seem to flood our minds and we create stories that we’re not capable of success in life.
But you are capable of everything you desire!
The tough thing is that we are constantly talking to ourselves. We are always having little conversation in our own mind about everything we do, every single day.
And a lot of times we can be over-critical towards ourselves.
That’s where that little voice telling you “you aren’t good enough” comes creeping in. Saying “you’re not smart enough, you won’t be able to complete that task” etc.
That little voice is what we need to change.
We need to change how we talk to ourselves.
To break through the cycle and come to the realization that we are capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for.
You can accomplish everything you desire in life.
This post is all about the 7 ways to overcome limiting beliefs and how to unlock your full potential.
Identify Your Limiting Beliefs
The first step to overcoming your limiting beliefs is to identify what those beliefs are.
Take some time and write down or journal any thoughts you have about your abilities, self-worth, and goals.
Allow yourself to open up and express any feelings about these qualities of yourself.
Write whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about it making sense now, just write.
If you experience any trouble writing or you feel stuck, try these journaling tips for beginners to get your thoughts flowing.
Try to reflect on past experiences and patterns that may have contributed to these limiting beliefs you currently have.
Any memories from childhood or when you were an adolescent that seem fitting, write about it.
After you’ve expressed the thoughts you have about yourself, your abilities, and your self-worth, write down a specific list of the limiting beliefs you feel are holding you back.
Try and make sure they are as detailed as possible.
For example: “I don’t feel smart enough to be able to move up in my job”, or “I feel like I will never be successful in starting my own business because I don’t know enough.”
By getting very specific we can better challenge these limiting beliefs you have.
Counter Negative Thoughts
The next thing to work on when overcoming limiting beliefs is to consciously counter any negative thoughts you have about yourself.
Choose one of the limiting beliefs you’ve identified in the first step and practice a mantra or affirmation that challenges that belief.
Say we’re challenging the statement “I feel I will never be successful in starting my own business because I don’t know enough”.
An affirmation you could use to counter this would be “I am destined for greatness in my business”.
These are some amazing positive affirmations for success you can practice to boost self-confidence if you need some ideas.
Whenever you notice a negative thought arise in your mind, take a moment, and pause.
Repeat and practice a mantra or affirmation that counters that specific negative thought.
Do this every time a negative thought pops into your mind.
Try to become aware that these are the thoughts we want to challenge so that we can change your mindset about your abilities and self-worth.
Now we need to practice cutting out the negative self-talk altogether.
As soon as a thought arises, catch yourself and instead replace it with a positive affirmation or statement that empowers and uplifts you.
The more you practice switching out negative self-talk for positive self-talk the more your mind will respond and you will begin to notice less subconscious negative self-talk.
Focus On Your Success
The third step in overcoming limiting beliefs is to focus on any and all success you’ve experienced in your life so far.
Grab a pen and paper and write down any past successes you’ve had that challenge the limiting beliefs you feel towards yourself.
Write them all down no matter how small.
This is about taking a moment and acknowledging your capabilities. Because a lot of time we don’t realize how capable we are in the areas of our lives that we feel we aren’t.
But when you take the time to put it on paper it becomes real and tangible.
This helps reinforce your self-worth and your abilities.
Once you’ve done that, you’re going to keep track of any daily victories or successes you experience from this point forward. Write them down to record the progress.
You can even keep a specific notebook or journal if that helps to keep your victories and successes organized.
This is wonderful to look back on when those limiting beliefs are arising in your mind. You can read through all your successes to help counter the negative thoughts and create positivity in your mind.
Visualize Success In Your Future
Since we’ve opened the cabinet of past successes now it’s time to visualize success coming into our lives at this point and in the future.
The goal here is to make our brains think we’ve already accomplished these things.
This creates the emotions we feel when we complete a goal, and those emotions help to reinforce more good behaviours and positive self-worth about our abilities.
Which in turn helps us continue to be successful and crush our goals.
You can practice visualization mediations around overcoming challenges and achieving your goals.
Visualize yourself having already achieved a goal you set.
How does that make you feel? Happy, proud, accomplished?
Now hold onto those feelings, and really dive into them.
Allow those positive feelings around achieving that goal to surround your entire being. Let them absorb into your body and mind.
How do you feel?
Focus on where you see yourself when you achieve this goal. Are you at home, at work, or outside? Be aware and feel in that space.
How does your skin feel? What is around you? Do you smell anything?
Get into the visualization with all your senses, Sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste.
The more you feel yourself in the space of success the more your body and brain will think it’s real.
And that is the key.
Once you show your body and mind that you’ve achieved those goals already, achieving them in the future will come naturally and with ease.
Because your mind thinks you’ve already been there.
Another way to practice visualizing your success is by creating a vision board and having it in a visible spot where you will see it every day.
Fill the vision board with pictures, quotes, and affirmations that inspire you.
This will help keep you in your successful and positive mindset.
Get Outside Your Comfort Zone
Now we need to practice moving outside of our comfort zone.
We can rarely achieve new goals if we don’t try, and we don’t know what we’re capable of if we don’t test the waters.
First, you’re going to choose one limiting belief you have and then come up with an activity you can do to challenge that belief.
Make it an attainable activity, we don’t want to jump too far ahead, we want something we can conquer.
If we’re trying to come up with an activity to challenge our belief about “starting a new online business”, a good first manageable activity would be to look up and build a website.
Don’t worry about anything else regarding the website. All we’re doing right now is figuring out how to build it.
Focus on this one task.
Every day I want you to practice going outside your comfort zone and doing something you normally wouldn’t.
It doesn’t have to be anything super hard or related to your goals.
It could be as simple as trying a new food. Or going to that yoga class you’ve always wanted to try!
It’s about expanding your views of what’s possible in your mind.
When you try new things outside your comfort zone your confidence will grow and extend into other areas of your life.
You’ll be used to that feeling of the unknown because you’ve been going there already, and it won’t feel so overwhelming or scary.
Every time you go outside your comfort zone make note of it and celebrate any progress or growth that came from that experience.
Document it no matter how small the progress may feel to you.
Any growth is going to uplift you and motivate you.
Create a Circle Of Support
Having a circle of supportive people around you is so important.
Sometimes we get down, our negative thoughts can be loud and we need a little extra support.
Having family or friends who support you and believe in your potential will help you greatly. They can help get you out of an emotional rut if you’ve fallen a bit.
Because let’s be honest, we all have those days and get down. Sometimes we need some words of encouragement to bring us back up.
Making sure you have people around you who will empower and uplift you is so important.
If you currently don’t have anyone in your life who is like that then maybe you need to get out of your comfort zone (our previous step) and find like-minded individuals who believe in you.
As important as it is to have a circle of supportive people around you, it’s just as important to limit your exposure to people who are negative and reinforce the limiting beliefs you have about yourself.
Sometimes there are people in our lives who aren’t there to uplift and empower us and we need to spend less time with them. They aren’t good for mental or physical health.
It can be hard to distance yourself from those people but remember that it’s the best thing for you in the long run.
We want to focus on relationships that inspire us to be better people, not bring us down.
Practice Patience & Self-Compassion
Finally, to overcome limiting beliefs we need to practice patience and self-compassion.
Remember that overcoming limiting beliefs is a process that won’t happen overnight. It takes time and effort to change the way you think about your self-worth and your abilities.
Practice mindfulness and being present in the moment.
Stay focused on your journey and growth and celebrate any progress and growth you achieve.
Always be kind and understanding towards yourself and have compassion when it comes to any setbacks and challenges you encounter.
Try talking to yourself how you would talk with a friend in this situation.
You wouldn’t put them down when they’re struggling through a challenge. You would have empathy for them and help lift them up. Empower them.
Treat yourself how you would treat someone you care about in those situations, with love and compassion.
Remember this takes time so practice being patient with yourself and celebrate any achievement, no matter how small.
This will help reinforce all those positive feelings we’ve built about your self-worth and abilities.
Now that you have all the tools to overcome your limiting beliefs, I encourage you to put these steps into action.
Follow each step and start challenging any negative self-talk you have.
Remember this is going to be a journey.
You won’t wake up tomorrow with a totally new mindset and not have any more limiting beliefs.
But with practice and following these steps you’ll be on your way to overcoming all the limiting beliefs you had about yourself.
Don’t forget to always celebrate any progress or growth you make towards changing your thoughts around your abilities.
Every achievement is worth celebrating, no matter how small.
And celebrating your small achievements will motivate you to continue enforcing these tools to overcome all your limiting beliefs.
