If you have listened to my podcast lately, The Veterinary Life Coach Podcast, you may have heard that I have written my first book that will be coming out in September. Writing was challenging because I had powerful limiting beliefs that kept me from getting started for many years. I did overcome them, but now I am waiting for others to edit, design, and help me publish the book. My deadline for publication changes almost weekly and has dragged on for months. Now that I am over my limiting beliefs, I work on practicing patience.
I never dreamed I would write something worth reading, and I had to work hard with a coach to overcome my limiting beliefs. Now that is a reality; I am struggling with the patience that I need to wait, wait, and yes, wait for all the little details to be completed before I can get to offering it to you to read. As I wait day after day to get the finished design from the designer, I have decided to begin blogging again to keep myself busy and give my readers some tools to help them achieve their own goals.
Our limiting beliefs hold us back from doing things we want to do because we think we lack the skills, ambition, resources, and luck to make things happen. In truth, we can do almost anything we want; we need to believe that we can do it and then put in the work to get it done.
What are limiting beliefs? A limiting belief is a story in your mind that tells you that you are not good enough or talented enough to reach your goals. We believe these thoughts to be absolutely accurate, and they are mostly subconscious. We use these beliefs as a defense from stress or taking risks. Limiting beliefs will cause us to procrastinate, avoid, deflect, and distract ourselves from anything we need to do to make good choices and excel in new opportunities. Many of our limiting beliefs come from experiences in our past that made us feel unworthy or threatened. Your brain is protecting you from humiliation or rejection. How scary is it for me to write a book for others to read and risk rejection or humiliation if people do not like or enjoy it? Or worse yet, what if people give me negative feedback publicly?
Terrifying, right?
What limiting beliefs are holding you back in life?
You must recognize your limiting beliefs and work to change them to grow and accomplish big things. Not an easy task.
Some common limiting beliefs that you may recognize in yourself are:
I don’t have time. We use this one a lot, don’t we? As I sit here and write this blog, my thoughts tell me I should be doing something more practical and valuable. You may need to make time by planning your days more carefully and intentionally. You can “make” time if you work at it.
I cannot do that. This thought is easy to think, but it actually means that you haven’t developed the skills needed to do it yet. We usually have a qualifier when we say this: I am not physically fit, talented, or brave enough to do whatever we are avoiding. I never believed that I could write a blog and podcast before I decided to do get over my story and do it.
I have failed in the past, so I will likely fail again. Our fear of failure keeps us from taking risks. Failure does not feel good, but not accomplishing goals feels worse. Remember that if you don’t try, you are failing anyway, so you might as well give it a good effort.
Other limiting belief statements that you may recognize in yourself are:
- I need to be better/more worthy.
- I don’t know where to start.
- No one wants to hear what I have to say.
- Everyone will judge me.
- I don’t have the money.
- It is too late, or I am too old.
The way to overcome your limiting beliefs is first to become aware that you are not where you want to be in life. Investigate your limiting beliefs with a therapist, coach, mentor, or friend. Once you uncover some of yours, do the work to change your thinking and take a small action to start working on your goals.
When it comes out, I hope you read my book for more help in building the life you want. Look for, a Love Your Veterinary Life - The Veterinary Life Coach Guild to Unleashing Your Mind and Building an Incredible Life. It is coming to Amazon very, very (praying), very soon.
Dr. Julie Cappel
“There is one grand lie - that we are limited. The only limits we have are the limits we believe.” - Wayne Dyer
