The Ultimate Guide to Overcome Self-limiting beliefs

Have you struggled to overcome a self-limiting belief and reframe it with the empowering one?

We all have infinite potential to be and have everything we desire and yet we keep telling ourselves otherwise. It is in our words that our power resides and it’s super important to be mindful of what we’re telling ourselves. Are you feeding yourself a victim story, a self-limiting belief, or reframing it to a powerful statement that brings the chill down your spine?

My story of overcoming self-limiting beliefs:

Let me tell you my story of having a self-limiting belief and how it prevented me to realize my higher self. I had a hard time starting this blog because I used to always struggle with inner thoughts like, ‘ Who’s even going to read my words when there are millions out there? or Why would someone care to read an Indian girl’s blog with such a cultural difference?

These limiting beliefs prevented me from starting my blog and getting myself out there.

These self-limiting beliefs made sure that I do not cross my boundary of the comfort zone and stay where I was forever. But guess what, when I started writing on Instagram, people started loving my words, and every day I get messages on how my words are helping them live a better life.

Today, I have over 100K; yes 100 freaking thousand readers on Instagram who not only love my words but are also a crucial part of my journey.

Overcoming your limiting belief isn’t easy; however, it’s not impossible either. It solely depends on you, whether you want to keep telling yourself a victim story or rise up and hold the chains in your hands and reframe your self-limiting beliefs.

You regain the power when you reframe your self-limiting beliefs:

Another belief I had, and this is a strong one; I need to work super hard to prove my worth and gain money. This limiting belief literally made my life miserable. In order to approve my worth and earn more, I accepted the job that spoiled my mental health.

I felt super anxious and stressed working there full-time but never had the guts to resign until the day when my inner voice finally broke the silence. I struggled to realize that my work doesn’t define my worth. It’s who I am that defines me and not what I do for my living.

I finally left that toxic place and it took me one whole year to heal and re-start my life. My dear friend, if you’re holding up such self-limiting beliefs; it’s high time to kick them off and live your best life.

Here’s my story of leaving a toxic job and living my best life.

You see; we only live once. Do you really want to hide behind your limiting beliefs or awaken your giant self?

What are self-limiting beliefs?

Limiting beliefs are actually the thoughts that you feed your mind with about yourself. These are the words that you repeatedly say to yourself and then gradually start believing them true. Thus they are called your beliefs because you believe them.

However, when such thoughts constraint you from being your best self; they become your self-limiting beliefs. In other words, these are the words that you keep saying yourself and hinder your growth.

We aren’t born with such thoughts or beliefs but we make ourselves believe in them so deep that these self-limiting beliefs then become our identity. You cannot even imagine how much your self-limiting beliefs are holding you back.

But the question is; from where do we ingrain such limiting beliefs inside our heads?

Where do our self-limiting beliefs come from exactly?

Our self-limiting beliefs are ingrained in our minds since our childhood. Your parents or guardians may have told you some things while you were a kid and you took it hard to core.

During a certain stage, these beliefs may serve you but at some point; they turn into self-limiting beliefs that hinder our growth. The worst part is, we are so unknown to such limiting beliefs that we attach them to our own identity and start living with it.

For example, as a kid, you may have learned from your parents to keep silent while others ( elders) are presenting their opinion. It might be appropriate for that time frame, however; if you ingrained this as the sign of being quiet and letting others decide your life; you seriously have set a self-limiting belief here.

Here’s why you need to reparent your inner-child.

How to identify your self-limiting beliefs?

It’s as simple as this if your thoughts are refraining you from being your highest version; they indeed are your self-limiting beliefs. As we looked earlier, we have sown the seeds of certain beliefs inside of our heads since our childhood, and these thoughts grow up as the deep-rooted plants that obstruct our progress. These plants are exacting what you need to get rid of aka your self-limiting beliefs.

Think of the instance when you wanted to do something with all your heart but your inner voice yelled and said, ‘ You cannot possibly do it because….’ – this because is a story that you have fed yourself which makes it impossible for you to achieve the task ( even though you so wanted it).

How about changing your story and replacing it with an empowering one? I do understand that it’s not always possible to do everything and I’m not suggesting to feed yourself some toxic positivity; however, you surely cannot thrive with such limiting stories that you keep telling yourself now and then.

Here’s a little exercise to identify the self-limiting beliefs: You would probably know by now how much I adore the art of journaling. Here’re some journaling prompts that will help you think deeply about overcoming self-limiting beliefs.

• Write down your wildest dream when everything in this entire world is possible. Now think of the thoughts that are limiting you from achieving it.
• Think of all the opportunities you received in past but failed to savor because of some limiting stories you told yourself. What were those stories?
• Think about your goals and why you haven’t yet achieved them – what excuses did you feed your mind with?
• Write about your current project; what you’re working on right now – is there any limiting belief that’s slowing down your progress?

This journaling exercise will help you for sure to figure out your self-limiting beliefs. Now that you know all your limiting beliefs; it’s time to overcome them.

How to overcome self-limiting beliefs:

To overcome self-limiting beliefs the only thing you need is the mindset shift. When your thoughts change, your world automatically changes. It always starts with one single thought and you have all the power to control your racing thoughts. Here’s how you can overcome self-limiting beliefs:

1. Become aware of your limiting beliefs

If you’re following along, you would be aware of your limiting beliefs through the above-mentioned journaling exercise. Note down all those self-limiting beliefs on the paper and think deep. What emotions are those feelings bringing into your life? The first step to change is always acknowledging that you need one. Thus, pay complete attention to your thoughts and beliefs.

2. Understand that these are just your beliefs and thoughts

When you keep repeating yourself the same thought and belief, it becomes your identity. Our mind accepts such thoughts as our truth and makes us live in the little bubble that we created for ourselves with our words. Acknowledge that these are just your own thoughts, they may not be valid always. You need to be mindful of what you’re telling yourself, what story you’re breathing life into!!

3. Replace your limiting belief with an empowering one

This step will definitely be harder than it seems and it’s okay to give yourself the time needed to reframe your limiting beliefs.

For example: If you have a limiting belief around attracting a lifelong relationship just because the last one failed, you can replace it with something like this. Maybe the last one was the lesson for all the things I don’t want in my relationship. This is how you shift your mindset by shifting your words. And it will be your empowering belief that will help you attract your dream life.

4. Take an empowered action

Only having empowering thoughts is not enough. You need to take some inspired actions as per your new beliefs to let your mind know that you’re actually believing them. It may be scary to take action around new beliefs but as yourself this question: What will an empowered version of you do in this case?

Whenever I find myself stuck this is the only question that opens the doors to a new perspective for me. I always question myself: What will the highest version of Sonia be thinking, doing right now, and living her best life? This question itself helps in shifting the mindset in any area of life.

If you avoid taking action around your new empowering beliefs, you will soon run back to those old limiting beliefs that once hindered your growth. 

5. Understand what you’re losing

You could have been an amazing artist or a millionaire or whatever the hell you wished to be if you trained your mind well enough. These self-limiting beliefs have caged you from accomplishing your wildest dreams because it’s not possible for our minds to believe in such things if we don’t keep reminding ourselves about the same.

When you’re aiming to be debt-free within a year; you need to pour in some empowering words that build a correct mindset around money. You need to act as if you’re already living the life of someone who’s abundant. This only comes by changing your words, by changing your thoughts. You surely cannot let yourself live this one single life with mediocrity.

6. Be proud of yourself

This work of shifting your mindset and feeding your brain with empowering beliefs is indeed challenging and intimidating. Be proud of yourself for taking this first step towards better you. So many of us know this idea of limiting beliefs restraining our growth but it takes courageous people to step up and challenge their reality. I’m so proud of you for helping yourself grow.

Overcoming self-limiting beliefs – conclusion

I can totally understand how critical it is to change your self-limiting beliefs if you have never tried doing so any time. However, you cannot afford to waste your precious life and your never-ending potential just because of your thoughts or some story that you keep telling yourself.

I do hope that this piece helped you in getting a clear perspective of limiting beliefs and how to overcome them. Besides, I would love to know more about the stories you feed your mind with.

What are some of the limiting beliefs that are holding you back from living your best life? Do share them in the comments below.