GAILs stands for Gremlins, Assumptions, Interpretations, and Limiting Beliefs--the key energy blocks that reflect how we think about our challenges. This four-part series is designed to help us face our GAILs head-on.
In this final post we tackle:
A Limiting Belief is something we believe that limits us--or holds us back--in some way. They can be about others or the world around us, but they're usually related to our self or our identity.
Somewhere along the way, we witnessed or heard or read something that became part of our core belief system. It's this idea hanging over our heads that we can't do *this* because of *that,* so why even bother?
I don't. I can't. I mustn't. I'm not. . . .
These are words/phrases to watch out for, because they're likely to precede a Limiting Belief, which look something like this:
Because I'm a "math person," I could never write a book.
First novels don't sell well, anyway, so there's no need to promote myself too hard.
As a guy, I can't write a good romance novel.
As a girl, I can't write a story narrated by a guy.
I don't read horror, so I could never write a scary book.
Because I was raised this way, I could never write about that.
The problem?
Yeah. It's pretty obvious that if we act with a Limiting Belief in mind, we're going to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. We don't think we can write a book, so we don't try. We don't think a first book will sell well, so we don't promote. We don't read horror, so we never try to write a horror story. When, in actuality, if we put aside our beliefs for a moment, sit down and read the books and learn more about the subject and put our pens to the page, we could probably do the thing.
The key? Know that a Limiting Belief is a false conclusion and recognize when we may be acting on one. Determine what the belief is, its origin, and replace it with a more empowering belief.
To do this, we should ask ourselves:
What is it that I believe that's keeping me from being my true self?
Where did this belief come from?
What does this belief do for me?
What is it costing me?
How true is this belief really?
What would my life look like if I got rid of this belief?
What step could I take today that challenges the Limiting Belief and moves me closer toward my dreams/goals?
And always: Be Brilliant!
~Katie~
Other posts in this series:
Gremlins
Assumptions
Interpretations
