A few ways to overcome limiting beliefs
Limiting beliefs are a state of mind that keeps you stuck and unable to do certain things. Limiting beliefs can hinder you from going after your dreams; it can alter how you see others, the world, and how the world works. Limiting beliefs can be crippling, and it’s essential to recognize that limiting beliefs are a hindrance and figure out how to break this.
Until recently, I was dealing with limiting beliefs, and my limiting views began to slow me down. I knew that I needed to break this to be able to thrive again in life. It’s crazy because, before specific traumas, I was always super confident and believed I could do anything. That motivation and belief in myself began my blogging journey and guided me into all my accomplishments. Somewhere along the way, after facing a trauma in my life that brought me to my knees. I felt super crippled, and I was unable to see my light. Darkness in the form of limiting beliefs crept into my mind and heart. These beliefs instantly took away all my confidence. I knew that I needed to release myself from these beliefs. So one day, while driving in my car, I began to talk aloud to myself. I asked myself where these limiting beliefs started. This brings me to the first step that helped me to overcome limiting beliefs.
Have a conversation with yourself to understand your mind and pinpoint where the limiting beliefs stem from.
When I began to talk aloud to myself, I realized there must have been a starting point that I may have ignored from my past. So I began to search through my memories. I went as far back as my childhood. When I saw my childhood, I first remembered how vibrant of a child I was. Always outgoing yet quiet but not shy. I would always love to dance and act. As a child, I was always well-liked. I was cast as the lead of most of the events I was a part of, from Christmas plays at church to events at school. As I searched my mind, I noticed that it wasn’t until I was in middle school that I noticed a shift. Middle school was when I started getting bullied, and that was the first moment when the shining light in me began to dim. The bullying lasted until my junior year of high school. I didn’t realize until I started to talk this out with myself that the bullying and things my peers said stuck with me in my subconscious mind and played a massive role in how I viewed myself. I suppressed a lot, but now it was time to face and overcome these limiting beliefs. The next instance I recognized was being around certain friendships and relationships in my adult life where I felt the people did not honestly like or enlighten me. This caused me to build doubts that grew greater than my confidence. It was tough to face all this, but I learned to recognize many things. First, I realized where the limiting beliefs began, what true friendship, romantic love, and love, in general, were supposed to look like. Once I recognized all of these things, I could work towards healing. In working towards recovery, the next step that I had to take was to reaffirm myself.
2. Reaffirm yourself
Now that I was able to identify where these limiting beliefs stemmed from. It was vital for me to rebuild my foundation by reaffirming myself. In my past, I sought to be affirmed by others and took in what others thought of me over what I felt about myself, which needed to change. I had to reaffirm myself daily by reading books, prioritizing my self-care, doing things that I enjoy, talking to myself daily, and assuring myself that I am capable. I also took myself out on dates, treated myself with grace, love, and gentleness, and provided myself with all the things I was missing from others. I encourage you to practice being comfortable with yourself and providing yourself with all the care and love you may desire from others. Something else that helped me to reaffirm myself was creating a list of 15 things I’m good at. Using the words (I am) before stating what you are good at is super powerful (an example would be: I am love and joy to others.) I encourage you to try this because it was helpful for me, and this list is something to return to if you ever fall off and begin to doubt yourself. As you are human, self-doubt can creep in, but you must face it before it festers and becomes a crippling limiting belief.
3. Detach from people, places, and ideals that make you feel unworthy or limited.
After understanding where the limiting beliefs stemmed from, after rebuilding my foundation by reaffirming myself, I had to take inventory of my life and see what fit, who fit and what needed to be removed. I knew how I wanted to be treated moving forward. During the reaffirmation process, I learned how I viewed myself and wanted everything in my life to reflect this. I had to remove people, places, and ideals that made me feel limited. I cut off friends, left jobs and businesses that made me feel unworthy, not good enough, etc. First, I analyzed every person in my life, and if I thought they were not edifying me or genuinely making me feel better around them, I let them go. I let them go because I now know who I am as a light. Suppose I thought about a person and didn’t feel the light within light up. I knew that these person/s were not meant to continue on my journey, and it was easy to let them go. I then practiced this detachment in other areas of my life with jobs, things I would see on social media, and more. Anything that didn’t align or feel right had to go, no question. I encourage you not to be afraid to let go of dead things. New life begins when the dead things are released, and you feel lighter, accessible, and transparent. Clearing, letting go, and detaching is the super beneficial this way when the right people, jobs, and inspiration enter your life. You will know because you will feel at peace, and the light within you will shine brighter.
4. Believing in a higher power
For me, believing in a higher power is essential to overcoming limiting beliefs. Believing in a higher power was a game-changer for me. Although I have done much work to overcome limiting beliefs, I am still human. Although it’s no longer crippling, there are times when I may doubt myself. Having a higher power to lean on makes it easy to get back on track because giving to God what you can not control is freedom. Allowing God to work on your heart is a game changer. I believe in Jesus, and through my belief in Jesus, I know that he sacrificed his life for us (even if you don’t believe), and because of Jesus’ sacrifice, I can forgive myself and those who hurt me because I know that they did not know better. I learned God's love through the forgiveness of myself and others. God’s love is the love that would sacrifice his son Jesus for strangers who will end up not even liking Jesus—seeing this example let me know that I am not alone. Knowing that I am a child of God and that God loves me is the most beautiful love I know. Then from knowing and feeling God’s love. I learned God’s word and what God says about his children in scripture. God says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. God says countless things in scripture about his children. As a child of God, God's love is within me. Whatever negativity anyone speaks or thinks about me does not come above God's love for me and what God says in scripture. With this knowledge, I can move forward with peace, love, joy, and gratitude for this journey.
If you have made it this far into this post, I genuinely know that you want to overcome limiting beliefs, and I believe you will. If you are being bullied, unloved, abused, or used, don’t allow these things to cripple you. If the people who are hurting you don’t know love, leave them, forgive yourself, forgive them, and begin healing. Don’t be afraid to admit that you are hurt, and don’t be afraid to talk it out, especially with yourself. Get comfortable with being with yourself, and in time healing will begin. Know that healing is an ongoing process; give yourself grace. Talk to your heart; this is super important. Don’t be afraid to leave people or spaces that don;t confirm your value. I wish you healing, peace, and genuine love, that will allow you to shine your light.
With love,
E
