Have you ever been presented with an epic opportunity, you feel super excited and you’re ready to take action but in the next second, you have that gnawing, anxious feeling accompanied by thoughts of…
’Can I do this?’
‘What if I fail?’
‘Maybe someone else would be better at this…’
THOSE, dear friends, are your self limiting beliefs talking! And it sucks.
We would be telling porkies if we said that it’s not normal to experience some level of apprehension, anxiety and doubt when you make a change, but it doesn’t have to stop you!
Don’t worry, help is on the way! These are some of our top tips for overcoming self limiting beliefs…
Identify, Identify, Identify
Hearing those thoughts? Hit the brakes! By identifying your thoughts, and stopping them in their tracks, you can work to change them. This is purely based on the idea of cognitive behaviour therapy and boy oh boy does it work if you take time to implement it!
So, let’s say you have an “I’m not capable of doing this” thought, take notice, stop it right there in your mind, toss it in the trash and replace it with “I’m more than capable of anything I put my mind to”. BOOM! Power move.
Fear and Doubt or Genuine Concern?
This links strongly to the above! When you have a sneaky self limiting thought, take a second to think…is this fear and doubt or a genuine concern I have? Assess the validating of your claim.
A prime example: being offered a new job and you think ‘am I really cut out for this?’ ‘Can I really do this job?’ – that may be a genuine skill concern instead of not believing in yourself. Perhaps it involves some quantitative analysis and you’ve had super limited exposure to that kind of work, that could count as a genuine concern and perhaps require some extra study or help.
If you then say “I don’t think I can do that”, that is your self limiting beliefs talking again. You are more than capable if you decide it’s what you want.
Continue To Challenge Your Thoughts
Some of our favourite questions:
Is it kind?
Is it necessary?
Is it true?
(Brought to you by our very own Rochelle Jane)
Sometimes, you also have to ask hard questions like ‘is this actually an excuse?’. Confront your thoughts. Don’t let them bully and control you.
Self limiting beliefs are sneaky little things and can pop into your life completely unannounced and cause havoc. Overcoming them isn’t an overnight exercise. Prioritise yourself, your mental well-being, build self-confidence and self-trust to help you on your journey.
And before you think ‘oh crikey, how do I build self-trust??’, we got you there too. The process is simple: make and keep small promises to yourself. Start tiny, say ‘today I’m going to make my bed’, follow through, next ‘I’m going to get up at 07:30 tomorrow’, follow through’, ‘I’m going to go for a 5-minute walk today’, FOLLOW THROUGH! It’s about building belief in yourself and trusting you’ll go through with what you say.
Now get out there and grab the things you want, they’re all within your reach!