Examine limiting beliefs

Posted by Ken on December 13, 2011 in Belief systems, Ken's Blogs

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Have you ever really failed at anything you decided you wanted to do?

I’m not talking about your dreams to run a sub-four minute mile when you just started training last month. I’m talking about something that you established for yourself as a realistic goal and set out to accomplish it. One of the very first goals all of us had was to walk from one side of the room to another when we were an infant. Can anyone tell me that they succeeded the first time they tried? Heck, we couldn’t even stand up yet. But, consciously or subconsciously, we set our intentions to achieve that exact goal, and after many falls, bumps, and bruises, we not only walked from one side of the room to the other, we went even further, beyond our wildest dreams at the time. And then we started to run, climb stairs and dance.

Then we saw people riding bikes down the street and we decided we wanted that too. First there were the training wheels, we mastered that part pretty quickly. But then it was time to do it on our own without those balancing assistants. If you were anything like me, this part came with a lot of frustration and maybe even a kicked tire or two. And yes, a few more bumps and bruises, but then we accomplished that goal too.

When we were young, we didn’t have limiting belief systems. We never stopped trying, there was no concept of failing. We just kept taking steps forward every day and whatever we wanted, we moved forward and did. We learned to kick soccer balls, we learned to swing at baseballs, we learned to sing and create art. We just did it, there was no question about whether we would succeed or not. Even our parents and all their friends told us that we could be anything that we wanted to be, anything that we put our minds to. Do you ever wonder if the elite soccer player fell the first time he tried to kick a soccer ball, or the world class pianist struggled to put two notes together the first time she sat at a piano?

So what happens when we get older?

Have you ever thought about doing something and told yourself that you’ll just never be able to accomplish it, so you don’t even start. Maybe it was writing that book you’ve always wanted to write. But somewhere in your mind, you decide that you’ll never be able to be an author, or you decide to put it off until “some day”. How many of today’s successful authors had the same thoughts when they first put their mind to writing a book? I’ll bet many of them struggled when they first sat down at the typewriter (ok, maybe I’m dating myself) or computer, but I’m pretty sure the first thing they did was get rid of those limiting belief systems.

Where do our limiting belief systems come from? We create limiting belief systems within our mind. And we do it to ourselves. Maybe it’s after somebody else says to us – “oh, you’ll never be a singer” – and we accept it and move on to something else. But guess what, even though they gave you the thought, you’re the one that created the limiting belief system.

And guess who the only person that can get rid of those limiting belief systems is?

My father told me a story of a woman who was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis). After her diagnosis, she would tell people of her condition using the phrase “I have MS”. One day someone looked her in the eye and said, “you don’t have MS, MS has you.” And with that the woman changed her outlook and set her intention to participate in a marathon. And she did. The dis-ease didn’t go away, but the limiting belief system was gone forever.

Is there something else even simpler in a limiting belief system?

Two of the most common things I hear when people start to think about doing something different (maybe something they’ve always had a passion for or always wanted to do) is i) how will I make enough money at this to support myself and my family?, and ii) how can I leave my current job (even though I don’t like it very much, but it does pay the bills) in order to pursue my new passion? I think the irony in this thinking is that we end up in paralysis with our thoughts. Who says we have to drop everything at this moment to pursue the new dream, or who says we have to put all of our energy in one place? If you really want to do something new, you don’t just throw everything else away, you simply take steps forward in the new direction you’d like to go. Maybe you do have to stay in that old job for a while, but if you really want to pursue something different, you’ll set aside time for yourself and take those small steps forward. Before you know it, you actually start gaining momentum. And if you think about it, this is probably exactly what you did to get to where you are today. Things didn’t just happen overnight. You took steps forward, you learned lessons and skills along the way and you progressed. I believe that it is only a limiting belief system that makes us think we can’t do this again.

I still believe that I can do anything that I put my mind to. What are your limiting belief systems? Are you the next great musician? athlete? entrepreneur? politician? Is there a new relationship just waiting for you? Is there an outstanding career opportunity staring you in the face? Are you afraid to take that first small step? You weren’t when you were born, why should you be now!

Examine your limiting belief systems and expand into your own greatness.

If you’d like to share an interesting limiting belief story, send it along to [email protected].

Written by Ken

Ken Jaques describes himself as a Health Care Evolutionary, Community Builder, and Speaker. True healing begins when we treat root causes instead of just masking symptoms. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 2008, Ken has experienced many facets of the health care system. As “the only patient who ever lost their hair on this low of a dosage of chemotherapy” – as spoken by his rheumatologist – Ken has been on an amazing journal of self-discovery, a journey of true healing. In his blog, Ken shares stories of how his beliefs have changed over the past few years, and how they are still changing. Is it possible that our bodies can heal themselves? Do we really have to live without hope after we receive a chronic illness diagnosis? These are the types of questions that Ken encourages people to ask themselves as they embark on their own physical or emotional healing journey.

Ken is creating a platform to connect People, Patients, Practitioners, Partners and Promoters, enabling a collaborative effort to help shift the focus on health from I-llness to We-llness. Check out the pilot at www.myHealthyCommunity.ca.

“When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘we’, even I-llness becomes WE-llness” ~ Malcolm X