How to Conquer Your Limiting Beliefs

Just identifying your “limiting beliefs” can be a challenge in itself. And trying to CONQUER them…? Geez. It may sound worse than running a marathon (which I did years ago and even though it had its perks...it was definitely EX - HAUST - ING!)

But love it or hate it, you know as well as I do that YOU (which if we’re specific here, the part of “YOU” I’m talking about refers more accurately to the limiting beliefs that you have) are the biggest thing holding you back from having everything you want.

Here’s what I mean.

You probably formed your beliefs of sales, marketing, and money long before you started working in financial services — well before you decided to enter the industry.

And all of those beliefs (good and bad) are responsible for your success (or lack thereof). 

My friend and client, Brie, who recently hit her first $100K/month brought this all up on the latest episode of my podcast, Growing Your Financial Business. . . The Woman’s Way. Listen to the full episode here or on your favorite platform.

Brie Sodano is a personal finance expert and the founder of From Sheep to Shark, a financial planning firm focused on women who want their money to work for them. Like me, she had to overcome some of her limiting beliefs about money and success before her business could take off.

While offering helpful advice to our listeners, she shared a story from her childhood that shows just how long you also may have been carrying around your limiting beliefs for.

The Best! Day! Ever!

Picture a six-year-old Brie hanging out at her neighbor’s house. Her neighbor is a kind, elderly woman — let’s call her Mrs. H — who likes spending time with the little girl next door.

It’s a lovely day, and they’re enjoying a nice afternoon together. Mrs. H says to Brie, “Could you take out the trash for me, dear?”

Being a sweet and caring six-year-old, Brie immediately does as she’s told, taking the bag out to the can so Mrs. H doesn’t have to fret. When she returns, Brie finds a pleasant surprise: Mrs. H has decided to award her with a cash prize!

Okay, cash might be an overstatement. We’re talking somewhere between a buck and a buck-fifty. But to a six-year-old, it might as well be gold.

Brie runs home, excited. “Mom, Mom!” she shouts. “Mom, look! I got a dollar and a quarter from taking out the neighbor’s trash…” and then she squeals with pride — “Best! Day! Ever!”

Good Intentions

“Brie!” her mom says, in a tone that is clearly not excited. “You hustled an old woman out of a dollar!”

Brie gulps.

Her mom goes on: “You should have just taken her trash out! Why — Brie, why would you charge for something like that?!”

“No, I wasn’t—”

“Go give her the money back. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

Maybe Brie’s mom was having a rough day and reacted a bit more harshly than usual, or she thought her daughter was out asking for change and felt mortified. More likely than not, she just wanted her daughter to know that sometimes, you do nice things out of the goodness of your heart.

But Brie? She only knows she’s been scolded. She slinks back to Mrs. H’s, feeling like a bad girl and hating every second of it. At this moment, Brie’s six-year-old mind is drawing some strong conclusions about life: accepting money for good deeds is bad.

A Limiting Belief is Born

Fast forward to 2016, and Brie Sodano is charging a measly $250 for a service worth thousands. Sometimes, she gives it away for free. She has carried her childhood belief with her all this time, and since she believes she is doing a truly good service for her clients, she feels bad charging them any more than the bare minimum.

Around this time, Brie and I cross paths. Through my FEMM program, she learns (among other things) about one of my beliefs, which is also the title of my book: Make More Money, Help More People. 

Brie has a realization. That one thing she learned from her mom on that one day — that you shouldn’t accept money for taking out the neighbor’s trash — impacted so many areas of her life. Including her business.

She has been thinking that helping people and making money must be mutually exclusive. Or even that making too much money from helping someone is just plain wrong. But she realizes that isn’t true. You must make more money if you want to help more people. So Brie decides to conquer this limiting belief, grow her business, and help as many people as she can. (More on how she did that in the podcast episode here)

The Next Steps to Changing Your Beliefs

Once Brie identified her limiting belief, she still had to overcome it and find a new belief to replace it. Even now, she still discovers other limiting beliefs that are holding her back from reaching her full potential in her business. 

In her interview on Growing Your Financial Business: The Woman’s Way, Brie breaks down the steps to freeing yourself from limiting beliefs, in addition to describing her own challenges in the industry and how to overcome feelings of guilt and inadequacy.

Check out the full episode here!

When have YOU felt like you overcame a limitation? Share your challenges and wins in the comments!