Limiting Beliefs: How To Identify & Remove Them Step By Step

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It all starts with your mindset.

I am your host,

Veronica Moreno,

A mindset coach,

Therapist and energy healer,

And my mission is to share with you my most powerful tips,

Psychological tools and energy healing techniques so you can manifest the joyful,

Meaningful and successful life you deserve.

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Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Positive Mindset Tribe.

This is your host,

Veronica,

And today I'm going to be sharing everything you need to know about limiting beliefs.

That's going to be the topic for today,

Limiting beliefs,

What they are,

How they form,

How to identify them and how to remove them step by step.

So let's start by understanding what a limiting belief is and how they form.

The Oxford Dictionary defines a belief as an acceptance that something exists or it's true,

Especially one without proof.

And pay attention,

Pay special attention to the end of this definition,

Without proof.

A belief is when we accept a thought or an idea without questioning if it's true.

We don't question if it's true or not anymore.

And if we repeat the thought enough times,

It will become a belief.

We will stop questioning it.

And that's why we need to pay attention to our thoughts and what we say to ourselves.

Because if we think a negative thought enough times and we repeat it again and again,

It will become a belief.

It will become an idea that we don't question anymore,

That we just take as real.

And why is this important?

Because most of the beliefs we have today as adults,

Most of them we acquired ages ago when we were kids.

And I like to think about beliefs as programs being installed in a computer.

So when we are young,

We face different experiences in life.

And from the experiences we face,

We learn lessons.

We learn to survive.

As kids,

We're always trying to learn how to survive.

And that's how most of our limiting beliefs are formed.

So for example,

If someone,

If they bullied me at school to protect myself,

I might have developed the beliefs,

You can't be yourself,

They will laugh at you.

Or it is better to stay quiet.

Or it is not safe to make friends.

So these beliefs are like programs being installed in my computer,

In my mind.

And if I say them enough times,

Then eventually,

I will no longer realize that they are there.

I will just believe them without questioning them anymore,

Without questioning if they're valid,

If they're useful,

Or if they're true.

We also acquire beliefs from our parents,

From our school teachers,

Our main carers,

Society.

So for example,

If someone told us when we were kids that you will never make it to uni,

Or beliefs like I need to be married before I'm 30.

Says who?

Like where have we acquired those beliefs?

Where do they come from?

And as kids,

We are like a sponge.

We absorb beliefs,

We absorb emotions,

We are learning all the time.

So some of those beliefs might have been installed in our mind,

Like those programs in a computer,

And we don't question them anymore.

We are not even conscious about them anymore,

Because we acquired those beliefs,

Or we learned those ideas in a certain situation to protect ourselves.

But they might not be valid anymore.

But we don't think about it anymore.

We might be unaware that we have those beliefs.

And because most of these beliefs are in the subconscious mind,

So think about it like an iceberg,

Right?

So the peak that you see above the water,

That's our conscious mind.

And then that big chunk of ice under the water is our subconscious mind.

That bit under the water is where most of our limiting beliefs will be.

We are only aware of a small portion of our thoughts and beliefs,

But there are so many more under the water.

And I mean,

It makes sense because our brain wouldn't be able to operate otherwise.

If we were aware of every single thought,

Every single emotion,

Every single idea we have in our mind,

It would go crazy.

It wouldn't be able to compute or to process all those beliefs.

So it is very important that we become aware of that section that is under the part of the iceberg that is under the water.

And I'll be talking more about it later in this episode.

So this is how beliefs form.

Now,

When does a belief become a limiting belief?

Because not all beliefs are limiting,

Not all beliefs are negative.

So a belief becomes limiting when it blocks our growth,

Our development,

Our happiness,

When it holds us back from being our true selves.

All these beliefs about not being able to show up,

About not being able to show our true self,

About speaking up for ourselves,

Those beliefs are limiting.

Beliefs that stop us from achieving our goals,

Our dreams,

From following our purpose,

Those are limiting beliefs.

And we might be aware of them or not,

Like in the example of the iceberg,

But when it comes to limiting beliefs,

It is more common that we will be unaware of them.

And that's the real danger because they operate in the subconscious.

And this is how self-sabotage happens,

How we tend to procrastinate,

How we miss out on great opportunities,

Because the beliefs that are running the show are the ones under the water.

We are not aware of them.

But the fact that we are not aware of them doesn't mean that they're not working,

That they're not operating.

And those limiting beliefs below the surface will be the ones that will make us attract situations that reinforce those limiting beliefs even more.

And this might sound crazy,

But this is how the brain works.

Our survival instinct is always looking for safety.

It prioritizes safety.

And change is risky.

So we are more comfortable with what is known,

With what is familiar,

Even if it's unpleasant.

And it becomes like a spiral.

So maybe the limiting belief that I don't deserve love operating in the subconscious will make me attract partners that won't commit to the relationship,

Reinforcing the idea that there must be something wrong with me,

That I don't deserve love because no one wants to stick with me.

So it's kind of a spiral where one belief causes a behavior or a pattern that reinforces that same belief more and more and more and more.

So it's like we had a program in our computer,

Being the computer our mind,

It's like we had a program that is slowing down the system and we keep reinforcing it,

We keep upgrading it,

We keep updating it to make this program even stronger,

Which is going to cause to slow down the system even more.

Now a very important point about limiting beliefs,

Because limiting beliefs might sound like something terrible and something really bad and oh my God,

How could I,

How can I have this belief?

They have a very negative connotation when we talk about it in general.

But ultimately,

The purpose of any of these beliefs,

Of these limiting beliefs,

Is to protect ourselves.

Always.

There is always a purpose.

They always have a purpose.

There is always a benefit in following these limiting beliefs.

So for example,

In the example when I was bullied at school,

Developing the beliefs be quiet,

It is not safe to be yourself,

Making friends is risky,

Those were beliefs that were protecting me from being hurt.

That was the purpose.

That was the benefit.

Now I could have approached it differently.

Now maybe they weren't the healthiest beliefs,

But maybe as a kid,

The only way I had to survive is by following those beliefs.

When we face a challenge at any given time,

We always do our best we can with the resources we have.

So maybe for me,

With the resources I had back then and my personal circumstances,

The best strategy I could come up with was to develop these beliefs and to be quiet and telling myself that making friends was risky.

Because even though they weren't the healthiest beliefs,

They were serving the purpose of protecting myself from pain,

From being hurt,

From being bullied.

And we do this all the time because our instinct is also to avoid unpleasant experiences.

And especially if there is a threat,

The mind will do anything to avoid a threat,

To avoid danger,

Anything that could put our survival at risk.

So we don't acquire these limiting beliefs randomly,

They always have a function.

And understanding what these beliefs were protecting us from is what is going to help us get rid of them.

This is going to be the key.

Understanding the purpose of these beliefs,

Because if we understand what they are protecting us from,

Then we can assess what are the ways,

Or the healthy ways we have to protect ourselves.

So I might want to remove the belief that it is not safe for me to be myself and work on my confidence and install new programs,

Install new beliefs.

For example,

The belief that I deserve to be myself,

That it is safe to be myself,

That I have the resources to deal with anything that might come my way.

For example,

If someone laughs at me,

Knowing that I'm going to understand that it is their problem and their issues that they are projecting at me.

But first I need to understand what that belief is protecting me from.

And then I can find a healthy way to protect myself from that risk,

From that danger.

Or maybe understand that that danger is not active anymore.

So as you can imagine,

It is extremely important to become aware of these limiting beliefs and understand where they come from,

Because otherwise we won't be able to remove them.

We won't be able to replace them with more positive or empowering ones.

No matter how many times we repeat an affirmation,

I am confident,

I am abundant,

I deserve love.

No matter how many times we repeat these affirmations,

If we haven't cleared the limiting beliefs,

If we don't understand what we are protecting ourselves from,

It's not going to work.

Repeating affirmations on its own is not going to work.

We have to go deep and dig and see where those beliefs come from.

So how do we do this?

How do we identify our limiting beliefs,

Knowing that most of them will probably be in the subconscious mind,

In that part of the iceberg under the water that we are not aware of,

That are not in our conscious mind?

So I'm sure that you have a few in mind that come to mind immediately,

But what we are trying to do here is go deeper and find the ones that we are not aware of and that are running the show without us knowing.

So let's do an experiment here that might surprise you.

I'm going to ask you to close your eyes and take a deep breath.

Obviously,

Don't do this if you're driving,

Save this for later.

It is a very short exercise.

So close your eyes,

Take a deep breath,

Start to bring your awareness within,

Let go of any thoughts that might be coming up,

Visualize them going like clouds in the sky,

Bring your awareness to your breath,

Relaxing the body,

Taking longer and deeper inhalations and exhalations each time.

And what we're going to do here is I'm going to start a sentence and I want you to finish it with whatever comes to mind first.

Don't think about it.

Just say whatever comes to mind first.

You can say it out loud or you can write it down in a piece of paper if you have pen and paper handy.

Are you ready?

Right.

So I start the sentence and you finish it.

My name is,

My favorite color is,

Women are,

I have two,

I am the one who always,

Men are,

I am not allowed to,

Life is,

Relationships are,

I will never,

Work is,

Sex is,

What keeps repeating again and again in my life is.

You can open your eyes now and take some time to think about your answers or if you wrote them down to have a look at your answers.

This was just a quick,

A very quick and short exercise to bring some beliefs to the surface.

As soon as we relax the mind,

As we quiet down,

We close our eyes,

We bring the awareness within,

We are more able to access the subconscious mind.

We move away from the logical,

Rational thinking,

The part that we are aware of,

The tip of the iceberg,

The one above the surface,

And we start to go with things under the water and explore what's going on there.

Obviously,

This is a quick exercise just to show the point,

But I'm sure that just by doing this quick exercise,

Maybe something surprised you.

And this is a way to explore any limiting beliefs.

And by reading your answers,

The first question is,

Which ones,

Which ones of these beliefs are limiting?

Because not all your beliefs will be limiting.

Obviously,

Some of our beliefs will be the base of our education,

Will be about manners or healthy survival.

So there are some beliefs that will be healthy,

That will be perfectly fine.

It is about identifying,

Right,

Which ones are limiting my growth,

My development,

My happiness.

And this is something that I do with my clients in my one-on-one sessions all the time,

Getting to understand,

Digging deeper to understand the deepest limiting beliefs that we need to work on,

That we need to replace in order for them to stop sabotaging themselves or to achieve their goals or to follow their purpose or to have a more joyful life,

Happier relationships.

So the first step is to identify limiting beliefs.

Now,

How do we remove them?

How do we remove limiting beliefs and replace them with more empowering ones?

So what we want to do is,

Again,

Following the example of a computer with programs that we install and uninstall,

We want to uninstall the beliefs that are slowing us down,

That are no longer serving us,

And install the programs,

New beliefs,

More empowering,

That will support our development,

Our growth,

Our purpose,

That will help us have a more joyful life.

So like I was saying before,

Once we identify the limiting beliefs,

We need to understand where they come from.

How did they serve you?

What was the benefit or the purpose of those limiting beliefs when you acquired them?

And what is the benefit now?

Because there is always a benefit.

Normally it's protecting us from something.

This step is key.

So you might want to spend some time journaling about it,

Sitting on meditation with it,

Going for a walk and think about it.

And sometimes don't skip this step because it is essential.

If you have these beliefs in a piece of paper,

You can cross them out,

Try to find evidence that you don't need these beliefs anymore.

And I would encourage you to do some type of ceremony where you can throw the paper away or burn it.

You know,

Do something with it that represents that these beliefs are no longer in your life.

So this way we are uninstalling these programs that are no longer serving us,

That are slowing us down,

And from there we need to reframe them.

So think about new empowering beliefs that you would like to have,

Those new programs that you would like to download,

That you would like to install.

And make a list of all these positive,

Empowering beliefs and read them out loud every day.

Like I said at the beginning,

If we repeat a thought enough times,

It will become a belief.

We will no longer question it.

So maybe they believe that I am worthy of love,

That I know how to attract abundance into my life,

That I deserve success.

Maybe they're new to me and it's not enough to write them in a piece of paper and read them out loud once.

We need to repeat them again and again and again until they become a belief,

Until we no longer question that they're true,

Until they become part of us.

Now,

The deepest beliefs might not be that easy to identify with these type of exercises or in a coaching session or a talking therapy-like session because they will be very,

Very deep in the subconscious.

And the purpose,

Because their purpose is to protect us from harm or from being hurt,

They will be buried so no one finds them.

And this is for our own survival.

So to identify and clear these deep,

Old,

Limiting beliefs,

I use theta healing.

This is one of my favorite energy healing techniques that I use with my clients all the time.

Beliefs,

Same as thoughts and emotions,

Are energy.

We are all made of energy,

Really.

We are like balls of light.

So the fact that we appear to be very solid and separate from each other is kind of an illusion because we are all made of energy and connected through one field of energy where we are all connected and where we are all one.

So those beliefs are energy.

Sometimes I like to see them like pockets of energy or small bags or balls of energy.

And sometimes talking about our beliefs and becoming aware of them is just not enough.

The cognitive mind sometimes can't reach these deep,

Limiting beliefs.

And this is a defense mechanism.

The brain will do that on purpose because those beliefs are the ones that are protecting us from danger,

From a threat.

So the brain will make it difficult for us to access these beliefs because they are protective.

If we leave the cognitive mind behind and when we work at the level of the energy and we transmute these beliefs at the energetic level,

You can achieve much deeper and long-lasting transformation.

So Theta Healing is called Theta because by leading a short meditation at the beginning of the session,

We get closer to the Theta brainwaves.

Those brainwaves where the brain is when we are half awake,

Half asleep.

In this meditative state,

In this relaxed state,

We can access the subconscious mind much easier.

It is not hypnosis.

So when I do a Theta Healing session,

Both me and the client,

We are both aware and we continue the dialogue.

But we are in this meditative state that makes it much easier to become aware of those beliefs buried deep in the subconscious and transmute them energetically and install or download new ones.

So with Theta Healing,

We can also download new empowering beliefs.

The one I was mentioning before that I was suggesting you write down a list of new empowering beliefs that you would like to have.

But when we install these new beliefs in this meditative state,

In the Theta brainwaves,

It is much more powerful than just writing it down and repeating it out loud a million times because the brain is absorbing.

It is in that state,

Like when we were kids,

In that state where we can just absorb beliefs,

Ideas,

Emotions,

And they stick.

And I find this amazing because sometimes when I'm doing a Theta Healing session,

For example,

I'm talking to the client and they will be talking from the rational mind.

So they will be saying,

Well,

This is my problem or this is what I want to achieve or here's where I feel blocked.

I have no idea why.

And as soon as I lead that meditation and we go to that more meditative state,

If I ask the same question again,

The answer sometimes is so different because it's the subconscious mind speaking.

It is a great tool to deep dive and go to that part of the iceberg that is under the water that we are normally not aware of.

So it is basically like cleaning a computer,

Erasing the programs that are slowing down the system and installing new ones that are useful and relevant to us.

Also Theta Healing is a great technique because some of the limiting beliefs we have,

We might have acquired them directly from our parents,

Even when we were in our mother's womb.

So not only when we were kids and we were hearing them talking or they were directly saying things to us like,

You're never going to be able to do this or you're not smart enough or you're not good at this or you have to do this and you should,

You know,

All these messages.

But even when we weren't born,

Even in our mother's womb,

So for example,

If your mom was worried,

Stressed when she was pregnant with you or if she had any limiting beliefs herself about relationships,

About motherhood,

You absorb that too.

We absorb all that even before we are born.

Any negative emotions,

Tension,

Stress that she might have experienced when she was pregnant with you,

We absorb those things.

And these beliefs are very,

Very deep and very difficult to just suddenly become aware of them.

So there is a very beautiful specific technique in Theta Healing about sending love and healing energy to the baby in the womb to cleanse all these negative emotions,

Patterns,

Beliefs,

Imprints.

It is a very powerful one.

And when I do a session like this with my clients,

And I have experienced it myself when I have received sessions like this,

A lot of people experience a lot of yearning.

And I remember when I was receiving these sessions,

Like I felt so tired afterwards because the body is trying to adjust to all those deep energetic changes.

So it is incredible what we can achieve with this technique.

And at the end of the day,

Our beliefs,

Limiting or not,

Are what form our mindset.

So if we have a lot of limiting beliefs running the show deep under the water in that big part of the iceberg,

It's going to be impossible to have a positive,

Healthy mindset that will make us a magnet for love,

For joy,

For abundance,

For healthy relationships,

For wonderful experiences.

It is impossible.

So one of the most important things you can do if you want to have a healthy,

Positive mindset is to start becoming aware of these limiting beliefs,

Understanding where they come from and removing them and replacing them with new empowering ones.

And by doing this,

You are literally reprogramming yourself.

You are deciding to uninstall the programs that are no longer serving you.

And you are the one who decides to program yourself for success or for failure.

Our beliefs,

Whether we are aware of them or not,

Will determine the type of events and experiences we attract into our life,

For good or for bad.

And I know this to be true.

I have experienced it so many times in my life.

So for example,

A lot of limiting beliefs about relationships,

About relationships being hard,

Love being painful,

Love being dramatic,

And because I wasn't aware of them.

And when I had those beliefs,

I kept attracting the wrong partners into my life that will reinforce those beliefs or that would confirm those beliefs.

And it was again a spiral and very similar relationships one after another with the same negative patterns,

With the same negative outcome.

When I started to become aware of those beliefs and understood where they were coming from and heal all the trauma from my parents' divorce,

Then I was able to reframe those beliefs and transform them into positive and empowering beliefs about myself,

About love,

About relationships.

The beautiful relationship I'm in now has only been possible because I did all that work,

Because I changed those beliefs.

We can also have beliefs that we are not aware of that are positive or that are creating positive joyful experiences in our life.

So for example,

Even without trying,

I had the beliefs that I deserve to have a successful career,

That I deserve to have a high paying job.

So for example,

My family always used to tell me that I will be very successful,

That I will have a wonderful high paying job,

That I was very smart,

That I deserve that.

So I was kind of programmed to have a good job.

And because I deeply believe that I deserved it,

That it was meant to be,

That I was doing the right thing to get there,

I was always getting really good jobs and promotions in the corporate world.

So it was just flowing to me and I wasn't even working that hard.

Because I was programmed for that,

I was attracting it.

It was just flowing to me.

But when I decided to start my own business,

That programming or those positive beliefs were very specific,

Were about having a job in a big company.

Those were my beliefs.

But I didn't have the belief that I could achieve that working for myself.

And because I was very scared of failure and leaving the comfort behind,

I had all sorts of limiting beliefs to stop myself from succeeding.

I kept sabotaging myself and every small mistake or failure was a huge disappointment.

And I will repeat again and again those beliefs confirming that I wouldn't succeed with my own business,

That I will have to go back to the corporate world,

That that was the only way to be saved,

That that was the only way to make money.

So I have seen again and again how my mindset,

How my beliefs have conditioned the outcomes I have experienced in my life.

So my invitation for you today is to follow this process and to start becoming aware of those beliefs,

Positive and negative,

Limiting or not.

To become aware of the beliefs,

The programs that are running your life and ask yourself,

Are they serving me?

If I follow these beliefs,

Where are they going to lead me?

Is this how I want to live my life?

Do I agree with these beliefs anymore?

Do I need them in my life anymore?

Because you are the one who can't program yourself for failure or for success.

The choice is yours.

And I know some people might feel a bit of resistance about this idea because taking responsibility is not easy.

But I find it so empowering because it means that you don't depend on external circumstances or other people for you to be happy.

You depend on yourself.

And it took me a while to accept this,

To realize that my problem with relationships weren't the guys or the circumstances.

The problem about my relationships was me.

So it took some time to digest this.

But now I find it so empowering and so liberating that I am in control,

That I decide how to run my life.

So I hope this motivates you to do the inner work and that reminds you that you have everything you need,

All the resources,

The inner power,

The inner wisdom.

You have all that already.

You don't need anyone to change before you can start enjoying your life.

You have everything you need already.

So don't leak your power.

Don't give your power to others.

Don't think,

Oh,

I need this person to change.

Oh,

If only my husband were this way.

Oh,

If only my kids.

Oh,

If only my parents.

Oh,

If only the world.

No.

Step into your own power.

Make the decision.

Make the choices that will take you closer to the life of your dreams.

Take control of your life.

Grab the steering wheel.

And it all starts with having the right mindset.

I've seen it so many times.

When I keep repeating myself negative thoughts,

When I'm stuck on low vibration emotions like fear,

Frustration or anger,

Resentment,

Life feels stuck,

Life doesn't flow.

I attract negative experiences.

It becomes a spiral of negativity and pain and unpleasant experiences.

But when my mindset is in the right place,

And for that,

If you haven't listened to the previous episode,

The previous episode was about do's and don'ts for a healthy and positive mindset.

So if you haven't listened to that one,

Add it to the playlist to make sure you know what I mean by having a healthy,

Positive mindset and things to avoid and must do's to make sure that you have the right mindset.

When I have the right mindset,

When I'm empowered,

When I'm in my own power,

When I listen to my intuition,

When I do the inner work and work on healing and clearing any blockages,

And I believe in myself,

My mind is in the right place,

I trust myself,

Then life just flows and I see opportunities coming my way.

Opportunities for work,

Opportunities for growth,

Or just lovely experiences where I can enjoy being with myself,

When I can have fun,

When I feel full of love and joy,

When I feel pure bliss.

And it is all about the mindset,

And limiting beliefs are a huge part of it.

So I was looking forward to recording this episode because I know it's a very important one.

So let's take a moment to recap here and go through this step-by-step process to identify and remove limiting beliefs.

So first of all,

You need to become aware of them.

So we've done a quick exercise,

And for that,

Journaling is going to be a great tool for you to start doing automatic writing and see what comes up for you.

Second step,

Understand where they come from.

Very,

Very important because all limiting beliefs have a purpose,

Have a benefit,

And if we don't understand what this is,

We are not going to be able to clear them.

Third step,

Write new positive empowering beliefs and repeat them again and again and again and again like a tattoo until they become like a tattoo in your skin.

And obviously,

Deeper beliefs will require deeper inner work.

The deeper,

The older the belief,

The more digging it will require.

So if you feel that you're stuck with some beliefs,

Energy healing is probably your best bet.

Fatal healing is the most powerful technique I know to identify and clear deep limiting beliefs.

Okay,

My loves,

I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Thank you so much for being here and listening to this podcast.

Thank you for being part of the Positive Mindset Tribe.

So if you are enjoying this podcast,

Please subscribe,

Give it a good review,

And share it with your friends and loved ones.

Invite people to this wonderful tribe.

I will leave a link to my website and social media in the description below for those of you who want to find out more about my background and the work I do.

My website is veronica-moreno.

Com.

And feel free to reach out with any questions or suggestions of topics you would like me to cover in future episodes.

I'm here to serve you,

So please do share your ideas.

Sending much love and light to everyone.

See you next week.