One of the most devastating human conditions is the limits we set ourselves. It is devastating because it stops us from becoming all that we can be and its devastating because it can be the very reason that deters your from your hopes and dreams

Many people are familiar with the Roger Bannister story. At the start of 1954, the sporting world did not believe that a human being could run a mile in under four minutes. Such a feat was deemed impossible and beyond human endurance. However, on May 6 1954, the English athlete Roger Bannister became the first person to break the four-minute mile barrier. It was seen as an astonishing achievement in the face of what was a strongly held belief.

Bannister’s record is an historical sporting moment, but what is not so widely known is that within the following twelve months, dozens of athletes went on to break the four-minute mile. Bannister had broken a belief in the limit of a human’s ability to run at such a pace and, consequently, opened a floodgate. What was once felt to be impossible is, today, commonplace.

As we can see from the above example, once you remove the current limiting belief holding back your life you will be able to achieve more. The reason athletes of that time believed the four minute mile was impossible was that they created a generalization or assumption. It wasn’t based on fact otherwise it would otherwise not have been possible to break it in 1954 and subsequently repeated shortly after. In other words your limiting beliefs in your life are not true or based on factual reality, they are merely generalizations for your life that you have deemed to be fact.

Our subconscious mind once given these generalizations and deemed them as fact will then go out and find evidence to support it. It is almost like a revolving door that never ends as you will undoubtedly find more and more supporting evidence of your “fact”.

So how do you overcome your limiting beliefs?

The first step is to write down all the limiting beliefs in your life. What do you think you can’t do or that you think is impossible for your life. Write down everything no matter how insignificant you think they are.

Then write down all the self talk that you give yourself that continues to validate this limiting belief in your life. Maybe you tell yourself that you just weren’t born to do it, maybe your not smart enough or old enough. Whatever the small talk that you give yourself that supports this limiting belief just write it down.

Now write down what this limiting belief has created for you. Is it because it has created a comfort zone so that you don’t have to step out?

Now that you have an idea of your limiting beliefs, write for each one the positive opposite of that belief. You are now going to rewrite your beliefs as though they are positive realities for your life. If your limiting belief was that you aren’t qualified for that better job then your opposite for that is that you are more than qualified and would make a positive contribution to the company because of your skills and talents.

Limiting beliefs because they are so ingrained will now need to be reprogrammed. Take your positive belief that you have just written and use it as an affirmation. Repeat it in the morning and in the evening. You need to start programming this new belief as a new reality for your life. Start writing down in a journal the positive changes that have resulted for your life because of this new found belief. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see changes straight away, all new beliefs take time to set in.