SELF-LIMITING BELIEFS

CHALLENGE YOUR SELF

A particular dictionary defines belief as "a feeling that something or somebody is real and true; or confidence in something or somebody".

"The person who closes his mind to new ideas, concepts and experiences, enslaves his own personality.'' 

Your beliefs act like a set of filters that screens out information that is inconsistent with them. Now, you may not necessarily believe what you see, but you will always see what you already believe. You consciously or unconsciously reject information that contradicts what you have already decided to believe, whether or not your beliefs, or your prejudices, are based on facts or fantasy. The word "prejudice" means to prejudge, to reach a conclusion in advance of any information, or even in spite of information, to the contrary. To start living a better life from this very moment, you refrain from judging other people or situations until you have enough information to make an informed decision.

Now, the worst beliefs you can have are "YOUR self-limiting beliefs."

1. You many think yourself to be less talented or capable than others.
2. You may think that others are superior to you in some way. 
3. You may have fallen into the common trap of selling yourself short and settling for far less than you are truly capable of.

It may interest you to know that these self-limiting beliefs act like brakes on your potentials. They have a way of holding you back from achieving your goals in life. They give birth to the two major enemies of better life - doubt and fear. These self-limiting beliefs paralyzes your enthusiasm and cause you to hesitate to take the intelligent risks that are necessary for you to fulfill your true potential. So, if living a better life from this very moment is your desire, then you must begin from this very moment to continually challenge your self- limiting beliefs. Reject any thought or suggestion that says you are limited in any way.

 Accept as a basic principle from this very moment, that you cannot be limited and that what others have done, you can do as well. If other people are doing better than you, it is largely because they have developed their natural talents and abilities more than you have and not necessarily because they are better or smarter than you are. They have been able to learn and applied the law of Cause and Effect to their lives and work before you have. And anything anyone else has done within reason, you can probably do as well. You just need to learn how. Go to someone you know and respects and ask him or her if he or she sees any beliefs that you might have that are causing you to perform below your potential. Let me say this as I conclude this chapter; your most deeply entrenched beliefs about yourself and your abilities may not be true at all.