This past January I wrote a post about The Basics of the Law of Cause & Effect in which I pointed out the principle of this law is that everything happens for a reason, for every effect, there is a specific cause. This is what I call a “Master Law” in that there are a few subsequent laws that feed into the Law of Cause & Effect, one of which is the Law of Belief. I won’t say it’s in every case and at the same time, most generally the law holds true that people act in a manner which is consistent with their beliefs. This is especially true concerning what you believe about yourself.
For instance, if you believe that you are a person who is always destined to remain below a certain net worth or a certain income amount, those beliefs about yourself will act as filters which will screen out information that is inconsistent with them, therefore keeping you within the net worth or income amount you believe you are destined to achieve or deserve. The Law of Belief acts as the calibrator for our perceptions in that you do not necessarily believe what you see, but rather you see what you already believe. You will reject information that is not congruent with what you have already decided to believe, whether or not your beliefs, your values, and your judgments are based on fact or fantasy.
The Law of Belief acts as the calibrator for our perceptions in that you do not necessarily believe what you see, but rather you see what you already believe.
Your most deeply entrenched beliefs about yourself (and others… and everything else too) may not actually be true at all. These particular belief filters are called self-limiting beliefs in which you believe yourself to be limited in some way. For those who have lower self-esteem, it’s perhaps because they believe others are superior to them in some way, or you may think yourself to be less talented or less capable than others. This is commonly known as selling yourself short and then settling for far less than your talent and raw ability can help you produce. These things then act as breaks and chokeholds on your released potential, they keep your potential in the unrealized and unutilized space, and they generate two great enemies of your success.
Doubt and fear.
This powerful combo then begins to produce paralysis and hesitation on taking calculated and intelligent risks that are required for you to convert more of your unused potential into actual and useful results. In my work with executives, this is a very common limitation. Somewhere along the line, their beliefs begin to tell them that they have already succeeded beyond the place they ever thought they would arrive. Perhaps they are also the most successful person ever in their immediate family. These are two common places where good enough and settling start to form in thoughts and beliefs.
In order to continue to progress onward and/or upward, you must continually challenge any self-limiting beliefs. This is true in relationships, income, position and any area of life in which you want to excel into superior performance. Reaching elite status in any endeavor is called elite because few do it. It’s not because only a few CAN do it, it’s because only a few WILL do it. It takes discipline to reject any thought or suggestion that you are in any way limited. You must stop comparing yourself to others and thinking they are somehow luckier than you, perhaps smarter than you, born on the right day and so on and so forth. This is why we call these thoughts, stinking thinking. Because it’s a rotten and putrid thought process that can only bring you down and not push you upward.
In order to challenge your beliefs, you must identify what they are and then examine why you believe them, ideally with the help of a coach, advisor or trusted mentor.
Why do you believe what you believe?
Why do you believe in yourself?
Why do you believe in what you are doing?
Why do you not believe you can do better?
Why do you not believe in what you are doing?
In what ways are you limited and why do you believe that?
What would be the best way to free your thought life from doubt and fear in order to put your thought life into position with no limitations? What is at the root cause of your beliefs that are creating your own limitations?
Who can you talk to that will give you honest feedback about your self-limiting thoughts and talk? Again, a coach, advisor or mentor would be best, close friends and family would be worst. They already love us how we are and there could be fear of hurt feelings and damaged relationships. Great coaches and advisors do not worry about that as much as helping you get to the root cause of the issue.
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