Breaking Limiting Beliefs: How to Unlock Your True Potential and Achieve More

A person’s limiting belief about their own abilities can hold them back from moving forward in life. Studies show that such beliefs literally block neurological pathways in the brain, disconnect a person from their inner resources, weaken motivation, and prevent action, progress, and growth.

For example, a mother can take parenting and education courses, be incredibly talented, wise, and have solid common sense, but if she carries a subconscious limiting belief that she lacks the strength and ability to raise children, she will struggle to be a good mother until she frees herself from that belief.

Of course, subconscious beliefs formed in our minds are not always true. Sometimes, after failing at something, our subconscious “decides” that we have no chance of ever succeeding in that area again, perhaps based on harsh criticism we received from others. However, if the person thought about it consciously, with their rational mind, they would understand that failing once does not guarantee that there’s no hope. And yet, the subconscious can be convinced that success is impossible, and as long as that limiting belief remains, they won’t dare to try again, because the subconscious governs almost everything we do.

Unless we become aware of this and engage in intentional self-work to free ourselves from these mental chains, the subconscious belief is what determines whether a person will believe in themselves, take action, and succeed with God’s help… or remain stuck and avoid progress because they don’t trust their abilities.

Belief defines results:

A person with limiting beliefs about their own strength will never rise above what they think they’re capable of. We can only bring out the abilities we believe we have.

For decades, experts claimed the human limit for running speed was one mile (1.6 km) in four minutes. They even provided physiological explanations for why any faster was impossible, and indeed, no one broke the record. In 1964, one determined athlete decided to shatter it. He trained relentlessly, ran, and broke the four-minute barrier. Soon after, another 300 runners also broke the record. What changed? Once the limiting belief dissolved, people realized it was possible, and their potential became reality.

The elephant story:

A father and son visit a zoo where the boy sees a massive, powerful elephant tied to a small stake in the ground and he asks: “How is it possible? This huge, strong elephant could pull that stake out in a second and be free!”

The father explains: “When the elephant was young and small, they tied him to that same stake. He tried again and again to pull it out but couldn’t. Eventually, he gave up and accepted the belief that he couldn’t free himself. Now he’s grown, far stronger than before, but he still believes he can’t, so he doesn’t even try.”

We often behave the same way. If we tried something years ago — to change ourselves or do something new, and failed, our subconscious built a limiting belief about our abilities. Over the years, we’ve matured, gained new strength, and learned new skills. Yet the subconscious still clings to the old belief.

To move beyond it, we must break that limiting belief and replace it with empowering beliefs that trust in our God-given abilities.