Did you know you are thinking 95 % of the same thoughts habitually every day? 

The way you view the world and yourself is the very reason why you have or don’t have the things that you want in Life. Universal Teachings say limiting beliefs live in the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. In other words, the only reason you don’t have something you want is that you hold a belief against it. This is a hot topic for so many. There are tons of videos, books, programs, and the like out there on becoming aware of your limiting beliefs. Over the years, I’ve learned different things. In this blog post, I’ll put it all together. This is how I understand limiting beliefs, and how to become aware of them.

How belief systems are formed

When we are children, the environment around us sets up our belief systems. We soak up everything that people say, and we accept that as truth. The age of 2 – 7 is when we are most impressionable. Parents, teachers, grandparents, and authority figures in general help to shape these belief systems. This is why many of us grow up with the belief that we have to work hard for money or that family always comes first, whether they’re toxic or not. Or brushing your teeth twice a day, or always looking left and right before crossing the road. All these are beliefs we adopt. Every person will have a different belief system from someone else. Maybe a parent said something to you when you were little and you took that as truth. It became programmed into your subconscious mind and now it’s part of what you believe to be true.

How to become aware of whether something is a limiting belief or not

If you look at your life, your career, and how you view the world, you will be able to identify what beliefs you have that don’t serve you. As adults, this is so ingrained into our subconscious minds, that we don’t question it. But I want to tell you that there is no truth. Psychology teaches that what you see as the truth is only your perception of something. It’s your opinion that’s been derived from your set of belief systems. A lens that you view things through, and you perceive whether it’s accurate or not based on what your beliefs are.

Isn’t this knowledge freeing? When we learn that what we’ve believed all along is just a perception, and a perception can be changed – that’s the key to how you take control of your life. If what you believe serves you perfectly, then it’s not a limiting belief. If what you believe doesn’t serve you, then you know it’s a limiting belief. And it can be changed.

As an example, I was bullied a lot when I was in school. This led me to form beliefs that I wasn’t worthy of being loved. I didn’t know it for years, and it was only when I started doing personal development work, that I realized I had the power to change it. Changing those beliefs, rewriting, and wiring some new ones for myself helped me to change my reality. Did the emotional work, and began to believe that I was worthy of everything I wanted and I wasn’t the underdog anymore. I just believed I was one before because I had to struggle for a seat at the table for most of my life. And that came about as a result of how I grew up. See how this works?

How to bring awareness to your life

Bringing awareness to yourself happens by becoming present in every moment. Our thoughts run on autopilot for most of the day. We lead busy lives and we’re multi-tasking a lot of the time. You could be making a cup of coffee and your thoughts are going a hundred miles a minute about something else. And those thoughts, like I said earlier are 95 % of the same thoughts you habitually thought about yesterday. Those thoughts are doing two things:

  • becoming ingrained in your brain and subconscious mind because you keep thinking those thoughts over and over again
  • gathering momentum and creating your reality (thoughts become things)

You have to slow your brain down, to become aware of what those thoughts are. And you do this by practicing how to be present in every moment. When you’re making a cup of coffee, be present in that. When you’re driving, be present in that. You need to keep practicing this. People use different forms of reflection to slow their minds down and to get present in the moment. Meditation, yoga and breathwork is very popular for this purpose. Take the time to become aware, because when you’re aware of what beliefs don’t serve you, you can change them.

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