Overpowering Your Upper Limiting Beliefs

mindset success upper limiting beliefs Jun 15, 2023

Building success requires hard work, determination, and a strategic mindset allowing you to think fast and act even faster. Despite this, even the most talented and driven individuals can fall victim to self-sabotage, something that often occurs subconsciously, manifesting itself in various behavioural patterns.

These patterns limit our productivity, may damage our reputation, and stop us from achieving the lofty goals that we set for ourselves. The good news is that we can explore and address our behaviour and then develop methods to overcome our upper limiting beliefs.

Recognising Limiting Beliefs

It’s evident that some people are simply able to achieve amazing results with very little friction. They find it easy to stick to their goals and go above and beyond in achieving them. However, many people say to me that they feel stuck in a position where they are unable to take the next step forward.

This could be occurring at any phase of any goal in our life. It could be that they are unable to make the leap to start their own business, they could be stuck in a middle management position and are unable to get a promotion, it could be that they are in a top leadership position and can’t improve on results.

The thing with our upper limiting beliefs is that we can’t outrun them, because they are self-imposed barriers. They might not have stopped us on our career journey so far, and suddenly they appear at the seemingly worst time to stop us in our tracks.

Upper limiting beliefs can manifest themselves in a number of ways, displayed as procrastination, fear of failure, imposter syndrome, and other self-destructive behaviours. In both our personal and professional lives, this can lead to missed opportunities and poor decision-making, holding us back from our true potential.

An example of this that I came across was a really capable leader who, no matter how hard he worked, no matter what incredible results he was producing, couldn’t gain promotion to upper management. When I began coaching him, it became really easy for me to identify what his limiting beliefs were and how he was causing self-sabotage to stop him from moving up.

The way he was dealing with his superiors was phenomenally different to how he dealt with his team members and customer base. He had a hard time accepting advice and constructive criticism from upper management, and had no idea that his emotional management was the thing that was stopping him from good recommendations.

When I questioned him about this, it became clear to us both that he felt that he needed to compensate for his lack of formal education by being argumentative with those above him in the organisation. It was his way of hiding his lack of belief in himself. He had never come to terms with the fact that his own self-image was stuck in a negative state, despite the fact that he had built so many credentials for himself through his career, more so than many people with degrees and diplomas!

Once he became knowledgeable about why he was stuck, it was almost too easy to develop a step-by-step plan on how to repair and improve the relationships with his superiors and get him to move up in his career.

Changing Belief Systems

That’s the thing about belief systems, even though they are deeply ingrained in our mindset, they’re not permanent. A belief in itself is nothing more than a thought that has been repeated so many times that your subconscious mind has decided to accept it as a fact.

Changing your belief system is down to addressing your false perceptions and assumptions, and implementing real tools and steps every day to help us break free from our mental barriers.

Sometimes there is a very real blind spot that we simply don’t have the emotional maturity or fearlessness to address. For most people, it is really scary to address. These belief systems may have been produced by traumatic experiences, bad memories, times in our life that we never want to think about again.

This is why having someone to help you such as a coach, mentor, or close friend can help you shift that belief system into something that represents the truth, because in my experience, rarely are our upper limiting beliefs seated in facts and evidence.

Once you have addressed that these beliefs aren’t real, they’re based on no evidence, and they don’t reflect the truth, we can stop, rewind, and start setting out goals and expectations that we should be aiming for to help us overcome these beliefs.

Define Your Goals

It takes a lot of courage to confront and dismantle belief systems that have been intrinsic to your mindset for a long time. Taking this step requires redefining goals with clarity and determination. By removing the barriers that held you back, you are able to open up a world of possibilities and pave the way for unprecedented personal and professional growth.

Setting meaningful goals requires introspection and a deep understanding of what truly drives and fulfils you. Take the time to reflect on your passions, values, and aspirations.

Ask yourself the important questions:

What do I truly want to achieve?
What brings me joy and a sense of purpose?
Where do I see myself in the future?

Be ambitious yet realistic in your goal-setting. Aim for targets that stretch your capabilities while remaining within the realm of possibility. It’s not just about the end result but also the journey that leads you there. Break your goals down into smaller, actionable steps that can be measured and tracked. This approach ensures steady progress and allows for course corrections along the way.

Start Now

You're going to enjoy the growth that you get, and then you'll be able to start accomplishing things and inspiring others in a way that you have never done before. The only thing that's stopping you right now is you.

If you start today, that’s one less day in your life that you are held back by false, unfounded beliefs, and that’s one day closer to you achieving the greatness that is waiting for you.

Start your journey

Every day is a chance to make positive changes. Get in touch with Reem Borrows at Dreem Coaching & Consulting today to see how her custom-built workshops can help grow and develop your business and self to create lasting success.