Our mind is an incredibly powerful tool.  Used properly it becomes the gateway to riches, love and happiness.  Used improperly and it has the capacity to prevent us from creating what we truly want in life.  How would it be to know that you are continually doing your best to use your mind to its fullest potential? 

The purpose of this article is to give some background on why it is important to identify limiting beliefs and how simply observing these beliefs can be instrumental in creating a shift in your life.

Beliefs and Truths

We start with a description of what a belief is.  A belief is not a truth, its simply something we believe to be true.  In our mind it is exists as a truth, but may or may not be in the physical world.  For example, I can think of many times in my life that I was certain that I knew the answer to a question only to find out later that I was wrong (these can be fodder for terrific arguments with a spouse when your ego is too big - yes I confess, I’ve been wrong before!).  Regardless, for some period in time, everyone has truly thought that their belief was a truth and now know that at least in this case that they were not.

So what is a truth.  I find this to be an interesting one.  A truth is a fact- a description of what happened in the physical world.  Even a fact is subject to perceptions of the viewer and therefore an argument could be that there are no truths.  Lets not go that deep and accept that there are some truths - these can be classified as the facts of what happened in the past, and the laws of the universe (such as gravity and mathematics) that can not be disproved or argued against successfully. 

In reading this you may already be thinking about what some of your beliefs are relative to what you know to be true.

What’s a Limiting Belief?

Beliefs are necessary.  They are neither good or bad, they are just a way of life.  Imagine how nice it is to have a belief that oncoming traffic will stop for me when my light turns green.  Is there any physical law that makes this happen?  No, its a trust in others that they are careful, respectful and competent drivers.  It has served me well so far in my life as I have successfully made it to my destinations up until now.  I think I’ll keep that belief! 

We’ve got lots of beliefs.  Beliefs about how others will react to certain news, beliefs about what it takes to make money, beliefs about what ‘normal’ is, beliefs in what our own personal capabilities are and are not.  These beliefs are very important, they help us react in life, they become a foundation from which decisions are made, they give us confidence and much much more. 

On the other hand, some beliefs limit us.  I may believe that there is not enough time in the day to do  everything I want.  Another common belief is that for any number of reasons (being too old, too young, too scared, too fat, not ready, you fill in the blank) its not possible to change.  These beliefs feel like truths but the reality is that they exist only in our minds.  Ask yourself if you are willing look at your most closely held beliefs and break them down if it would open the world to new opportunities.

Taking your belief inventory

Taking a belief inventory is one way to move our subconscious thoughts into the realm of our consciousness.  I am not giving it justice by calling them ’subconscious thoughts’ - for lack of a better way to describe it, these beliefs are like our auto-pilot.  They are how we react, respond and behave when we do not stop to observe what we are doing.  These beliefs serve as our unconscious guide to action (or inaction). 

A life coach would support you in becoming conscious of your own personal limiting beliefs.  You can do this on your own by looking at all of the areas of your life that you feel could use improvement.  Is it finances, relationships, your health?  Ask yourself what beliefs are you operating under.  Find the belief that you hold onto the strongest - what would hurt to let go of?  Do those beliefs serve you or not?  If it does not, how would one act if they were not operating with that belief system?  Challenge yourself to act this way.

So as an example, if I were obese and trying to lose weight and I knew that I needed to exercise.  I might have the following beliefs:

• I’ll be soar and I won’t be able to function for a few days - I don’t like that!
• It won’t work anyway - I’ve tried this 100 times before
• I am really uncomfortable being at the gym - everyone stares at me
• I am a failure, this problem consumes me and it really scares me that people won’t see me for who I truly am as a person

Now of course, I am not suggesting this is the belief system for anyone that would like to lose weight, but you can see that the last bullet is the one that has a release in it.  Its a recognition of the true underlying thought pattern that is driving the other decisions.  Its what’s underneath all of the conversation and it is what this person’s actions are based upon.  If you are doing this belief inventory for yourself and you haven’t uncovered a belief that makes you take a step back and say ‘wow’, then keep trying until you discover something about yourself.  If you do not have an ‘aha’ then perhaps this is not a belief that is truly limiting, it might just be a fleeting thought had now and again. 

Choose a new belief

The beauty of this process is that you’ve uncovered and identified a belief, you no longer have to act as if it were a truth!  Its that simple.  It no longer owns you, you own it.  Now that you recognize what has been driving you, be aware and conscious of this, see how it shows up in the decisions you make in life, and choose to act otherwise.  Choose to let go of the belief through the actions you take.  This is an exercise in consciousness.  Of course you will not be successful 100% of the time in being conscious - we all turn ourselves onto autopilot more often than we’d like to admit, but you can make it a lifelong goal to remain conscious to who you are to the fullest extent possible.

To reform a belief, we simply need to take action towards a new belief.  For our friend that wants to lose weight, choose a different belief contrary to the idea that they will be soar.  Instead choose "I will feel well the day after a workout" and focus your attention on all of the things you are able to do for the days following it.  See how quickly a belief can change.  Prove to yourself with the evidence that you gather day by day on a new and more empowering belief.  Hold this in your consciousness. 

In Summary

We’ve all got our limiting beliefs.  To some extent they make up our identity, they fuel our ego, and its not always easy to let them go.  Perhaps a belief structure gives you the permission to act a certain way, fueling a cycle that leads to results that make your beliefs even stronger.  You may or may not even like the outcome you are creating for yourself - however without a conscious recognition of what drives us to act a certain way, change will be haphazard or due to luck.  Why risk this when actively creating change is as simple (not necessarily easy but simple) as being conscious of how what limiting beliefs drive us and making the choice to act differently. 

"If you’ve found this site useful, please link to it so that others can benefit!"

Be Well

Related Articles:

• There’s not Enough Time in the Day!
• How do I Change my Life?

Written by Doug Nau, The Wellness Coach, i-grow.net