“You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights.” Brian Tracy
Our brain uses two kinds of coping strategies to move forward: enabling beliefs and limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs are what hold us back, those which constrain us in some way, and ultimately result in us not stepping up and outside our comfort zone. Enabling beliefs are what successful people possess in abundance. Such beliefs underlie optimism, reasonable risk-taking and achievement. They are what allow you to fulfil your potential and become all that you are capable of.
We all experience limiting beliefs at some point in our lives. These beliefs can hold us back from achieving our goals and, in some cases, prevent us from living our best lives. It’s important to recognise these beliefs, so that we can learn how to turn them into enabling beliefs that will help us reach our highest potential.
The first step in this process is to identify what type of limiting beliefs we have. Some common beliefs include: “I’m not good enough,” “I’m unlovable,” and “I’m not smart enough for success.” Once we have identified our limiting beliefs we can start the process of reframing them into something more positive and encouraging.
For example, instead of believing “I’m not good enough” we can start believing “I’m worthy of success” or instead of believing “I’m unlovable” we can start believing “I’m worthy of love.” Reframing is a powerful process that can help us shift our thinking from a position of scarcity to a position of abundance.
Another way to turn limiting beliefs into enabling beliefs is to practice self-love. When we give ourselves self-compassion and kindness, it helps us to move away from our negative thoughts and toward more empowering ones.
We can also find inspiration from people who have achieved success despite their own limiting beliefs. Hearing stories of people overcoming their obstacles can help us to adopt a more positive outlook and create a vision for our own lives.
On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person to run a sub-4 minute mile. Prior to this monumental event, the 4-minute mile barrier had developed such a mystique surrounding it that some considered it a physical impossibility. But the next month the barrier was again shattered by John Landy, and in the following few years broken by almost a dozen more runners. Now, there are almost 900 men who have run a sub-4 minute mile, including a former high school student and a 40+ year-old man.
Once others saw it was possible they attempted to do the same!
Finally, we can also use affirmations and visualisation techniques as tools for transforming limiting beliefs into enabling ones. Affirmations can help us to change our mindset while visualisations will help us to focus on the end goal we are trying to achieve. When combined, these two processes can create powerful shifts in our thought patterns, allowing us to move closer to our desired vision.
It’s important to recognise our limiting beliefs and learn how to turn them into enabling ones. Doing so will arm us with the confidence and motivation needed to become successful in life.
With thoughtful self-reflection, learning from the success of others, and using affirmations and visualisations as tools, we can overcome any obstacles that stand in our way and realise our fullest potential.