Ahhh, the good ol’ catchphrase: Believe in yourself.
If only it were that simple, right?
I know. This expression may feel cliché. But it’s worth looking closer at your belief system to better understand how it impacts your goals and your goal achievement. After all, your beliefs, both positive and negative, will affect your confidence and overall job performance. This, in turn, affects your ability to achieve your goals. To begin, we must consider where our belief system originates.
Limiting Beliefs
Throughout our lives, we’ve acquired a belief system—whether we’re aware of it or not. In fact, science tells us that our beliefs are mostly formed by the time we’re 7 years old. They’re ingrained into our mind, and honestly, we usually don’t stop to question them.
And that might be where the problem lies. Even though you’ve grown into a successful adult, your beliefs today may reflect your beliefs as a child. When you don’t recognize and overcome these types of limiting beliefs, or false beliefs that keep you from pursuing your goals and desires, you’re actually hindering your own personal and professional growth.
Limiting beliefs are primarily subconscious, which means you aren’t stopping to think about them. They’re a natural response. They’re conditioned based on past experiences and circumstances. As a child, these beliefs likely provided a place of certainty and probably reduced feelings of anxiety, doubt, and stress.
The power of limiting beliefs is mighty—and damaging—to adults. Let’s look closer.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
You’ve probably heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy, which refers to predicting or expecting a particular outcome based on your beliefs. So, when you feel sure that you’ll make a mistake or a goal will fall apart, you’re actually setting yourself up to fail. Then when you choke, that negative outcome is validated—and further cements your limiting beliefs in yourself.
Now, it’s vital to note that you’re not alone. As business owners, we’ve all dealt with moments of self-doubt. Consider the following examples of limiting beliefs that occur subconsciously in our thinking patterns:
- “I am not _______ enough.” Athletic, tall, qualified, wealthy…whatever it is, these beliefs are limiting.
- “I don’t have _______.” Support, time, money, knowledge, experience, resources…all these place boundaries on your potential and confine you to your current environment.
- “I can’t ever _______.” Succeed, win, get ahead, catch a break… these kinds of thoughts can prevent you from trying and cripple your career.
- “I’m too _______.” Old, ugly, fat, short…negative beliefs about yourself can lower your ability to see opportunities and prevent manifesting the outcomes you desire.
As you may have noticed from these examples, limiting beliefs are nearly always negative. But it’s vital to note that your beliefs are just perceptions, not facts. Tuning into your attitude, assumptions, and even your environment can help you better understand your beliefs and, in turn, make your beliefs work for you to reach your goals.
Overcoming Limiting Beliefs
To beat those negative perceptions, try to shift all your energy to possible positive outcomes. You don’t have to make a vision board or chant mantras every morning; however, these are good to have and do. Simple imagining and visualization can also do the trick! Keep the following three suggestions in mind when recognizing and overcoming your limiting beliefs:
- Silence that inner critic. If you give power to that negative inner voice in your mind, it will pull you under without hesitation. Instead, challenge those thoughts. Ask yourself, What if I’m wrong about this? As soon as you recognize that a belief isn’t true, it loses its power.
- Surround yourself with affirmation. The old saying is true: garbage in, garbage out. Keep your inner circle filled with positive people. They should encourage you, push you, and help you become the best version of yourself. Anything else may cause you to focus on the negative and view failure as unavoidable…and it also lets in that inner critic you’ve tried so hard to eliminate.
- Take risks. Risk is part of being a leader. As a business owner, risk allows you to slay dragons every day. But you’ll need to ignore those negative voices and challenge your limiting beliefs to keep moving forward. You might ask yourself, What’s the worst that can happen? What is the best that can happen?
As you can see, limiting beliefs can limit your abilities, opportunities, and success. Take a moment to identify your own limiting beliefs and self-fulfilling prophecies. Write them down. Then think about how your ideal life looks. From there, you can set goals that help you visualize and reach your full potential. Think about what you want to do, not what you don’t want to do, or what you don’t want to happen. Kick those limiting beliefs to the curb, and take ownership of your future!
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Do you feel like your business has plateaued or you are sick and tired of being sick and tired? Could it use a shot in the arm to make even more progress on your goals? Consider working with The Accountability Coach. I’m here to help you accelerate your results, so you can enjoy your ideal business and ideal life! Reach out today for a complimentary consultation.
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