Imagine really wanting to perform well on that job interview that could advance you to the next level of your career, but you don’t because there are so many other people going in for an interview that you might as well not even try. That, my friend, is a limited belief you have placed on yourself and can only do more harm than good. You have automatically accepted defeat based on the feeling that you might not be good enough. While it is true that you might not get the job, it is possible that you might! After all, the interviewer felt that you were qualified enough to bring you in for an interview from the hundreds of applicants! Not to mention, even if you don’t get the position, you just got more practice on going in for job interviews. That will only make you better for the next job interview.

What are Limiting Beliefs

Limiting beliefs are things you say or think to yourself that limit your life while you accept as the truth.  These beliefs limit your ability to achieve things you desire and as a result, can have a harmful effect on your happiness and quality of life. 

Oftentimes, limiting beliefs can be unconscious thoughts that the mind and body uses as a defense mechanism to avoid unwanted emotions (anger, anxiety, sadness, and frustration).

Examples of limiting beliefs include not believing you can lose weight because of your genes or not believing you will play well at the concert because you have no experience playing in front of that many people, even though you practiced playing the instrument all your life. A limiting belief happens when you believe you can not achieve something due to another factor that you perceive to be out of your control. You have accepted this perception as the truth. However, there is no evidence to support this accusation or limitation you have placed on yourself.  Therefore, this limited belief is not actually the truth.

Limited beliefs can negatively impact you in several ways including:

1. They hold you back from reaching for your goals and making positive decisions.
2. They make you see situations worse than they are and focus heavily on the negative parts of your life.
3. They cause your self-worth and self-confidence to diminish which can severely affect your emotional, mental, and physical health.
4. They create a hopelessness feeling within yourself, as if no matter what you do, you cannot change the outcome of events around you. 

Where Do Limiting Beliefs Come From?

If you want to be able to stop your limiting beliefs, it is important to know where they come from. Limiting beliefs can originate from a variety of events or factors in your life. 

• Childhood – From birth until five years old, our brains are developing at a rapid speed and absorbing all the information around us like a sponge. If we are exposed to negative information or environmental factors during this crucial time period, we accept this information to be true and that can later turn into our limited beliefs. 
• Past trauma –  Negative experiences in the past can lead you to believe limited beliefs that will hold you back from having a happy future. For example, a person who got hurt in a past relationship might find it hard to trust again. Their limited belief (that people are not trustworthy or she/he is not worthy of love) will hold them back from developing a meaningful connection in the future.
• Community and Culture – Factors such as family, religion, traditions, and education can have a profound impact on our values and how we see the world around us. However, sometimes the beliefs that were implemented on us can be limiting in themselves which may prevent us to live an authentic life. For example, a child who wants to become an actor in his heart might be told by his family that actors end up being poor and he should study medicine like his father did.

How to Tell Which Limiting Beliefs are Holding You Back?

If you want to identify your limiting beliefs, you should do an honest analysis of yourself. Start by asking yourself what areas of your life you are anxious to improve on or that you wished were different.  Then write down how success in those areas would look and feel like. Finally, ask yourself what is keeping you from reaching your goals. These questions will help you identify which areas of your life are important, but you have not been able to take action on them or improve them. You can also carry a diary with you and write down whenever you are thinking about a limited belief about yourself.  This will help you realize just often these thoughts are coming up and which ones are more frequent than others. 

One of the most difficult parts of limiting beliefs is that they are rooted in the subconscious, an area that is not easily accessible.  Therefore, it can often be difficult to realize we are even having certain limited thoughts that might be preventing us from moving forward.

This is where hypnotherapy comes in. Your subconscious loves what is the familiar or easier route. It is rewired to push your conscious mind in the same direction that it has been trained to do so from your childhood.  Therefore, if a limited belief was rooted in your childhood, your subconscious brain is constantly reinforcing that belief. In hypnotherapy sessions, you learn to dig deep in your unconscious to identify your limiting beliefs. You are able to replace them with more rational, realistic, and positive beliefs.  This helps you break free from the loop of self-sabotage and progress towards your goals.

Call our office today if you want to learn more about how hypnotherapy can help you overcome your limited beliefs and live your best life.