In this blog post I will cover:
- Where do beliefs come from?
- How do we know if we have limiting beliefs?
- Using Affirmations to Overcome Limiting Beliefs.
I came across a great quote by Don Miguel Ruiz:
We only see what we want to see;
We only hear what we want to hear.
Our belief system is just like a mirror that only shows us what we believe.
Don Miguel Ruiz
That made me ponder belief systems. What are my beliefs and are they right? Or do they only appear right because my belief system is just reflecting back to me what I already believe? If I believed something else, would my life be better? Or would it be worse?
If you have been following me you know I am in a series about Limiting Beliefs. If you are new, you can read past posts
What are Limiting Beliefs? and My experience with Limiting Beliefs.
Today, I want to take a step back and look at beliefs. Where are they, where did they come from and how do change the ones we might want to?
Where do Beliefs come from?
We learn beliefs as children from our parents and the culture we grew up in. What is acceptable and what is not. We learn our place is in society and what is good and what is bad. We learn if the world is a safe place or a scary place. Can rely on people or if we need to rely only on ourselves.
These family and cultural beliefs are so foundational that we don’t even realize that they are beliefs. We tend to think that this is just the way the world is. Because we don’t realize that these are actually beliefs. . . We don’t stop to consider if those ways are still serving us. Are there better ways to respond? Are there better ways to live?
Then, let’s add in trauma
How Trauma affects beliefs
I define trauma as anything that happens that you are physically, mentally, or emotionally unprepared for. Anytime there is more coming at you than you can cope with has the potential to traumatize you. Young children are especially vulnerable because they are still forming their beliefs about the world. Overwhelming events can cause them to make decisions about the world that range from completely untrue to not ideal. These decisions become limiting beliefs.
How do we know if we have limiting beliefs?
So if beliefs are so foundational that we don’t really know they exist, how do we know if we have limiting beliefs? We have to look for clues. For example, if we have a task to do and suddenly be begin to feel:
- anxious or nauseous,
- tightness in our chest or
- other physical symptoms
That is probably our subconscious mind acting on a limiting belief to keep you where are. You see, to your subconscious mind, staying where you are is safe. It is comfortable. It is a known situation. Taking action on the task ahead of you will take you to a place that your logical mind is wanting (a job promotion, a love relationship, or ???) your subconscious is not comfortable and will try and stop you.
Other techniques my subconscious mind uses are:
- distraction,
- daydreaming or
- a flood of new ideas of things I can do.
I am a planner so planning or dreaming about what I want to do is safe for my subconscious. However, taking action will often cause physical symptoms, mind looping, or urgency around other things that need to be done.
Another way to identify and remove limiting beliefs is to participate in my program
