Gold Medal Mindset: 7 Steps to Ditch Your Limiting Beliefs

One of the most insidious barriers to success (in any part of our lives) is our?self-imposed?limitations. ?I bet everyone has experienced first-hand the effects of having limiting beliefs. Maybe those limiting beliefs prevented you from pursuing a new job, a new adventure, or even a new relationship. ?What mental limits have you created that hold you back and keep you playing small???How often do the words "I can't do..." OR “I’m not (fill in the blank)” pop into your head??

I am a singer with, and Mindset Mastery Coach of, the 100-voiced Lions Gate Chorus from Vancouver, BC. After 15 years of Top 5 placements, yet never being able to make it to #1 on the podium, we recently became Gold Medal World Champions at the the Sweet Adeline International a cappella harmony chorus competition in Louisville, KY.

That gold was a long time coming and we naturally held a host of limiting beliefs about being able to achieve it - as individuals and as a collective. ?Were we good enough? Did we really have what it takes? Could we?ever?be champions??

We knew that it would be essential for us to mentally prepare for competition by fully adopting a Champion mindset. We all had to look inside (and to each other) and work to get rid of any mental interference, silence our inner quacking ducks, and BELIEVE in our individual capacity and collective potential for greatness.

It is possible to rewire our thinking and change our internal messaging and view of success.?The brain does and?can?change?with repeated and directed attention?toward that desired change.???"The brain is not like a computer that has fixed wiring and connections. Every aspect of you is created by the brain revising itself in response to your interactions in the world... How you define yourself - the person you are - is a product of plastic changes in your brain."?- Neuroscientist Michael M. Merzenich, PhD, University of California??

To conquer our limiting beliefs and build our success mindset, we first need to have an?awareness?of the barriers we put in our way. Once aware, we must then be?willing?to change - to think and focus differently, risk, explore, be vulnerable and even sometimes fail to get different results.? ?

Our human capacity is infinite. We can't be sure right now what our possibilities are so why limit them??All through history people - ordinary folk like you and me - have achieved the?impossible. ?Boundaries have been constantly stretched and unthinkable dreams have become everyday norms.??All we need is a belief in possibility, a willingness to reframe our limiting beliefs and a commitment to take the steps to live into our greatest success.??

Are you ready and willing to believe?? Grab a piece of paper and let's go!?

STEP 1? ?CREATE YOUR SUCCESS VISION?

Ask yourself the question: “If anything were possible in my life,?without limitation,?what would be there?” Let your mind go and write down your vision of your?deepest desires and picture of your best life.? Don’t think about “how” – that is not the exercise.? Simply imagine what could be. Holding an evocative vision for your possibilities naturally puts energy in motion to inspire you to live into that vision.

STEP 2? ?ADD THE MEANING

Imagine you are living into the Success Vision that you created in Step 1.? Bring that vision to life by using all your senses. What are you seeing? What are you hearing? How are you feeling?? What has changed for you?? Write down your emotions, your passions. Tap into your heart.?

STEP 3? ?IDENTIFY YOUR LIMITING BELIEFS????

Now - without self-judgment, identify the limiting beliefs you have around any part of your Success Vision. What thoughts do you have that conflict with your Success Vision?? Using the objective lens of a scientist, simply notice those thoughts (without judgment) and make an LBL (Limiting Beliefs List) of all those negative internal messages.? (I’m too old, I don’t have enough time, I am not qualitied/talented enough etc.)

STEP 4? ?TRUTH METER?

Now, put your limiting beliefs up to extreme scrutiny on the Truth Meter.? Assess the truth of those limiting belief statements on a scale of 1-10. Are you?absolutely, positively certain that those beliefs are 100%?true?? Challenge yourself with your Truth Meter assessments - If you are too soft on yourself, get a trusted friend to help you drill down to the truth.?

STEP 5? ?ASK - WHY NOT??

Check your truth meter numbers. If any of your limiting beliefs are not 100% true, you can make the decision to change them.? If you identify something that is 100% TRUE, put a “YET” beside it.? e.g., / I don’t know how – becomes I don’t know how – YET.? I am not qualified enough becomes I am not qualified enough – YET.? Ask yourself: "Why Not? and embrace your new possibilities.?You are the only thinker in your own mind.

STEP 6? ?FOCUS AND RE-FOCUS

To form a new neural pathway of thought we must pay continual, repeated attention to those new thoughts to embed them.? Focus on your new beliefs and re-focus if you start walking that limiting belief trail again.??

STEP 7???ACT

Your new mental success paradigm will?give you new or renewed energy to begin living into your vision. "Where thought goes, energy flows."? Start to add action to your thoughts by creating small steps that move you forward incrementally.? Remember - every step forward is a step forward!??

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