You Have Potential: But Are You Limiting Yourself?

Are you limiting your potential because of the limiting beliefs you hold?“I can’t run a marathon. I have tried before and I crashed and burned. I already know how it will turn out if I try again!” This came from a client who knew with absolute certainty what would happen if she ever attempted to run a marathon again.

Are you limiting your potential?

Imagine, just for a second that you don’t know how it will all turn out.

• What might it be like to throw out all of those preconceived notions and expectations?
• After all, what if there is another possibility out there?
• Something that you might never have imagined possible?

In order to believe that this is possible, you might have to take some time to manage your expectations and beliefs.

Let’s say the worst has just happened. Maybe you’ve lost your job, your marriage is ending, or your child is ill. Typically, our default position is to assume the worst, and we become stuck in an endless loop of negative thoughts. We know for sure how this will all turn out. 

While the situation may indeed be tragic and emotionally debilitating, the key to success is to become aware of, and learn to manage our thoughts, beliefs, and mistaken certainties about the world.

My client knows for sure that she cannot complete a marathon. This is a mistaken certainty that she holds. She believes it to be true based on her past experiences.

What limiting beliefs are limiting your potential?

It is exactly these types of beliefs that cause people to believe that they are not capable of handling some of life’s challenges. How often, when the going gets tough, have you told yourself something like, I can’t do that. That’s too much for me to handle. I don’t know how. 

These beliefs limit our ability to accomplish what we want, because we fall for our beliefs over and over. When we let the things that we have believed all of our lives continue unchallenged, we are missing out on an opportunity to come up with a whole new result.

We have all accumulated many beliefs over a lifetime. The beliefs that we hold drive how we behave and surprisingly, we almost never question them!

How do we challenge our beliefs?

But what might a shift in thinking, or a challenge to our beliefs give us? 

Well, for starters, we might have to admit that we really don’t know, and can’t accurately predict, how it will all turn out. If we followed our old beliefs, then yes, we can pretty clearly say things like, I will always be uncomfortable with public speaking, or, I could never run a marathon, or I could never take on a project of that size. 

Trying on a new belief, or at least questioning whether old beliefs really are true, might set you on a whole new course of action. Since adhering to all of your old beliefs will bring you the result that you expect, a new way to look at the world and it’s possibilities might just be in order! And maybe, just maybe, you won’t know how it will all turn out…

So, in the face of a challenging situation, learn to become aware of your default beliefs.

• Are they true?
• What evidence do you have to support them?
• Are they old beliefs that are no longer true? 
• Think about the possibilities that might exist if you could just replace that negative belief with a more empowering one that might push you closer to your goal.

Imagine facing a tough situation and rather than saying I could never do that, try something like, This is a tough situation, but I’m sure I can figure it out with some support.  Here, the belief is that you can do it. You might need guidance, or assistance, but the belief that stands out is that you can do it. And with that belief, you no longer know exactly how it will turn out.  But you do know that the result will be different this time.  

Two scenarios of realizing potential

Consider the possibility that when the universe throws you a curve ball, you may not know exactly how it will all turn out!  

The recreational runner who wants to complete a marathon yet knows for sure that he or she could never do it, does in fact know exactly how it will turn out. They will never complete it with that set of beliefs.

On the other hand, the runner who wants to complete a marathon, yet believes that he can do it, really doesn’t know how it will all turn out. But the chances of a positive result are astronomically higher, when he or she believes it to be possible.