6 Steps to Get Rid of Your Limiting Beliefs

1. WRITE OUT YOUR NEGATIVE BELIEFS

Write out the negative belief you have, verbalize it, and accept it’s a fear of yours. Just saying it out loud will help you realize what’s holding you back. Anytime I feel stuck (which is like every other day), I think to myself, “what’s stopping me?”

If I change the focus of my business, I’m starting from scratch, and I’ll be behind my peers.

I can’t meet the right guy at this point in my life, and I need to be more established.

If I share too much personal info on my blog and social media, I will come across as unprofessional, and people will judge me.

These are a few doozies, right? I don’t share these thoughts with anyone (except my bestie because she never judges me, bless her soul), but now I’m sharing them publicly.

2. DETERMINE WHAT INSTILLED THESE BELIEFS

Many things influence us, but mainly people. News, media, friends, colleagues, and family all heavily influence what we believe to be true.

Sometimes our deepest fears are from traumatic encounters, childhood memories, and other people's fears projected onto us. The next step to get rid of your limiting beliefs is to find out the source of them.

It’s pretty amazing to analyze why we think a certain way and what exactly has shaped these limiting beliefs.

3. DETERMINE YOUR NEW POSITIVE BELIEF

Okay, now for the happy part of this process! What new belief do you want to believe!? Yes, you get to decide.

How good does it feel to read these new positive beliefs?!  When I read them, I feel so happy and hopeful, and the fear starts to slip away.

4. LOOK FOR EVIDENCE

It may take time for these new beliefs to sink in. A way to speed it up is to look for evidence that they are true.

What works for me is finding role models that fit these new beliefs I want to adopt.

find people who have overcome your fears and limiting beliefs to look up to as role models!

5. THINK OF THE WORST CASE & HOW YOU WILL OVERCOME IT

This may sound counterproductive, but when I finally come to terms with what the absolute worst-case scenario is, I realize I’ll be okay if that happens (even if it is unlikely).

I think about the worst-case scenarios to help me realize I'LL BE OKAY even if it happens. Most of the time, the worst possible outcome isn't actually that bad.

6. RECITE AFFIRMATIONS

I talked briefly about affirmations in my self-care blog post. I include this as a crucial step because affirmations rewire how your brain thinks!

Some may see it as stating a lie, but I see it as stating what you know can be true.

When you say a statement over and over again, it sends a very clear signal to your Reticular Activating System (part of your brain that filters the information we are exposed to every day) that this is important to you.

Here is an excerpt that explains how affirmations work:

"The other way affirmations work is that they create a dynamic tension in our beings. If what I am saying is at a higher vibration than what I perceive the truth to be, the dynamic tension is uncomfortable. For instance, if I am saying “I am joyfully and healthfully at my ideal weight” when in actuality I am 10, 20, 30+ pounds above my ideal weight, a painful incongruence is felt between what I perceive the truth to be and what I am saying. Since this is uncomfortable, we want to rid ourselves of the tension. There are only two ways to do that: one is to stop saying the affirmation; the other is to raise the bar on reality by making the affirmation and reality match."

Now that you’ve done all these steps, you might have to revisit them now and again. Sometimes I return to negative thinking patterns, but it helps to write all these steps out to reread in that case. Then eventually, these new ways of thinking become habitual!