Psychology Behind limiting beliefs

Psychology behind limiting beliefs

          There are limits for everything that can be done on planet earth but most of us never come close to reaching those limits. We typically create these limiting beliefs in our brains of the most we can accomplish out of given circumstances because we haven’t seen or heard of anyone else accomplishing more.

         

          People have a tendency to follow orders and copy people. If you never saw or heard anyone becoming successful by taking a particular path, you are least likely to take it. Similar to Robert Frost’s Road less travel by most people take the common road because people have a tendency to do what everyone is doing. Monkey see Monkey do.

          Successful people never do what most people are doing. Part of being successful is being different from most people. There are two ways in which successful people approach a limiting belief. They either push through it or run far away from it.

          Some successful people look at what everyone else is doing and decides to not only copy it, but to do it better than it has ever been done. This is common in the entertainment industry such as music and sports. People who try to pursue something that is common in a new way usually end up successful. Instead of having a limiting belief like most people on this common road, they decide to see how far the road really goes.

          Other successful people look at what everyone else is doing and decide to do things completely different. Typically, we see this through the inventions of new technology or social platforms. These type of successful people use limiting beliefs to put behind them because they have unseen visions out in front of them. Visionaries usually attempt things that have never been attempted before. Most people doubt visionaries because most people have a limited belief that if no one has ever been successful at doing it, then you can’t possibly be successful at doing it.

          Limiting beliefs should not hold us back. These beliefs are the food the fuels confirmation bias. So many people will always believe that seeing is believing, thus if they never saw it, it is not possible. This limiting belief kills creativity and innovation. We need to get rid of limiting beliefs to stretch our comfortable zone. The more uncomfortable situations in life in which we can become comfortable with, the more likely we are to be successful and not fall victim to a limiting belief.