Breaking Through Limiting Beliefs
Written by Eloisa Guynn
As entrepreneurs and small business owners, we often find ourselves facing a ton of challenges and setbacks on our journey toward success. From navigating the complexities of the market to managing day-to-day operations, the entrepreneurial path is fraught with as many obstacles as there are opportunities. To make it even more challenging, success looks different to everyone. One of the most formidable, crippling obstacles we all encounter in business is often overlooked and internal: limiting beliefs.
What Are Limiting Beliefs?
Limiting beliefs are deeply ingrained convictions about ourselves and the world around us that hold us back from reaching our full potential. They are the negative narratives we tell and believe about ourselves, often based on past experiences or conditioning, that undermine our confidence and hinder our progress. A limiting belief is the little, but sometimes very loud, voice in our head that plays on repeat as reasons why we can’t reach our goals or achieve success. "I'm not good enough," "I don't deserve success," or "I'll never be able to achieve that" are some of the many examples of limiting beliefs playing on repeat in our minds.
How Do Limiting Beliefs Impact Your Business?
The influence of limiting beliefs on business success cannot be overstated. Limiting beliefs can impede innovation, stifle creativity, and prevent us from taking the risks necessary to take our business to the next level. Limiting beliefs can often act as blinders, hiding the many opportunities for both personal and professional growth that exist all around us. When we allow limiting beliefs, often rooted in fear, to dictate our actions, they become self-fulfilling prophecies, sabotaging our efforts and perpetuating a cycle of defeat. By shedding these beliefs, you can open your eyes to the wealth of possibilities waiting for you and transform your life and business.
Imagine a small business owner who harbors a deep-seated fear of failure. As a result, they may shy away from taking risks or pursuing ambitious growth opportunities. They might resist expanding their product line, entering new markets, or investing in marketing initiatives due to the fear of potential setbacks or failure. This limiting belief can stagnate the business's growth potential and prevent them from capitalizing on promising opportunities that can propel their business towards success.
Consider an entrepreneur who grapples with imposter syndrome, constantly doubting their own abilities and feeling unworthy of success. Despite their talents and accomplishments, they may downplay their achievements and attribute their success to luck or external factors. This pervasive limiting belief and self-doubt can undermine their confidence and prevent them from seizing leadership opportunities, pursuing ambitious projects, or seeking out mentorship and support. As a result, they may struggle to realize their full potential and make meaningful contributions to their business and industry.
How to Examine and Eliminate Limiting Beliefs
Awareness of Your Limiting Beliefs
The first step in overcoming limiting beliefs is to become aware of their existence. Half of the equation of eliminating limiting beliefs is awareness and acknowledgment that they even exist. If you don’t recognize that you have limiting beliefs, how can you examine and challenge them? Since you’re reading this article, it’s safe to say that you're already aware that you have some limiting beliefs that are affecting your business.
Identify and Examine Your Limiting Beliefs
Where does this limiting belief stem from?
Begin by exploring the origins of your limiting beliefs. Reflect on past experiences, childhood influences, societal norms, or cultural conditioning that may have contributed to the formation of these beliefs. Understanding the root cause can provide valuable insights into why you hold these beliefs and how they impact your behavior.
Is this limiting belief true?
Challenge the validity of your limiting beliefs by questioning their accuracy. Ask yourself whether there is concrete evidence to support these beliefs or if they are based on assumptions or misconceptions. More often than not, you'll find that many limiting beliefs lack any real evidence to be true and are merely self-imposed barriers to progress that are rooted in fear, not facts.
What if this limiting belief is wrong?
Consider the possibility that your limiting beliefs are simply wrong. Is it possible that they may be unfounded or inaccurate? Open your mind and explore alternative perspectives and imagine what could be possible if this limiting belief is indeed wrong. What can you accomplish? Where can you take your business? By embracing a mindset of curiosity and openness, you can uncover new opportunities and possibilities beyond the confines of your limiting beliefs.
How does this limiting belief serve you today?
Examine the role that your limiting beliefs play in your life and business. While these beliefs may have served a protective function in the past, they may no longer be relevant or beneficial in your current circumstances. Take each limiting belief one by one and carefully examine it. Does this limiting belief still serve you today? Does it make you a better person or a better business owner? Does this limiting belief enhance your life in any way, shape, or form? If your answer is no to any of these questions, it’s time to let the limiting belief go. Goodbye. Sayonara. Adios. Bye. Let it go and move forward towards unleashing your full potential.
Reframe Your Limiting Beliefs
Once you've identified and examined your limiting beliefs, the next step is to reframe them in a more positive and empowering light. Reframing involves shifting your perspective and adopting alternative interpretations that actually support your growth and success. Replace self-limiting statements with statements grounded in truth that affirm your capabilities and potential.
For example, instead of saying, "I'm not good enough," and struggling with self-doubt and imposter syndrome, think about your achievements that have gotten you this far in your business and reframe your statement to "I have accomplished X, Y, and Z. I am crushing it and am capable of going even further." By actively challenging and reframing your limiting beliefs in this manner, you can liberate yourself from their constraints and find motivation and inspiration to keep pushing your business to new heights. Remember guys, life is full of opportunities that are just waiting to be explored. The only limit in business is the one you set for yourself.
Breaking through limiting beliefs is a transformative journey that requires courage, commitment, and a willingness to challenge the status quo. By shifting your perspective and embracing a growth mindset, you truly can overcome internal limiting beliefs, unlock your full potential, and chart a new course toward lasting success and fulfillment in your business.
If any of this resonates with you, and you’d like some 1:1 guidance on breaking through your limiting beliefs, click here to book a FREE session with me to get started. This session is designed to transition you from feeling stuck, doubtful, and insecure to breaking through your limiting beliefs to be confident, empowered, and back to growing your business.
About the Author
Eloisa is an accountant and business coach who helps entrepreneurs break through financial confusion, overcome roadblocks, and take bold, strategic action. By blending numbers with strategy, she empowers business owners to scale with confidence, create lasting success, and build a business that truly supports their vision.
