Bravely embarking on a path towards overall wellness and well-being is a transformative journey, but often, limiting beliefs can act as roadblocks. In this blog post, we explore strategies to overcome these mental barriers and stay firmly on track toward the realization of your aspirations.

1. Identify Your Limiting Beliefs

The first step to changing any habit, which a limiting belief is a habit of thought, is to bring awareness to it without judgement.
You cannot change something that you are not aware of! Read that again!

Bringing awareness to the beliefs that hold you back or are no longer serving your highest good with compassion is key. Whether these beliefs are rooted in fear, self-doubt, self-hatred, or traumatic past experiences, pinpointing these beliefs is vital for initiating change.

2. Challenge Your Inner Critic

Next, we must challenge that negative voice within, because when you challenge the validity of a limiting belief by questioning its origin then these beliefs begin to lose their power over you.

In Dr. Russel Kennedy’s book Anxiety RX, he describes the inner critic as the voice of your younger self. The younger version of YOU who may have not always felt safe or loved and created these limiting beliefs to create a sense of safety, belonging, or protection.

So, at some point in your life this inner critic, your younger self, did what it felt it needed to do in order to keep you safe and protected. However, now that we are older this inner critic may be holding you back from unveiling your authentic self to the world.

For me, the limiting beliefs I have been working to overcome are: “I am not enough,” and “I am not worthy…” After becoming aware of my own limiting beliefs and writing them down through my journaling practice, and working with an amazing mental health counselor I have learned these beliefs started when I was very young, around 5-7 years old. Growing up I never felt like I was “good enough, smart enough,”to “win” my parent’s approval or attention.

Now, that I know the origin, and it is a lot more personal than that, but that is for me and my therapist to know, I am able to give myself love and compassion. I have pictures of myself around this age throughout my house and I look at them often and remind myself now that I was in fact ENOUGH and WORTHY then and I am enough and worthy now!

3. Cultivate a Growth Mindset

Shifting from a fixed or threat mindset to a growth or ‘challenge’ mindset is the next step. Learn to embrace challenges as opportunities for learning and development. Learn to view setbacks as stepping stones to foster resilience, allowing you to persevere during challenging times.

In life it is normal to face set backs and difficult times, but how you respond and view those events is up to you. Learn and grow from life’s challenges and don’t shame yourself for being human and making mistakes.

The Telomere Effect by Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD; and Elissa Epel, PhD, is a great resource for cultivating a ‘challenge’ response to stress. In the book, they go into depth on how a ‘threat’ response vs. ‘challenge’ response to stressful events effects aging and they give you more researched back ways to cultivate a growth or ‘challenge’ mindset.

4. Visualization and Affirmations

Harness the power of visualization and positive affirmations! For instance, Envision yourself overcoming challenges with a growth mindset or visualize yourself achieving your goals before they happen.

• FEEL how it feels in your body to overcome challenges with your head held high, and/or how it FEELS to achieve your goals.
• Memorize that feeling in your body, then go out and live your life with that feeling and the deep rooted belief that you can overcome any challenge with a growth mindset and that you can achieve any goal you set your mind and heart too.

Positive affirmations that are personal to you, repeated consistently and regularly, literally reprogram your subconscious mind. This reinforces the positive beliefs and diminishes those limiting ones!

I look at limiting beliefs as negative affirmations that we have repeated subconsciously for many years, decades even. Now, we have to replace them with positive affirmations and beliefs that serve our highest good.

Word of caution — BE PATIENT. If the limiting beliefs have been repeated for most of your life then it will take time to replace them. So, stay consistent and know that you are worth the effort!

5. Surround Yourself with Positivity

Build a supportive environment and community around you. Seek out individuals who uplift, inspire, and support your authentic self. Limit your interactions with those that bring you down, especially in the beginning when you are learning these new skills.

6. Break Goals into Manageable Steps

Divide your goals into smaller, bite sized steps. Tackling challenges incrementally minimizes feelings of overwhelm and anxiety, and makes the journey more enjoyable and achievable. For example,

• Goal 1 — Bring awareness to your thoughts for a few weeks. Journal about your current thoughts, beliefs and triggers you currently have.
• Goal 2 — Put post-its of positive affirmations all over your house in high traffic areas. Read them daily out loud or in your head every time you see them.
• Goal 3 — Set aside 2 minutes a day for visualization or meditation. Visualize yourself facing challenges with grace and resilience. Visualize yourself being the confident person you were always meant to be, and feel what that feels like in your body.
• Goal 4 — Embody the confident and self-loving person you envisioned yourself being, because you ARE that person. That side of you has just been hiding behind a wall of fear and limiting beliefs. Keep choosing to be that person day in and day out.

7. Celebrate ALL Wins

Acknowledge and celebrate every accomplishment, no matter how minor they may seem. Seemingly “small” victories create positive momentum towards being the person you were always meant to be. I like to say each of these wins is like a vote towards your goals and your authentic self, the self that is not controlled or affected by limiting beliefs.

8. Seek Feedback and Learn

Invite in constructive feedback from outside perspectives that you respect and from those that truly want the best for you. Learning from experiences, allows you to refine your growth and reinforces a sense of self-efficacy.

9. Affirmations of Self-Worth

Recognize and believe to your core your intrinsic value.

You ARE worthy.

You ARE beautiful.

You ARE enough.

RIGHT NOW.

Continue to practice affirmations focused on your intrinsic self-worth which can continue to deteriorate limiting beliefs, and that foster a mindset rooted in self-confidence.

PRO tip — I have found that repeating them is good, but truly believing these affirmations to your core is even more powerful and valuable. Write them down over and over. Say them out loud, like, in front of a mirror. Feel the love that you are fostering for yourself every single time you say and believe these words. Know that these words and feelings are real!

10. Continue Reflection and Adaptation

Make time to regularly reflect on your journey. You can add this to your normal daily routine, like, when you take a bath or at the end of the day when you are getting ready for bed or with your journaling routine.

I am a huge advocate of a regular journaling practice as it has been such a valuable tool to my own personal healing and wellness journey.

Reflection through journaling is just a powerful tool to take the mishmash of thoughts from your head to paper or an online journal or journal app.

Assess your beliefs as they evolve and adapt strategies as needed. Remember this is YOUR own unique journey and this is an ongoing process.

In Conclusion…

Overcoming limiting beliefs is not a one-step task, but an ongoing commitment to self-discovery, self-love, and empowerment. By consistently implementing these strategies day in and day out, overtime you will cultivate the resilience and mental strategies needed to face challenges with dignity and persevere on your wellness journey. Be compassionate and understanding to yourself along the way, believe that you can achieve anything and nothing will be able to stop you! You can do this! Believe in yourself as much as I believe in you. 🤍✨

Book recommendations and additional resources —

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• High Five Habit by Mel Robbins
• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza
• Day One Journal — Overcoming Limiting Beliefs with Journal Prompts

What are some of your favorite books, strategies and tips for overcoming limiting beliefs?! Comment below! 📝