How to Overcome Limiting Beliefs and Gain Confidence Now

I’ll never be a calm person because I’m too go-go-go… I don’t have time to relax because I’m too busy. These are limiting beliefs I held up until a few months ago. Have you ever held an untrue or damaging belief about yourself that has gotten in the way of you pursuing something you want or reaching a goal?

If you have, by the end of this post, you’ll learn how to minimize limiting beliefs with confidence by challenging them right away and journaling to work through them which will allow you to build confidence and do what you want to do.

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What Are Limiting Beliefs?

Limiting beliefs are things you believe about yourself that are likely untrue but are especially damaging or hurtful to you in some way.

Examples of these types of beliefs are:

• I’m not smart enough to get into college.
• I’ll never have a relationship healthy relationship because I’m too high maintenance.
• I’m not going to get this job because I’ve been turned down 3 times already.

Negative self-talk leads to negative thoughts about yourself. When you continuously think negative thoughts about yourself, you start to believe them and they start to become ingrained into the fabric of your mind. This is how limiting beliefs are formed. 

Limiting beliefs can be really damaging to your confidence and mindset because you get caught in this cycle of wanting to reach a goal but telling yourself you’re not capable for whatever reason. And that kind of commentary circling around in your head all the time is so discouraging. 

If you let these false beliefs reign, they’ll hold you back from working toward the things you want! Limiting beliefs also stop you from becoming the highest version of yourself.

Try out these affirmation cards. Read one daily and hang the super meaningful ones around in your environment for an extra boost to squash those limiting beliefs out.

For a while, I told myself I wasn’t capable of being calm or relaxing, and so I reinforced the narrative by keeping busy and proving to myself that my life was, in fact, too hectic to incorporate rest into.

Limiting beliefs have a way of weaseling their way into what we think about ourselves and actually impacting how we move around in life. If you are constantly telling yourself you’re not good enough, not smart enough, not skinny enough, or not loved enough to be happy or successful, you’ll start to believe it, and it can be tricky to get out of that thinking trap! 

But not to fret, keep reading for tips to minimize limiting beliefs!

Don’t miss my free self-care calendar! It’s a month-long feel good challenge that will really amp up your self-care practice by starting small!

Minimizing Limiting Beliefs

Here are my two favorite way to minimize limiting beliefs:

Challenging Limiting Beliefs Right Away

A trick I’ve learned that’s really helped me minimize my limiting beliefs is to challenge the thought as soon as it comes up.

As soon as I catch myself thinking: “I’m not knowledgeable enough to be an entrepreneur” or “I’ll never write a book, I don’t have a good enough story” I immediately ask myself if that thought is true.

Is this belief I’m forming about myself even true? Does it hold any real weight?

Usually, I find that it’s not rooted in facts, but based on fears.

This tip to minimize your limiting beliefs is super simple but does take a bit of practice. You have to train yourself to question the belief RIGHT AWAY before it has time to seep in.

You can start to implement this by just trying to do this once a day. Gradually, it will become easier for you to challenge one thought a day. When you get comfortable, start increasing how often you challenge limiting beliefs. And eventually, it will be second nature to do it with every single one!

Journaling about Limiting Beliefs

The second way to limit negative beliefs you hold about yourself is to journal about them.

Think of a negative, untrue, damaging thing you believe about yourself- just one.

Crack open that dusty journal on your nightstand or get a journal like this and write a bit.

Start by writing your limiting belief at the top, then free write to dig a bit deeper. Ask yourself where this belief started and why it exists.

If you’re leery of free writing and need some prompts, I got you girl:
Why do I think this of myself?
When did this belief take root in my mind?
What isn’t true about this belief?
Is there anything that is true about this belief?
Is there something else I can be telling myself instead?

A Limiting Belief I Once Held…

“I’m stuck in this job because it’s comfortable and I can’t get a different type of job because of my experience.”

If I were to journal about this to dig deeper, it might look something like this:

I believe this because I’ve been at this job for years and it feels like it’s all I know. But what isn’t true about this belief is that I’m stuck. It feels like I’m stuck, but there’s nothing stopping me from applying for other jobs in reality! It’s also not true that I can’t change the direction of my career, it just feels like that sometimes. I actually could change directions, it will just take a bit more effort, but I guess it is possible.

Let’s Try One More

Maybe you have a limiting belief that you’ll never get married because you’re too emotionally damaged.

Journaling about that might look like this: 

I believe I’m too emotionally damaged for lasting love. What’s the standard for “too” emotionally damaged? Can emotional baggage and marriage coexist? Maybe. I believe this because exes have told me this in the past. But is it really true? I suppose I’ve just labeled myself as damaged. My damage doesn’t necessarily define me though. It affects me, but it doesn’t define me. I know I’m more than what’s happened in my past.

I know these are simple examples, but can you see how journaling can help you get to the nitty-gritty of the belief?

Writing out your thoughts can help you move past the untruth you’ve knitted together and see that you are more than the false things you tell yourself.

Replace Limiting Beliefs Using Affirmations

Now that you know how limiting beliefs impact your ability to reach goals and work toward what you want, and you have tips to minimize them, let’s talk about how to build confidence by replacing them!

You can boost your confidence by replacing negative thoughts about yourself with affirmations.

Affirmations are positive statements about yourself that encourage, motivate, and inspire you.

They are wonderful for stomping out negative thoughts, and leave you feeling capable and worthy!

Examples of affirmations include:

• I am capable of doing this.
• I am strong enough to push through.
• Yes, this is hard, but I’m smart enough to figure it out.
• I’m beautiful just the way I am.
• I am worthy of love.

Check out these super cute affirmation cards you can put on your nightstand or desk to remind you to use them daily.

3 Ways to Use Affirmations to Build Confidence

1. Use affirmations right away.

Say an affirmation to yourself right after you think about a limiting belief. This will be your attempt to counteract the negative thinking you just engaged in.

2. Or, you can start working affirmations into each and every day.

I’m not saying that you have to stand in front of a mirror and recite affirmations each morning (while that works, you may find that cliché or cheesy).

But try to engage in a little bit more positive self-talk throughout your day. Try saying one nice thing to yourself, just in your head, when it feels natural and right each day.

For example, I just tried to make cake pops for the first time, and they came out really great! I can use that opportunity to tell myself: “I did really well taking on this baking challenge! Go me!”

One more example: I skipped working out and typically make myself feel guilty if I don’t have a good reason for skipping. I can engage in positive self-talk and affirmations even in this negative situation and say something like: “I am healthy and fit, and this one day off isn’t going to turn into a negative spiral. I can pick right back up tomorrow and jump in strong!”

3. Journal affirmations that really resonate with you.

This way, that kind of language is in the forefront of your mind throughout your daily life. Try going on Pinterest and looking up lists of affirmations so you have a few in your back pocket that really speak to you!

Let’s Bring it Home

If you were feeling held back from pursuing something or unable to reach goals you have due to limiting beliefs, I hope you feel a little more confident now that you understand how to minimize and replace limiting beliefs.

If you have a lack of confidence because of all the limiting beliefs you allow yourself to think, you can move forward empowered because you have the power of affirmations and journaling on your side!

Limiting beliefs can really damage your mindset and self-esteem, but using journaling and challenging your thoughts right away are a great start. You can then add in affirmations from there to conquer the beliefs that are holding you back from achieving your biggest goals and simply moving about life with confidence.

Let me know in the comments which strategy you’ll try first: journaling or challenging the thought immediately!