Overcoming Limiting Self Beliefs

Do you ever tell yourself you are not able to achieve something or berate yourself for not doing a task as well as you feel you should have? If the answer is yes then read on for help and advice on how you can replace those unhelpful beliefs with more positive affirmations that will get you trying new things before you know it.

Our minds are full of chatter that can limit our potential. These thoughts of failure start to seep into our very being and before we have even given something a go, we already feel like we can’t do it. The fear of failure has created a limiting self-belief and those beliefs can stop us achieving our full potential. Before we know it, we have spun these thoughts into a fear of failure that is so strong we may not even attempt something. That fear of failure has quite literally stopped us in our tracks.

Now think for a moment what could happen if we didn’t let those negative thoughts control our actions? What if we did not allow that mind chatter, running in the background of our unconscious mind affect our decisions?

So, what is going on?

We have a thought that pops into our mind and it’s important to remember at this point that a thought is not a fact! We start to respond to the thought and begin to have feelings that develop. If this cycle continues, those feeling start to affect our behaviours but, there is something we can do to break this cycle;

• Identify your negative thoughts – start to make a note of some of the regular, negative thoughts that come into your mind that stop you from achieving your potential. You may tell yourself you can’t cook, or that you are not able to run very far?
• Identify where those thoughts come from – look at each one and ask yourself where did it come from? Was it an unkind comment from someone at work or something a teacher said to you at school or perhaps it is a judgement you hold about yourself?
• Ask yourself how does it make you feel now – was it justified or do you understand why someone may have said what they did? Why do you feel like that about yourself?
• Change the perspective – imagine what a friend or family member who cares about you would say, what positive words would they be using to describe your abilities?
• Replace your negative thoughts with positive thoughts – when you have created your new positive thought, put it somewhere safe so you can recall it if you need it in the future
• Let go of the negative thoughts– start to visualise yourself clearing out all the clutter that has built up over time. If it helps, imagine you are tidying up a room, creating a fresh, airy, positive new space, clean and clear of clutter
• Sustain the practice – negative thoughts continue to build up as we go through our lives so take some quiet time every now and then to go through this exercise

Maintaining this practice and keeping those negative thoughts at bay will help nourish a healthy head. This may create some space for you to have a go at something that up to now has seemed impossible. You never know you may uncover an amazing new talent.