{"id":25872,"date":"2014-04-28T05:00:31","date_gmt":"2014-04-28T10:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhyatt.com\/?p=25872"},"modified":"2014-04-28T05:00:31","modified_gmt":"2014-04-28T10:00:31","slug":"limiting-beliefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullfocus.co\/limiting-beliefs\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Your Beliefs Keeping You Stuck?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several years ago, we had an English Setter named Nelson. He was gentle and patient. He let our grandchildren pull his tail and climb all over him. He only had one real fault.<\/p>\n\n

Whenever the door would open, he would bolt like a convict, drunk with his new-found freedom. It would often take twenty or minutes or more to retrieve him. On more than one occasion, he narrowly escaped being hit by an oncoming car.
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\nUnfortunately, we didn\u2019t have a fenced in yard. There was no real way to restrain him\u2014at least in the conventional sense. Just as we were about to decide to find him a new home, we discovered Invisible Fence.<\/p>\n

Invisible Barriers<\/h3>\n

This was the breakthrough we needed. Our local Invisible Fence dealer installed an underground wire that ran the parameter of our yard. He then put a computerized collar on Nelson. It delivered a warning tone and, if needed, a very gentle but effective static correction whenever the dog approached the barrier.<\/p>\n

With the dealer\u2019s guidance, we used positive reinforcement to train Nelson. He quickly learned where the boundary was and avoided it. He no longer ran when we opened the door. In fact, we could let him out into the yard without any fear he would run away.<\/p>\n

Several months later, we discovered we no longer needed to put the collar on Nelson. Even if we stood on the other side of the barrier and called, he wouldn\u2019t come. If the kids tried to entice him with a treat, he wouldn\u2019t budge. The barrier had moved from the external world of an electronic device, to the internal world of Nelson\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

Limiting Beliefs<\/h3>\n

As I was thinking about this, I wondered, How many of my own beliefs are like this?<\/em> In other words, they only exist in my mind, but I treat them as though they were \u201cout there\u201d\u2014part of the real world.<\/p>\n

I immediately thought of three kinds of limiting beliefs.<\/p>\n

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  1. Beliefs about myself.<\/strong> I have often been stuck in my life, not because I didn\u2019t have the money, time, or contacts to make progress, but because of some deep-seated assumption.\n

    For example, early in my career, I thought I was too young to succeed. I sabotaged myself in subtle ways. Now I routinely meet people who think they are too old to succeed.<\/p>\n

    But what is the truth?<\/em> The truth is that age has very little to do with our success. It\u2019s often a story we use\u2014whether we are young or old\u2014to stay stuck.<\/p>\n

    Here are some other examples of limiting beliefs we might have about ourselves:<\/p>\n