What is a limiting belief?  Any belief is something you know to be the truth about reality, upon some level.  Beliefs are usually clandestine, lurking in the deepest recesses of our minds.  Even still their potential to negatively or positively alter our perceptions and regulate our actions is quite strong.

A limiting belief is a belief held by someone that causes a negative reaction to situations, or prevent positive reactions that would benefit that person.  All of us have beliefs.  Most of us have limiting beliefs.  Truths that we hold about the world, the way things are, the way we are, that we set as a standard guide to how our actions effect us.  

Limiting beliefs can stifle your potential in life.  They can derail you from partaking in risk that generates massive rewards, and the saddest part is that they are usually completely arbitrary.  Some beliefs that inhibit us and negatively effect our perspectives on life, and our own potential can be so damaging, while incredibly subtle.  We may not even know we hold these beliefs, but they are deep seeded, and reign over our lives completely. 

Do you have any limiting beliefs?  Don't worry, its actually quite normal to have them.  If you don't, you are probably a fairly extraordinary individual.  If you do, you are just like the rest of us.  Have you ever thought or felt you weren't good enough for a specific task?  Did you ever think of making a drastic change, but detoured due to your feelings about failure, or taking risk?  Most limiting beliefs are brought about during our childhood, through conditioning we are given positive rewards for what is considered good behavior and usually punishment for what is considered bad behavior.  Each person has different experiences, but often those experiences felt at a very young age resound with strikingly similar conclusions about the world, and how we can apply ourselves in it. 

 The realization that our beliefs have an effect on our behaviors, our life, and the choices we make is quite an empowering one.  Especially when we realize that our beliefs aren't set in stone.  Beliefs are as malleable as clay.  We can shape and mold our own personal beliefs to fit whatever design we wish, it only takes a bit of time (usually less than 30 minutes) to identify our beliefs, and rearrange them into positive ones.  

As an example I chose the belief that failure is bad.  There are so many opportunities that I've personally missed out on due to my fear of failure, because my belief is that failure is bad.  This belief has helped shelter me from trying, thus kept me from failing, but all the while stunted my growth as a person, and caused me to give up in various situations, where if I had simply persevered, or even attempted, the results would have been extraordinary.  

I picked up this belief in my childhood, from my parents, grandparents and other people along the way.  While I've always been a bit of a dreamer my dreams have been repeatedly shot down at a young age, lending to a fear that they are too large an order to be fulfilled.  I realized not too long ago that these beliefs were simply self defined meanings to circumstances that without my help, had no meaning.  When my relatives would shoot down my ideas they were simply protecting their own insecurities.  When my friends would scoff at my creativity, they were driving an idea into my head that success in the creative world is too tough, and failure is inevitable.  I allowed those thoughts to turn into my interpretation of a belief.  The belief that failure is a bad thing.  

It wasn't until recently that I realized that failure is not a bad thing.  Failure is in fact a driving force, a learning tool, and an experience to be had.  If one never fails it only means that one has never tried.  Realizing this led me to believe that in truth, the only failure is in not pushing towards a goal or dream.  

Take Thomas Edison for example.  He is credited with the invention of the light bulb.  He had made and estimated 1000 or more attempts before his invention worked.  He never once considered any of his previous attempts failures, in fact he stated, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."  In his optimistic disposition he realized that through persistence his dream would be realized regardless of how many attempts didn't manifest his goal.  He had the right mindset and eventually made his dream a reality.  

Do you have the right mindset?  I urge you to explore your mind and see if you can find any negative or limiting beliefs that may be holding you back from explosive creativity.  Is there anything you feel that you can't do?  If so, test that theory.   Dig deep and see if any one situation or experience in your past led you to believe that in particular.  When you find it, test other theories against it, see the experience from several different angles, and realize that your original assumption was no more than one possible meaning among several meanings that you, yourself applied to the experience.  

When you realize that you have attributed meaning to your beliefs.  You find you are the master of your beliefs.  The master of yourself, and the creator of your own life, in the specific way that you mold your interactions with the world based on your beliefs.  Realize that you can change them, by exploring yourself at the deepest depths and uncovering the underlying reasons why you've assembled yourself in such a way.  



Here is the empowering part.  You are the master of your own destiny.  Create your own new beliefs that grant you no limits, only possibilities.  Push towards whatever dreams you wish to manifest and know that they are yours, and nothing will stop you from achieving them.