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What Are Limiting Beliefs? 5 Simple Steps to Overcome Them

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What are limiting beliefs? And how can you successfully move past them?

If you’ve ever felt your dreams were “unrealistic” or too hard, this is for you. 

Today, you’ll learn exactly how to handle limiting beliefs so you can reach your goals like my student did:

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Want to learn more? 

Here are the steps:

1. Write down your limiting beliefs

2. Understand where these beliefs come from 

3. Trust your intuition

4. Reprogram your beliefs

5. Cultivate a growth mindset

What are limiting beliefs?

Limiting beliefs are your thoughts and convictions about your abilities and what’s possible for you

Quote with definition of limiting beliefs

And they’re often subconscious. So, you can have limiting beliefs without realizing it. 

These beliefs can also manifest in different ways (and we’ll talk about this more in a bit). 

For example, maybe you think you’re too old to do X. You might doubt your experience or think others won’t take you seriously. 

Listen, I get it. That was me. 

Even though I run a thriving eight-figure business today, I dealt with a lot of self-doubt in the beginning.

My family thought I was crazy when I told them I was leaving my “safe” 9-5 to become an entrepreneur.

And early on, prospective clients often turned me down because, as they said, “You’re too expensive” or (my personal favorite), “You look twelve!”

Rejection email (old)

Bottom line: People will think and say all kinds of things about your abilities. 

According to psychiatrist John Sharp, the important thing is to change what you tell yourself about what’s possible for you.

We’ll cover more specifics in a minute. For now, let’s talk about common limiting beliefs to avoid.

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10 common examples of limiting beliefs that are holding you back 

Some of these might sound familiar:

  • It’s never possible: “Others might be able to, but I could never do that myself.”
  • I’m an imposter, and soon enough, people will know I can’t: “I shouldn’t have gotten this promotion…I don’t have the right skills.”
  • I’m not lucky enough: “Success is out of my control.”
  • I’m too old/too young: “It’s too late/too soon for me to accomplish what I want to.”
  • Others have it easier than me: “I can’t succeed because I don’t have the same background as they do.”
  • I don’t deserve it: “I haven’t worked hard enough to deserve success.”
  • If I win, someone else loses: “It wouldn’t be fair if I did this.”
  • There’s a limit to how much I can do or make: “Most people don’t earn very much.”
  • It’s too hard/I’m not smart enough: “My teacher told me I don’t have what it takes.”
  • What will other people think if I do this: “People will judge me.”

All of these limiting beliefs are wrong. 

Take it from me: 

I was considered pretty “average” growing up. 

But I managed a team at a six-figure tech startup job by age 25. 

And now? I have an eight-figure business.

LZ at her desk

I wouldn’t have accomplished HALF of those things if I had focused on my self-doubt and not on the results I wanted.

You can overcome these limiting beliefs, too, no matter where or when you are in life. 

Now, let’s take the next step: Finding out where your limiting beliefs come from.

Where do limiting beliefs come from? 

All kinds of factors that can impact what limiting beliefs you have. For example, maybe you’ve tried something new and scary and it didn’t work out like you hoped it would, so now you doubt yourself. 

Other reasons are…

Education

The people who educated you, from teachers to parents, helped construct what you believe. 

Example: You were told that you didn’t have what it takes to do X, so even as an adult, you automatically assume you aren’t smart enough to try something new.

Family background

Your family impacts your beliefs, even subconsciously. 

Example: No one in your family has a degree, so you think college isn’t for you. 

Personal experience

The life experiences you have can cause limiting beliefs. 

Example: You often got carsick as a child, so now you avoid long car rides.

Look: I relate.

When I got my first paying client, I told my dad and he said, “How did you scam someone into paying you?”

Screenshot of PayPal payment
My first sale!

It was rough. 

I was the first entrepreneur in the family, and my dream of building my own thing didn’t make much sense to others. 

I faced a LOT of self-doubt. 

Success came because I used my mistakes to improve instead of giving up. 

Now that you know what limiting beliefs are, here’s how to free yourself from them.

1. Write down your limiting beliefs 

What are YOUR limiting beliefs? They’re a little different for everyone. Before you can address yours, you have to know what they are. 

I talk more about it in this video, so start here: 

For example, maybe you think you’re not qualified or smart enough to do X. Take some time to think about the irrational beliefs holding you back, and write them all down. 

First, create two columns. At the top of each column, write “Why I can’t do X” and “Why I can do X.”

Once you’ve written down all your limiting beliefs in the first column, write down the reasons why your beliefs are wrong.

Let’s look at a specific example. 

You want to start a business, but you don’t think you have what it takes. In that case, one of your limiting beliefs might be, “I don’t have the right skills”. 

How could you counter that?

One way would be to write, “I have everything I need to learn the skills I might be lacking.”

See how that thinking changes your perspective from “I can’t” to “I could”?

That’s the power of writing down your limiting beliefs and countering them with logic.

2. Understand where these beliefs come from 

Ask yourself, “Why do I think I can’t do this?” 

For example, let’s say you’re starting a health coaching business, and one of your limiting beliefs is, “I don’t have what it takes to help my clients get results.”

In that case? 

Think about it from this perspective: The fact you’re concerned about not being able to provide results means you actually CARE about helping people. 

And that’s a great sign because it means you’re approaching your business with the right goals in mind. 

Once you’ve identified your specific fears, it’s much easier to address them and prove to yourself they’re not insurmountable, like we saw earlier.

So, if you’re worried about not being able to offer results, ask yourself WHY you’re worried about that. 

Because if you have relevant experience, even if you haven’t formally coached before, there’s no reason why you can’t offer value. 

Obviously, I don’t recommend becoming, say, a business coach if you’ve never started a successful business yourself. But if you have the right background, you ARE capable of helping people get results. And with enough time and effort, you can always get that background.

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3. Trust your intuition  

Deep down, what do YOU think about your abilities? Because here’s what you have to remember: As humans, we often react to things without using logic. 

In fact, one of my clients once asked for advice on how to deal with imposter syndrome, and she said, “I know it’s not logical, but…”

And that’s the point I want to drive home here: Your limiting beliefs aren’t logical.

Many times, we let our emotions dictate what we believe is possible or not. But if we stopped and thought about it, we’d realize we absolutely have what it takes

So, block out the comparisons and what other people think for a second. Re-read the list you made earlier that shows just how possible your goals are. 

You DO have what it takes. Now, it’s time to rework the way you think so you never forget it..

4. Reprogram your beliefs  

To get rid of limiting beliefs, you have to change your thought process surrounding whatever it is you have limiting beliefs about. 

Let’s look at a common example: Money. 

For a lot of people, money is a sensitive topic (which I cover in more detail here):

But let me know if this sounds familiar…

You’ve been told that to earn a good living, you basically have one set of steps:

 Study hard in school

  • Major in something “safe” 
  • Get a salaried job after graduation in your chosen field
  • And work a 9-5 until your retirement at 65 

As I shared earlier, that’s the path I started down myself

In my family, money was difficult to earn. I didn’t grow up in an environment that fostered an entrepreneurial mindset.

I wasn’t exposed to people who told me it was possible to earn money without having to work a salaried job. 

Quite the opposite. 

I was taught to feel guilty about earning money. In fact, when I got my first salary, which was $60,000, my dad told me I didn’t deserve to earn that much.

The good news? I was able to turn that thinking around, and so can you. 

Specifically, here are three things you can start doing right now.

Learn about rich people

How did they get to where they are? How do they think about money? 

Exposing yourself to people who are successful helps expand your thinking. 

But don’t compare your progress to theirs. Focus on their mindset, not on how quickly they became rich. 

Work on your mindset

This is a process, so you shouldn’t expect results overnight. But the idea is to constantly challenge your limiting beliefs and replace them with beliefs that serve you. 

Example: Instead of thinking, “Will this work?” think, “How will I make this work?” Focus on what’s possible instead of on self-doubt. 

I talk more about this here:

Read books about improving your mindset 

Here are some options I recommend:

There are plenty more, too. Pick one that works for you, take in what you learn, then pick another one. Stick with this approach to avoid burnout or feeling overwhelmed.

Timing is also essential

Another thing to help reduce your limiting beliefs?

Getting your timing right so you can increase your chances of success. 

According to an analysis of hundreds of startups, timing made the difference between success and failure a whopping 42% of the time.

Timing determines success

Knowing the importance of timing means you don’t have to count on luck to know if something will work or not. 

Instead, you can study trends in your industry to figure out what people want, take action based on that, and feel confident in what you’re doing. 

I talk more about this here:

5. Cultivate a growth mindset  

Failure scares you if you’re anything like I used to be. And maybe that’s a major limiting belief you struggle with: “This will never work.”

If so, remember this: Failure isn’t final. Even Bill Gates worried that Microsoft wouldn’t be successful

Take it from me: Early on, I got rejected more times than I can count. 

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But because I didn’t quit, eventually, I got a “Yes,” which led to another and another, and the rest is history. 

The key here is to focus on what you can do to move forward. 

For example, if you’re using Facebook groups to reach out to potential clients, you can’t control who responds. But you can control how many pitches you send and how good they are, so work on that.

Using these steps, you’ll be well on your way to overcoming the obstacles holding you and many others back from their dream jobs and lives. 

But your journey isn’t over just yet.

What’s next? 

Okay, now you know what limiting beliefs are and exactly how you can move past them.

So, what’s the next step?

Around here, I only teach what I’ve actually done because you don’t have time for outdated advice that doesn’t work.

That’s why I created a free PDF to help you build a six-figure business – without the fluff. Take a look:

Want to Build a 6-Figure Coaching Business So You Can Achieve More Freedom?

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Read more: 

Important Skills of the Most Successful Entrepreneurs

How to Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset

How to Start a Successful Coaching Business 

About Luisa Zhou

Luisa Zhou has helped thousands of students build and scale their own profitable online coaching business. Fun Fact: She used to work as an engineer for the Space Station and holds a B.S.E. from Princeton. Click here to learn more about Luisa.

Hope you enjoy this blog post.

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