I received an email from a business associate today. Attached was an interesting article titled “What You SAY Is What You Get; How To Speak Your Way To Success” by Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach (his description!).
The article starts out,

If you are going to be successful in creating the life of your dreams, you have to believe that you are capable of making it happen. You have to believe you have the right stuff, that you are able to pull it off. You have to believe in yourself. Whether you call it self-esteem, self-confidence, or self-assurance, it is a deep-seated belief that you have what it takes — the abilities, inner resources, talents, and skills to create your desired results.

Your beliefs are really the key. They determine what you focus on during the day, what you think you can do, what you think you can’t do, what you consider as possible when you look at things such as business opportunities. They are the filter that you see your life through.

If one of the things you believe strongly is that rejection is the end of the world, are you likely to make the sales calls that you need to make? On the other hand, if you believe that having an offer rejected is merely a step on the stairway to success, you’ll be much more inclined, even enthusiastic, about making the contacts you need to make.

Do you have beliefs that are holding you back? Do you not believe in yourself as you should?

Identifying limiting beliefs

The first step that you must take is to identify the beliefs and rules that you have that are limiting you. One of the easiest ways to do that is to put yourself mentally in a situation that you’re uncomfortable with and you want to change. Say, for instance, that you’re uncomfortable meeting new people, talking to them. Now, say to yourself, “I’m really not comfortable here because ______.” Fill in the blank, and you’ll have identified one of your limiting beliefs. It could be, “I’m nervous here because I don’t think I’m at these peoples’ level.” Or, “I can’t do this because I’ve never done it before.” Rather simple, eh? Doesn’t take a whole lot of deep thought, just a willingness to put yourself mentally in uncomfortable situations and recognize why you’re uncomfortable.

Then you’ll have identified a belief that’s holding you back. But don’t worry — you can change that belief! You really can! If you have beliefs that are limiting you, why in the world should you keep them? Why continue to believe that way if it’s holding you back from accomplishing your goals? “It’s just reality”, you might say. Hogwash.

Work on identifying your limiting beliefs, rules, and values. Your goal is going to be to change those, but you can’t accomplish a goal without first having a clear perception of it, right? So get to work. See you next segment.