Why We Must Challenge Our Limiting Beliefs

We all have limiting beliefs. They can be small and they can be big. Some beliefs are that we will never be qualified for a particular job we are searching for, others are that we will never be able to heal and forgive ourselves from an ugly moment in our past. All of these beliefs will wreck havoc on our lives if left unchecked.
A limiting belief is nothing more than the dogma we carry with us. It is essentially the way we see the world and the artificial constraints we put on our selves. It is always a self imposed limit. It will dictate what we think we can and cannot achieve and it will dictate what is and is not possible for us to accomplish. Therefore, a limiting belief can be the biggest inhibitor to our success.
Limit beliefs are the single biggest thing I struggle with as a human being. They are always the source of my frustration and pain when I can’t accomplish my goals. I have numerous limiting beliefs which is why I am so adamant about challenging them and taking away their power.
A good example of this was when I was working kids camps this past summer. A few weeks into my job, I realized that it wasn’t for me and I don’t enjoy working with kids. At that point I decided that the rest of summer was going to be miserable and this job was going to be a giant fiasco. At that moment, a new limiting belief was born. At the moment, I truly believed that I could never be happy working kids camps and that I would always be miserable working with 4–7 year olds.
What happened next? Every single one of the kids camps I worked from that point on was absolutely miserable. I could no longer see the light in the darkness. In fact, my mind made it a point to block out the light by putting on an artificial curtain of darkness. Even on the programs that went well, and where I actually had fun working the camp, I was still miserable. My limiting belief refused to let me think otherwise. Just like that, I spent the whole summer miserable because of a silly limiting belief.
This is why I am adamant on challenging limiting beliefs. This is why we must challenge our view points on the world on a regular basis.
If a limiting belief could make me miserable for a few months in a low stake situation, imagine the havoc it can cause in a high stake situation. I don’t need to imagine, here are just a few more higher stake examples:
- My relationship almost fell apart over the summer because I had a limiting belief that I could not make it through a long distance relationship. I started creating problems out of thin air because I was certain everything was doomed to fall apart. Luckily I became cognizant of my actions and quickly put out the damage before it could spread.
- I refused to let myself apply for several jobs because I thought I was unqualified for them. Literally, I refused to submit the application because my limiting belief said you will never be qualified for this position. Chances are I was probably was a great candidate, and I missed out on some great career opportunities.
As you can see, limiting beliefs have serious power. They are notorious for causing ourselves self inflicted harm. They are often the root of self sabotage. We must rise up above them. We must take a firm stance against our own limiting beliefs. We must get out of our own way, challenge the brutal cycle of all or nothing thinking and allow ourselves to take the necessary risks to be successful.
