Our beliefs influence our thoughts, emotions, actions and therefore our life. Limiting beliefs make our mindset negative, emotions - unbalanced, actions - fear based and life - unbearable.
Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to eliminating your limiting beliefs:
1. Focus on your thoughts
Beliefs are hard to identify, yet our brain never stops turning thoughts around. What kind of thoughts are they? Pessimistic? Negative? Overly joyful? If in doubt which thoughts to focus on first, here’s a hint:
2. Examine your emotions
Thoughts cause emotions (no, your toxic co-worker doesn’t make you stress out, your own negative thoughts about that co-worker cause you that stress!). Your emotions are good indicators of the problem area in your mindset. Look for repeating negative overwhelming emotions. Found them?
3. Study your thoughts about a situation/person that causes you stress
Observe your thoughts, study them, find patterns, write them down if easier. Don’t analyse and debate them, you won't. All you want to know at this stage is what you’re actually thinking, not why.
4. Park aside and replace your negative thoughts
Disagree with them. You won’t be able to remove or ignore them altogether, so don’t even try. Replace your negative thoughts with more positive ones, or at least with more neutral ones.
5. Choose your emotion
Yes, actually stop, think and choose how you want to feel - based on the new replacement thought. Don’t fall into the trap of hoping that the right positive emotion will magically appear in your heart. No, you’ll have to choose what to feel, at least in the beginning.
6. Take an action
Act based on your new positive thought and your new - more neutral - emotion. Do I need to say that you have to choose how you want to act? Yes, I’m saying that.
7. Enjoy a better result
Consistent better results will start changing your life and help you quiet down your negative thoughts.
8. Repeat again
Repeat - with these and any other negative thoughts. This should become your every day routine like brushing teeth and taking a shower.
9. Watch your limiting beliefs slowly being dissolved
Slowly is key here. Please don’t think this will happen overnight. Also, the beliefs may come to the surface or not, but that won’t matter really. Who cares how we got them if they aren’t there any more?
10. Stay mindful at all times
This means staying aware of your surroundings, but more importantly of what you think, how you feel and what you do in life.
Read my post 5 Reasons to Become a Balanced Person