How All Limiting Beliefs are Created

Most of us have limiting beliefs that are sabotaging us from being empowered or ever achieving our goals. I want to teach you how and why these unnatural, restrictive beliefs are created.

The recipe is a result of three functions of the brain, each of which is positive by itself. But when you add them together, it’s a recipe for disastrous, painful and dangerous beliefs that often last a lifetime and will cause you to settle for a life of less.

Ingredient #1: Constant Search for Meaning
From the moment you saw the brand new light of this world, you’ve been trying to figure everything out, as well as why people do what they do. So you’ve been seeking answers to the question “why” at almost every turn.

Ingredient #2: Emotional Safety
The unconscious mind’s highest priority is NOT the achievement of your goals. It’s highest priority is to keep you emotionally safe. That’s what it spends most of its existence on – protecting your feelings.

Ingredient #3: Inherent Desire to Be Right
The human mind does not like to be wrong in its quest to figure this world out. Being correct makes you feel more in control. You’ll generally do whatever you can to be right.

Separately, these three functions are positive. But when placed together in a situation where your feelings get hurt, there could be lifelong negative consequences. Here’s how it works…

During the formative years between ages 0 and 7, most of our beliefs are formed, simply by exploring the world and deciding what each experience means.

Example of an Empowered Meaning:
Q: “Why did Mommy feed me when I was hungry?”
A: “She wants to take care of me because she loves me.” (empowering belief)

Once we have an answer to the question, we then go on an unconscious search for evidence to support our new idea because we have an inherent desire to be right. So we collect a bunch of proof every day that this belief is true, whether it’s positive or negative.

When this scenario takes place after or during an event that’s painful or embarrassing for you or someone else you observe, the unconscious mind tries to avoid any similar experiences in the future in an attempt to avoid emotional pain.

So it usually creates some sort of restrictive belief and/or fear in an attempt to understand what just happened or keep you from getting into that same situation again.

To the unconscious mind, NOT knowing why something happened is actually more uncomfortable than adopting the limiting belief! ;-(

Example of a Disempowered Meaning:
Q: “Why does daddy yell and scream at me?”
A: “I must not be good enough for him to like me.” (limiting belief)

Example of a Fear Being Created:
Q: "Why did my mommy yell at me for asking too many questions?"
A: "Asking questions gets me in trouble." - can become a lifelong fear of asking for what you want

And again, once you have an answer, you’ll search the globe for anything that you can use to support your new idea (so you can be right). Most of us have been collecting disempowering evidence for almost our entire lives, since we made that very first decision in childhood.

That means that most adults are living their lives and making their current decisions according to a Belief System (B.S.) that was created by the wisdom, knowledge and logic of a small child. Isn’t that scary to think about?

But the great news is that since you created your B.S., you can un-create it quickly whenever you’re ready to stop being a victim of your thoughts & emotions, choose empowerment and to start attracting all your dreams and goals!

To read the next article on how to erase those beliefs, click here.

Enjoy the journey!
Sean Smith