Healthy beliefs, healthy life

Limiting beliefs, whether you are aware of them or not, can self-sabotage your health. What are limiting beliefs? They are a state of mind or belief about yourself, how the world works, ideas, or how you interact with people, that restricts you in some way. It can stop you from making healthy choices.
Limiting beliefs are the stories we tell ourselves about who we are that hold us back from reaching our full potential. We diminish our own success or health. Limiting beliefs are disempowering. By often blaming the circumstance or people that trigger us, we can feel entitled or self-righteous and defend our unhealthy choices and behavior.

What causes limiting beliefs?
Generally, you hold onto limiting beliefs to protect yourself from struggle, frustration, disappointment, and failure. At a time in the past, you may have suffered from something specific, and now when you come face-to-face with a similar situation, your subconscious, often operating outside of your awareness, finds a way to try to block it. You may overeat, overreact, over shut down, or over medicate with unhealthy substances.

Where do limiting beliefs come from?
These limiting thoughts and beliefs can have several origins. They can be personal beliefs that were created by you. They can also develop through conditioning and programing from our families, social circles, and society. Our institutions can teach us we are somehow flawed or need to be afraid. They can be reinforced without us noticing. It takes awareness and intention to observe and replace limiting beliefs.

Discovering and changing limiting beliefs.
Everyone experiences limiting beliefs, but learning how to identify them can help you proactively prevent these beliefs from limiting you. Here are ideas for you to become aware of your limiting beliefs, how they influence unhealthy choices, how to challenge them, and how to choose empowering beliefs.

Increase your self-awareness of your limiting beliefs
The first step to overcoming your limited beliefs is in identifying what they are. Be mindful, pay attention in the present moment with as little judgement as possible. Pick one belief you want to change. What are you noticing?
• Negative self-talk such as not good enough or worthy?
• Don’t trust the world, people are out to get you, you feel like a victim?
• Are you afraid of criticism and what others think?
• What unhealthy choices do you make when acting from your limiting belief?

Notice that it is just a belief
Recognize that your belief may be founded on falsities. FEAR is simply “false evidence appearing real.” This is the first step to freedom and liberation.

Challenge your belief
Reflect on it by raising such questions as:
• What are the supporting facts?
• Did I always think that way? If not, what has changed?
• Is there evidence counteracting my belief?
• Is this belief helping me to progress towards living an empowered life?

Recognize the potentially damaging consequences
What are the negative impacts on the health of your mind, body, heart, or relationships when you act from your limiting belief?

Create a plan
Choose something new to believe in, something that is positive, healthy, and will help to improve your life. This transition may not be easy. It takes strength, courage, and conviction to adopt the new belief. Find and engage your support team. Patience is required.

Put it into practice
Take action and start implementing things that support your new belief. If your limiting belief told you that you were “too old to start cooking healthy food,” instead start to adopt an “it is never too late to start” belief. Choose one healthy meal a week you enjoy eating and is simple to shop for and to cook. Start small. Share your new beliefs with your inner circle for healthy accountability partners. Celebrate your wins.
You got this!