5 Steps to Letting Go of Limiting Beliefs

The wind is wild and unforgiving today. The trees sway with an effortless majesty that teaches so much without a single word as the leaves fall freely creating a carpet of autumn colour wherever they come to rest.

Trees don’t cling to their leaves or resist the natural process of letting them go; it’s just how it is when winter is on the way.

Just like the broader canvas of nature as a whole, trees reflect many truths and remind us that letting go is an integral part of life.

Yet how…

• Strange it is that you and I have to learn what is so simple and innate to other forms of life.
• Hard it is release the complex and invisible web that keeps us stuck in familiar grooves.
• Liberating it is set ourselves free from limiting beliefs once and for all!

Conditioned Patterns

Whether it’s the voice of your inner critic challenging you with questions like, “Who are you to dream, create, write, share your ideas and be a conscious leader?”

Or statements such as, “No one’s going to be interested in what you have to offer so there’s no point even trying.”

Alternatively you might believe, “You have to work hard and long to be successful” and continually reinforce that by automatically acting as if it’s true so then it becomes your reality.

Or you may feel that you’re just “not good enough” without even realizing that all of these are conditioned patterns of thought and emotion you’ve been taught – and believed – since childhood.

Beliefs Create Reality

This topic is vast and I fully accept that releasing deeply rooted beliefs, especially when associated with trauma, often requires professional help.

My intention today, however, is simply to remind you that your beliefs create your reality through the choices and decisions you make in each and every moment.

Consequently, the more awake and aware you are, the less likely it is that you’ll be unconsciously driven by patterns that limit your freedom to live consciously, creatively, authentically and joyfully!

5 Steps to Letting Go

So here are 5 simple but effective steps to letting go of limiting beliefs. I’ve used creativity as an example but you can adapt the questions to focus on any aspect of life:

Step 1: Record

Begin by spending a few minutes sitting quietly and anchor your mind to the flow of your breath in order to gather your attention and ground your awareness.

Then reflect on and answer the following questions:

• What attitude did your parents and teachers have towards creativity?
• How did you experience and express yourself creatively when you were growing up?
• What does creativity mean to you now?
• Do you believe that you have creative potential that has yet to be developed?
• How important do you believe creativity is to your happiness and wellbeing?

 Step 2: Summarize

Review your answers and…

• Write a summary of the positive supporting beliefs you’ve identified from the questions above. Keep it safely and read what you’ve written regularly to help you stay on track.
• On a separate piece of loose leaf paper, summarize the limiting beliefs that have surfaced from your investigation and write about each one until it feels complete.

Step 3: Release

Give yourself full permission to release your limiting beliefs and act as if you have the ability to do so instantly. Commit yourself to that reality and…

• Re-read what you’ve written about your limiting beliefs.
• Set the clearest intention you’re able to at this time and put your will into releasing those beliefs from your body, emotions and mind.
• Feel where the beliefs are in your body and breathe deeply into those areas; when you breathe out affirm your intention to release each one. As you do so…

Step 4: Tear

• Tear the paper on which you’ve written your limiting beliefs into tiny pieces.
• Continue the releasing process every time you rip the paper up until you’re done.

Step 5: Dispatch

• Collect up the shreds of paper and responsibly burn or bury them while respectfully requesting that the earth composts the negative energy and transforms it back into a neutral state for alternative future use.

This process may seem overly simplistic as a way of ridding yourself of beliefs that may have blocked you consciously or unconsciously for years.

However, complexity and efficacy aren’t necessarily correlated.

A study done in 2013 showed that writing your negative thoughts down and physically throwing the paper away supports you to discard those thoughts once and for all.*

Perhaps also remembering the ease and grace with which trees release their leaves during autumn winds will remind you that letting go doesn’t have to be hard and has the potential to transform your whole experience of life!

What are your thoughts and feelings about letting go of limiting beliefs? Please share your comments and experience below. Thank you!

*****

Further Resources

* The 5 Step Process is an edited version of a practice from my book Conscious Writing (page 90).

* Read my previous post on The Power of Letting Go here

* Brinol et al, Pablo (2013), Treating Thoughts as Material Objects Can Increase or Decrease their Impact on Evaluation, Ohio State University: Psychological Science, see here.

 

 

Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash