Learn how to identify limiting beliefs and let them go for good to manifest your deepest dreams and goals.
Beliefs are convictions and assumptions we make about ourselves and the world.
Our beliefs can free us, or they can act as bondage and keep us chained and enslaved to the past, creating a life we don’t want.
Beliefs are necessary as they give structure to our identity.
- I am. (Neville Goddard’s Example)
- I am a tree.
- I am an apple tree.
- I am an apple tree that doesn’t bear fruit.
- I am a fruitful apple tree.
- I am an abundant apple tree with plenty of fruit to feed a village.
We cannot BE without BE-liefs. Essentially, what I call Susan is really a collection of beliefs, memories, and perceptions.
We just need to create beliefs that support us in the life we deeply desire and know that is meant for us.
So read on if you want to learn more about limiting beliefs and how to squash them suckers!
What is a Limiting Belief?
Limiting beliefs are beliefs that keep you bound or small in any way. They hinder your growth and development and block you from the goals you wish to manifest in your reality.
Limiting beliefs can negatively influence your behavior, leading you to take actions that sabotage your fulfillment and happiness, block you from what you truly desire, and blind you to the opportunities that are right in front of your eyes.
Some limiting beliefs are deep in our unconscious. It can take time to uncover, dissolve, and work through them. Others are simple. Shining a light and becoming aware of them will help them dissipate on their own.
Related: Law of Attraction for Beginners: Manifestation Guide 2024
How are Limiting Beliefs Formed?
Beliefs are often exchanged subconsciously through feelings and interactions with others. It is a combination of our own nature (how we perceive and internalize our life experiences) and our external reality.
Most people struggle with limiting beliefs formed during their early developmental years. This is when our minds are most impressionable, and we absorb the world around us and see everything as truth.
These beliefs become an unconscious part of our ego identity—or, as Tony Robbins says, they become our story. That is, until we begin to dig and uncover them.
Limiting beliefs can be picked up in various ways. The categories below can help you gain more insight into the different ways we are susceptible to limiting beliefs.
I encourage you to use your discernment to determine what is fitting for you as you sort through your subconscious programming. Keep in mind that some categories can overlap.
1. Generational Limiting Beliefs
Generational limiting beliefs are beliefs that come from specific time periods that get passed on from generation to generation.
Example: To be considered responsible and respectable, I must work for an employer my entire life.
2. Cultural Limiting Beliefs
Cultural limiting beliefs are beliefs that are imposed on you based on your heritage, cultural expectations, or place of upbringing.
It’s important to mention here that cultural limiting beliefs do not mean they are bad or wrong.
However, it means they are incongruent with your personal philosophy and individual path to fulfillment and cause inner conflict, distress, or turmoil.
Examples: I must marry into the same culture, race, or religion. Or Asian girls must wash the dishes after dinner because they are female, which is their duty. *ahem* 😏
3. Societal Limiting Beliefs
Societal limiting beliefs are collective thought trends that catch steam in mass consciousness, generally through media and just by hanging out with your friends.
Most people are well-meaning, but these beliefs can be used to put others down, put yourself down, and limit yourself. They are often a dilution of deeper spiritual teachings.
Example: Something terrible happened to me, so this must mean I’m a bad person. I’m getting punished by Karma; what comes around goes around.
4. Familial Limiting Beliefs
Familial limiting beliefs are the number one culprit people encounter. They are deeply personal because they depend on the individual’s caregiver’s views about the world and their reality at that snapshot in time.
Examples: Don’t challenge authority or speak back to adults and people in power. Or a person’s parents incessantly called them spoiled during their developmental years. As an adult, when they dug into the feeling, they realized they internalized it as “I am no good, unworthy, and have nothing to offer.”
Related: 50 Empowering Self-Worth Affirmations to Heal Worthiness (+3 Exercises)
5. Circumstantial Limiting Beliefs
Circumstantial limiting beliefs are formed by life experiences, particularly negative ones. They can be formed early on, but the internal narration continues to recur and replay throughout your life and color how you view yourself.
They can be picked up from interpersonal relationships, school, social groups, babysitters, teachers, workplaces, day-to-day interactions, etc
Examples: After a devastating breakup, a person believes “I am unlovable” or “I am damaged.” Or a person’s parents divorced. It ended badly, and they internalized, “Relationships never work out.”
Related: 76 Love Affirmations to Attract Romance and Your Dream Relationship
6. Personal Limiting Beliefs
Personal limiting beliefs are self-imposed mental blocks and judgments we place on ourselves.
Example: Popular ones are, “I’m not good at small talk,” or “I’m not good with people.”
Nothing is wrong with believing this if we accept it. However, things may need to change if we find ourselves at an intersection where we need to call on this skill.
So, it is worth examining them and loosening our beliefs so that we can reshape our self-concept and form new, abundant beliefs that are congruent with the person we are becoming.
What are Some Limiting Belief Examples
Common Money Limiting Belief Examples
- Money is bad.
- Having money means I’m greedy.
- Money doesn’t grow on trees.
- I must struggle to make money.
Related: Get Out of Debt: 8 Tips to Achieve Lasting Change (A Holistic Approach)
Common Love and Relationships Limiting Belief Examples
- I’m unlovable.
- People always abandon me.
- I must sacrifice to receive love.
- Love is earned.
- Relationships always end badly.
- Love is pain.
- Love doesn’t work out.
- I’m hard to love.
Related: 76 Love Affirmations to Attract Romance and Your Dream Relationship
Common Work and Profession Limiting Belief Examples
- It’s too late to start over.
- I’m too old.
- I’m too young.
- I’m new. Therefore, I don’t deserve it.
Limiting Beliefs About Groups of People (Generalizations)
- Men/women all cheat.
- Handsome men/pretty women will leave you.
- Men are all toxic.
- Women are gold diggers.
- Rich people [fill in the blank]
- Poor people [fill in the blank]
Related: 21 Common Limiting Beliefs That Block Manifestation
How to Identify Your Limiting Belief
A simple way to identify a limiting belief is to examine your thoughts, feelings, and fears about the area of life you are working on.
If you encounter negative feelings and internal discomfort, a limiting belief is most likely floating around somewhere in your consciousness.
Below are some limiting belief exercises and questions to get your mind jogging.
Limiting Belief Exercises
Questions below can be used in any area of life: friendships, career, love relationships, money, and yourself. All you need to do is fill in the blank and trust the first thing that comes to mind.
- Money is _____________.
- Money means ______________ to me.
- Love is ______________.
- Love means ______________ to me.
- Friends are ______________.
- Friends mean ______________ to me.
- I am not really good with ______________.
- I can’t ______________.
- I could never ______________.
- I want to lose weight, but ______________.
- I want to have my dream career, but ______________.
- I want love, but ______________.
- I want a better relationship with my parents, but ______________.
How to Overcome Limiting Beliefs
Shining a light on your limiting beliefs starts the process of you breaking free from them. Awareness alone should assist you with 50% of the work.
Beliefs are never objective truths, meaning they can change, morph, and transform to your liking and aid you in the life you want. Here are 4 effective ways to overcome limiting beliefs.
“It’s all real and it’s all illusory: that’s Awareness!” ~ Ram Dass
1. Positive Affirmations
Affirmations are a classic self-help method for weeding out negative beliefs and planting new ones. They are short, positive phrases you repeat aloud or script in your manifestation journal.
Sometimes, people say affirmations don’t work for them, but they work if you do them correctly.
You must feel the feelings of your affirmation. Affirmations are best done right when you wake up or before bed when your mind is calm and relaxed so that your subconscious mind can absorb them.
Related: Complete Guide: How to Write Affirmations for Beginners
2. Forgiveness
Some limiting beliefs can feel like betrayals and hurt us deeply once we recognize them.
If this is the case, deeper healing may be necessary to work through the limiting belief you uncovered. You may benefit from working with a mental health professional or spiritual healer or from doing inner child work or shadow work independently.
Forgive the limiting belief you carried, forgive yourself for believing it, and forgive the person who made you believe that about yourself.
Forgiveness is essential when manifesting. It doesn’t mean you need to forget, but forgiveness frees your vibration so that you can live in the present and attract new situations instead of the old story.
Related: 33 Powerful Affirmations for Letting Go of The Past
3. The Revision Technique
Neville Goddard’s Revision and other manifesting techniques can help you reprogram your subconscious mind and overcome limiting beliefs!
The Revision Technique is potent because it allows you to rewrite your story and revise your past with visualization. You can change any past hurts or old ways of thinking.
4. Self-Love
Self-love work is another powerful way to overcome negative beliefs. Self-love is the foundation of your life and manifesting.
Lacking self-love undermines your abilities and potential to live a fulfilling life.
Self-love influences all beliefs, and by working on self-love, you will naturally develop more empowering beliefs. It will help you view yourself and the world around you more clearly.
Try self-love affirmations or self-healing techniques to bring more love into your system.
Closing Thoughts on How to Identify Limiting Beliefs
And voila! Now, you know how to identify your limiting beliefs and overcome them.
The main takeaway is that limiting beliefs is not your destiny! You can design your mind and design your life to your liking.
I hope this article helps you in your manifesting journey and brings your manifestation one step closer to you. May you live well, and I wish you many blessings, so much love, and joy!
You might also enjoy: How to Raise Your Vibration for Manifestation (+27 Ideas)
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