Let’s talk about limiting beliefs. Limiting beliefs are the latest craze on social media. Everybody’s talking about them. Everybody is thinking that they have to bust through those limiting beliefs in order to see success. Let’s be very clear about two things:
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- You can be incredibly successful at something and be doubting your talents and skills the entire time. So if you think you need to banish, solve, eliminate your limiting beliefs entirely before you see results, you’re probably just using those beliefs as a procrastination technique.
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- There are real evidence-based ways to work through limiting beliefs, and I’m going to teach you exactly how to do that in today’s blog.
Hi, I’m Karin, Dr. Karin, technically because I have completed a whole freaking PhD where I spent four years studying all things mindset, but like the science backed mindset stuff… Not the “woo-woo” version.
Now I’m bringing that knowledge to you in these short but powerful weekly blogs and YouTube videos.
The Rat Analogy
Back to the subject at hand. Limiting beliefs. I have a rather odd question for you, which is scarier: fighting a singular rat or fighting an entire army of rats? The answer is pretty clear. Both might be scary, but an army of rats is clearly scarier.
When you tell yourself or other people that you have to fix your limiting beliefs, that’s like saying you need to fight an army of rats. What you really need to do is approach that army of rats, one rat at a time.
Step 1: Identify One Limiting Belief
So let’s do that right now. In the comments, I want you to identify one singular belief, one singular sentence that you feel is limiting or holding you back. I want you to take a second and really think about that. It’s you versus one sentence, you versus a tiny bundle of words.
Do you think you can get past that obstacle? Of course you can.
Step 2: Interject Doubt
So let’s talk about exactly how. I want you to look at that sentence, and I want you to adjust it just a little bit. I want you to interject the antidote to any singular thought you don’t want to believe anymore. Something the human brain is so capable of that you probably experienced in a hundred different situations. That powerful weapon is doubt.
Is there any possibility that the sentence you wrote down is not true or even not all the way true? Let’s say the limiting belief you wrote down is, “I’ll never be able to get over my procrastination tendencies.”
Do you know that for sure? Can you see into the future? Is there any possibility that you’re wrong? Has there been anything else in your life that you’d assumed would always be true and then that thing changed?
Our goal here isn’t to suddenly believe that you’re totally 100% capable of ditching procrastination forever with ease. Our goal here is to simply rock the foundation of the original limiting belief just a little bit because those cracks multiply, and that’s where our new beliefs can actually start growing.
Step 3: Act As If
Our last step today is probably the most difficult step, but the most important one. New beliefs are formed through action. I want you to identify the opposite of the limiting belief you just wrote down.
To use our procrastination example, maybe what you want to believe is, “I am capable of managing my urge to procrastinate.”
Imagine for a second that you believed that. How would your actions change? Maybe you would be more willing to put that big task on the calendar for Monday morning. Maybe the next time you felt the urge to procrastinate, you take a deep breath and allow yourself to experience that urge instead of panicking.
I want you to start acting as if the new belief was true. You don’t have to actually believe it. It’s sort of like you are method acting. You’re putting on a facade, a new character version of yourself. It’s okay if it feels phony in the beginning.
Conclusion
So there you have it. The three steps to busting right through a limiting belief:
1. Get that belief down to a single sentence you’re focusing on.
2. Interject doubt.
3. Act as if.
I will take a moment to say the process of believing new things is not easy, but is much easier when you have an expert coach on your side. Why? Because while you might not believe the new thought, they will believe it for you. If you’re ready for a major personal reinvention process, make sure you check out more about our one-on-one coaching program HERE.
Keep me updated in the comments on how your life changes as you update your beliefs, and I can’t wait to chat with you more next week.
