Throughout our lives, we tend to accumulate limiting beliefs—erroneous thoughts or belief systems that we accept as true—thereby keeping ourselves from moving forward. They can stop us from doing things that may be to our benefit. The world, unfortunately, entrains us to hold limiting beliefs, whether we mean for it to happen or not, so it’s important to understand what limiting beliefs are to be able to move forward and break free of their shackles.

Examples of limiting beliefs

Limiting beliefs can come from a lifetime of being told you’re not good enough, of being too hard on yourself, or from authority figures like managers, teachers or religious leaders. They are judgments you put on yourself that simply aren’t true, but can be detrimental to your personal growth and achievements if you don’t deal with them. Here are just a few examples of common limiting beliefs:

• I’m not good enough to do this.
• I’m not capable of doing something like this.
• I’m too young to do this.
• I’m too old to do that.
• I’m not smart enough to accomplish this.
• I don’t have enough money for that.
• I’m not worthy of this.
• I should avoid failures no matter what.
• I’m almost never right.

When taking Lifeline at the Monroe Institute, you’ll learn about the Belief System Territories and how they can hold people back from passing over completely after they die. Sometimes, when we expect the world and beyond to work a certain way, it can hold us back from accepting when things don’t go in that direction, and that’s dangerous, too. So, naturally, we need to learn how to drop these beliefs that aren’t serving us and be more fluid and accepting of different outcomes. 

How do you overcome limiting beliefs?

It’s imperative to release them, and meditation is an exceptional way to do so one baby step at a time. One thing I love about Monroe is that it offers many different meditations to break through limitations. There are many exercises presented in the home course SyncCreation to help you get rid of limiting beliefs, and there are some great options in the Expand app as well. “Releasing Limiting Beliefs” is a 20-minute exercise by Andrea Berger that you can use in Expand to help release these beliefs one at a time, as whether or not you realize it, they are holding you back.

I also find it crucial (and very helpful) to meditate daily and, near the end of my session, relax and release everything. Then, feeling open and connected to the world around me I announce, “I’m ready to push aside anything blocking my path or holding me back. I am ready to accept fully what the universe is sending my way.” I feel that opening up and pushing those blocks aside crucial to continue moving forward on the path life sets for you.