In creation one of the things that we teach is that limiting beliefs often hold us back. While this is true (and in a minute I’ll get to some belief busters), I want to point out that limiting beliefs can be a useful part of life.

Limiting beliefs are those beliefs that keep us in our box.

Our box defines the parameters of the reality we experience and that can be a good thing because it gives us stability. It allows us certainty for instance that our address will still be the same when we leave work in the evening and that our place of employment will be the same when we get up and go the next morning.

It also means that we can go to the grocery store with the confidence that the things we want will be there. So from that perspective, limiting beliefs bring order to our world. Not so bad, eh?

The problem comes in when limiting beliefs hold us back from the things we want. If for instance you want a new job but your belief system says there are no jobs available then you’ll be a bit limited in what you can find. Interestingly, limiting beliefs aren’t the absolute truth. Rather, they are your perception of the truth. And when you realize that you’re half way to pushing through the barriers they present.

Ok, here are some belief busters. Ponder these questions and see if you don’t come away with a slightly different perspective:

1. It’s never ALL or NOTHING – This type of thinking is very limiting because it doesn’t allow for any exceptions. Think about the job example above. Is it true for example that in a bad economy NO ONE can get a job? I mean really….No one? While it may be the prevailing economic situation it isn’t true of everyone everywhere. So if someone – even one person – can get a job then it’s not all or nothing is it? And if it’s possible for one person it can be possible for you too. What all or nothing thinking contributes to your limiting beliefs?

2. Different cultures have different customs –sometimes it is  customary to shake hands as a form of greeting. In other counties that custom is not only rejected but may even be frowned upon. So who’s right? We all are in our own little corner of the world. Customs contribute to limiting beliefs because it’s easy to think that’s the way the world is everywhere. What cultural assumptions contribute to your limiting beliefs?

3. It’s always been this way – There is a story of a woman who always cut the end off of a ham before putting it in the oven. Her daughter asked one day why she did that and she answered that her own mother had taught her to do it that way. So the daughter asked her grandmother who replied that her mother had done it that way. Of course they had to find out the reason so they asked the great grandmother. Smiling she said quite matter of fact, “I didn’t have a pan big enough to fit the whole thing.” There is nothing that has always been that way. It all started somewhere and usually for some practical reason. What limiting beliefs are still lingering because it’s always been this way?

4. I can’t – These two simple words contribute to more limiting beliefs than probably anything else. How do you know you can’t? Have you tried? Have you taken the time to research the possibilities? Or have you talked yourself out of it before even taking the first step? I can’t puts up a near impenetrable barrier that kills dreams. What dreams of yours have died because you uttered the words, “I can’t?”

Once you begin to see limiting beliefs for what they are you’ll be much better equipped to manifest the things you want. That’s because once you see the fallacy you can then choose whether to continue buying into it or not. Believe it!