What are Limiting Beliefs and How to Break Free From Them

A limiting belief is an idea that we have about ourselves or life that blocks us from achieving what it is we truly want to achieve.

It begins with a limiting thought that what we tell ourselves over and over and over again until we fully accept it and come to believe it to be true. Examples: "I’m terrible with money" or “I can never be a business owner.”

Our limiting beliefs sit in our subconscious mind and thus stunt us from seeing—or believing in—possibility. And because of our mind’s confirmation bias (the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories), we are prone to believe what we want to believe. 

In essence, that’s exactly why you think you’re terrible with money or why you think you’re unworthy of true love—because you unconsciously look for reasons to affirm such beliefs.

The problem with our approach to breaking free from limiting beliefs is that we try to do it too fast, too quickly. But change takes time.

Here are the four steps involved in this process:

• Recognize the limiting belief.
• Reject it.
• Reframe it into an empowering belief.
• Be willing to see the change by taking it one step at a time.