Four Steps to Deactivate Limiting Beliefs That Hinder Your Progress

7/24/2022

Limiting beliefs are beliefs that limit your progress and growth in life. Learn the 4-step process to start deactivating them as soon as you feel you’re not progressing with your goals.

What are beliefs?

Beliefs are conclusive statements we accepted as true at a particular moment. If the acceptance didn’t happen immediately, as it happens when we are in danger, it happens by repetition as we play those statements over and over in our heads. The repetitive act of thinking about our conclusions is what turns them into beliefs.

Beliefs are at the source of everything we think can be possible or not. Not only that, but they’re at the foundation of our identity and our safety. It's only natural to record conclusions in our memory about what caused us harm and pain in the past so we avoid them in the future.

Now, to make progress in life we need empowering beliefs to help us move forward. Our progress is hindered when our beliefs about a particular subject are limited.

What are limiting beliefs?

Depending on the levels of stress in our lives is the part of the brain we function from the most. If we are stressed out most of the time, most of our thoughts and beliefs will be influenced by the brain stem—the first layer of the brain to form which is mostly focused on survival and no progress.

If our levels of stress are low, the part of the brain we mostly function from is our neocortex—the third and last layer of the brain to form which is mostly focused on our lives, our growth, and ourselves.

Limiting beliefs form when the conclusive statements we accept as true come from the brain stem. In particular, when we are stressed out or our fear and aggression response is activated.

They're limited beliefs because the most primitive part of the brain (which is all about survival and no progress) is in charge of our life perception.

Why we don’t make progress

Everyone has ingrained within us the need to grow and evolve—the need to make progress: to earn more money, to live a better life, to become our best version.

When we don’t make progress in any of the areas of life that are important to us, it’s usually because we have limiting beliefs that are hindering us.

When we live from limiting beliefs (thoughts created merely to survive), there is no time for creativity, creation, or progress. Just survival.

In this case, we first lower our stress levels, and then we start looking within ourselves to dig those limiting beliefs out one by one to deactivate them.

4-Step process to deactivate limiting beliefs

Identify one goal you’ve been having trouble accomplishing.
Identify the patterns you keep repeating that prevent you from achieving your goal.
Identify the limiting beliefs that come up as you identify those patterns.
Question each one of those limiting beliefs until you are certain they’re not longer true, relevant, or valid for you. Once you're certain each limiting belief is no longer true for you, find what is relevant, valid, and true for you now so your belief can be updated. If you're still certain a particular limiting belief is true, come back to it later and move on to the next limiting belief for now.

Repeat these 4 steps as often as needed for each one of the limiting beliefs you identify.

It’s even more effective to deactivate limiting beliefs if you combine this process with some form of energy healing.

You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights. ―Brian Tracy

There are many other forms to deactivate limiting beliefs. Most of the time bringing them out in the open, for us to become consciously aware of them, is enough to deactivate them. Recruit the help of a professional therapist if you feel you need help.

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