Time to look at another of my quote images, and this time I might be stretching things…
I took that photo at Durdle Door, Dorset, July 2016, and as I often say, watching sunsets over lovely seascapes give great opportunities to consider our perspectives in life, and I think these words go well over the top –
Don’t let your current beliefs be your limits. Test your limits and set new beliefs.
I’ll be honest, I do think those words cover one the biggest hurdles holding people back, and gives the solution at the same time!
So many people, an unbelievable amount of people, do not start on the road towards their goals, towards fulfilling their dreams, towards letting the authentic ‘self’ flourish, purely down to belief.
That could be belief that they will fail, or that it will be too hard, that they won’t be good enough. Maybe believing that the changes involved will be too hard, or financial needs will get in the way.
That’s a mixture of believing that some things *will* happen and that other things *won’t* happen. It might not even be someone’s own belief! It could be a belief held by their family, friends or peer pressure, which has been imprinted on them.
These beliefs stop people in their tracks. They never get out of the starting gate. Their limits, set from beliefs, keep them where they are.
It’s a shocking waste of opportunity, and the thing is, it just doesn’t have to be that way…
Some people might say that the solution is simple, we switch all the beliefs around, which leaves us with a positive frame of mind, and our wildest dreams will come true.
Hmm.
I’m not sure that’s the best way forward. Yes, positive belief is better than negative belief of course, but I firmly believe 2 crucial things when it comes to this concept…
Firstly, if we take the view that a belief is no more than a set of words we’ve chosen to be true, then we have to introduce some ‘mights’ into the equation.
For example, believing you are good enough is great, but that doesn’t guarantee you’ll succeed. I often get the response that it sounds weird to say that if I’m dishing out the positivity angled coaching, but realism must not be ignored. You might fail. You might try and find out that you’re not good enough.
So am I saying you shouldn’t try?
No. Oh dear no! I’m certainly *not* saying that, because if we fail to start because we might fail, we’re back to square one, of letting our current beliefs set our limits. What I am saying though, brings me to the second crucial point of the words behind my image, the solution –
Test your limits, set new beliefs.
Basically, whatever you believe one way or the other, positive or negative, find out if your beliefs are true or not!
Find out.
You test your limits by taking action. This has life changing power, and although it might sound obvious, so many people take no action at all, simply holding on to what they ‘believe’.
It’s by testing your limits that you set new beliefs, and while I’m at it(!) here’s another key thing – once you get things moving, the new limits that you set might be beyond what you ever previously thought was possible, no matter how positive you were being!
When you think of what’s possible for yourself, think again.
When you think of what has been factually possible for others, see if you believe it for yourself, and if not, it’s time to ask yourself why not.
It’s possible that taking action will have you thinking it was indeed as hard as you thought, or even harder, but it will definitely open your eyes to what others have done before, and it will bring into clearer view the belief that you can do it too – you might now know how much work it might take, but you believe differently than you did before you took action.
Of course, taking action might have you finding that it was far *easier* than you thought, and again, your limits have been changed, and as a result, so have your beliefs. In turn this might get you questioning all your other beliefs that have been holding you back!
Can you see the power of simply taking action? I understand that it may sound glib to say that taking action is simple, because sometimes it can be difficult, but the principle holds firm.
Your beliefs dictate your actions, which dictate your results. Different action brings different results, which changes your belief, changing your limits. Did I say how powerful this is – exciting eh?
So, don’t let your *current* beliefs set your limits. Test your limits, and set new beliefs.
Ok, do let me know what you think – I love the feedback as always!
‘Til Next Time,
Health & happiness,
Gordon
P.S. If you fancy testing those limits of yours, do grab my free 8 step goal achievement formula, it’ll set you on the right path!
