Jan Haldane - Challenge Those Limiting Beliefs

From early childhood, we are bombarded with messages that make us doubt ourselves and our abilities. It’s quite amazing how someone’s throw away remark can impact our entire life. That’s if we let it, if we don’t challenge the validity of the remark, and the person who made it. Perhaps your someone was a parent, family member, teacher or some other ‘authority’ figure in your life.

Let’s imagine you were a very average student and a teacher told you that you would never amount to anything because you struggled academically. One of two things is likely to happen:

1. You become a success in your chosen field just to prove them wrong. You don’t think the remark is true, so you don’t allow the words to become a belief. The words that could have had a negative impact on your life actually served as a positive motivation for success.
2. Unfortunately, this is the most likely scenario. You take these words to heart and a belief forms that you will never be successful. And you won’t, or at least you won’t think you are, simply because you thought the words were true and a new belief was formed way back in your childhood.

The bottom line is, you are what you think. So what are you thinking? Is something someone said to you years ago still affecting you in a negative way?

If so, it’s time to challenge these beliefs with your adult mind. Why limit your life according to someone else’s words spoken light years ago?

So, if we look at the example of the teacher and the average student, how could we turn the negative words into a more positive outcome?

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• How could that teacher possibly predict your ability to create success in your life?
• What does success mean to you? Remember academic ability is a very limited way to judge success in the world.
• Where does success show up in your life right now? N.B. nowhere is not an option as an answer!
• How has believing your ability to succeed is limited served you in the past? E.g. has it allowed you to remain in your comfort zone rather than seek promotion or change jobs?
• Who would you be without this belief?

I’ll bet you find you are highly successful in all sorts of ways. Good luck