Have you ever felt stuck? You know there is something more for you, but something holds you back. Do you ever feel limited in what you can do, create or achieve? 

Have you ever told yourself that something is not meant to be for you?

You are not alone. If you can relate to those feelings of limitation, you are in the right place.

So, grab yourself a glass of water. And make sure you have a pen and paper handy so you are ready to take notes! In this post, I will be revealing to you …

5 Toxic Beliefs and How to Cure Them

Let's face it; some beliefs have the power to stop you in your tracks. That's why they are called "limiting beliefs" - they are beliefs that limit you in some way.

If you don't believe you can run a marathon, you are not likely to ever even try. It makes sense, right? Why try to do something you think you cannot do? It would be counter-productive to try something you believe you cannot do. It would be like setting yourself up to fail.

Well, what if some of your beliefs are not true at all? What if your only limitations in life are your beliefs themselves? Now, some beliefs don't hold a lot of power. Believing you can never learn to play the banjo might not have the same negative impact on your life as the belief that you're too old to follow your dreams. Unless, of course, playing the banjo is your dream. Then I tell you, do it! You can learn to play the banjo!

Your limiting beliefs formed at a time in your life when it might have been true – maybe when you were five years old, knitting was inappropriate for your stage of development. And if you tried to knit then, you might have adopted different beliefs, like :

• I am completely uncoordinated,
• I am not good with following patterns or instructions, 
• knitting is really hard, 
• knitting is not fun, 
• I can't knit.

Do you get where I am going with this? All valid beliefs at that time in your life, but probably not reasonable beliefs today.

Einstein once said, "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

A belief that keeps you from achieving your fullest potential and keeps you stuck living a life that lacks lustre is a toxic belief. It is harmful to the person you know deep in your core you are meant to be. The person you already are, if only you were not suppressing yourself with beliefs that keep you from fully expressing yourself.

And there are countless beliefs you might have adopted along the way based on circumstances and conditions at that time that have completely changed now. If you were at a stage of life where you were not ready to do the thing, it doesn't mean you are not ready now or won't ever be ready.

So here are five toxic beliefs many people hold that you must rid from your life:

1. It's too late for me, or I'm too old. Sometimes it is too late. Let's face it; you are probably not going to start playing in the NBA if you're 48 years old. But the number of things you can do is far greater than the number of things you can't do. Trust me.

Here are a few examples for you:

• Stan Lee, the creator of Spider-Man, was 43 years old when he began drawing his legendary superheroes.
• Julia Child didn't even learn to cook until she was almost 40 and didn't launch her popular show until she was 50.
• Louise Hay started Hay House when she was 60 years old.
• Colonel Sanders didn't settle on a chicken recipe until he was 49 years old. 

Don't jump to conclusions regarding your age. You might have more life left in you than you imagine. What if you live to 103? You just never know. Don't throw away the years ahead of you just because you are at a mature age. You are here right now, and you can do a lot more than you give yourself credit. 

What are you going to do with the time given you?

2. Failure is bad.Whoever came up with that one was just plain wrong. Most of us can agree that failure doesn't feel good. But that does not make it bad. Failure is a way we find out what does not work for us or that we are on the wrong track. It is an essential part of learning, integrating and growing to our fullest potential. Without it, we are more likely to move in the wrong direction and keep moving because there is nothing to make us question why we feel unfulfilled inside. I mean, if everything seems so good on the outside, it would be demoralizing to think something is wrong with us for feeling unfulfilled inside. It would be a source of pain - the feeling of failure even though we are not failing by the world's standards. If you have ever attempted anything, chances are you have failed from time to time. I am sure that you have heard it said, "The only true failure is not trying anything at all." Failure is nothing more than getting an undesired result. But what if this "undesirable" result was the key to adjusting your approach to getting the result you do want? We are rarely after what we think we want. Failure helps us get crystal clear on the outcome we do want. 

So, if one way of doing things doesn't work, try another one until you figure out one that works. As long as you are improving along the way, how can you possibly fail in the long term?

3. The past equals the future. That was a big one for me. I felt so bound by my mom's mistakes that I felt doomed to repeat them. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is not your past that determines your future, but what you do, right now, at this moment, and every moment that follows. Did you fail yesterday? You are in luck; today is a brand new day. You have a fantastic ability to change, adapt, and today you can try something new. Just because you made poor choices, engaged in self-destructive behaviour, or failed in the past doesn't mean your future can't be different. The past only affects you if you live there. Life is for living. And living only happens in the present moment - right now. So choose todrop the past and live in the present – give yourself permission to keep trying until you succeed.

4. People will criticize or make fun of me. You're right. People will judge you in some way. That's what people do. What is harmful about this belief is not so much that it is untrue but that we place so much weight on it. It's harmful to achieving our best to be concerned about the opinions of others. No matter what you do, some people won't be impressed. Some people are going to be jealous. Some people have nothing better to do than criticize your efforts. Brene Brown said it best, unless those people are in the arena with you, striving to live out their life and purpose fully, and not just sitting on the sidelines judging others for their efforts, their opinion doesn't matter. It is so much easier to criticize someone in pursuit of their dreams than actually being the one in pursuit of your dreams. Focus on your dreams, not the voices of critics.

5. I'm not smart enough, good enough, educated enough, special enough, loveable enough, or fill in the blank with whatever you want.The truth is, no one is good at everything. And chances are, you won't be that good when you start doing something, and that's because it's new. 

Most of what you had to learn to get to where you are now was a struggle at first. Think about when you learned to walk, brush your teeth, get dressed, ride a bike, rollerblade, drive a car, play a sport, knit, ski. Were you an expert the first time? 

Learning anything new has a learning curve to it. The good news is that you can learn to be good at whatever skill you think you are currently lacking. You can take a course, read a book, or find a mentor who has done what you want to do. You can do anything you set your mind to with enough research and practice.

So what belief is holding you back? Is it one of these five, or something else entirely? Please share your experience by leaving a comment below or reaching out to me. By sharing your thoughts, you help bring clarity to where you are now and increase your awareness of what you truly desire to be, do, have or create in the future.

Often negative beliefs are difficult to recognize. You might have been carrying them around for so long that they are part of your routine. So do a personal inventory and evaluate all your beliefs to see if any might be limiting you. Question how you know your belief to be true? Where does it come from? How old were you when it first appeared? And what is it costing you now? It's time to break free and live a life worthy of you!

Share your experience with limiting beliefs in the comments below. Someone else is dealing with the same limitation you are. Let's support each other on the journey.

Your journey continues every day. That's why I create these trainings. We have to take the time to reconnect to ourselves and remind ourselves of who we are, our innermost desires and longings and then step boldly forward to make an impact out in the world.

It matters. Because you matter. 

You are worthy of taking up space and living an extraordinary life. Someone is waiting for you to live out your purpose because when you do, you give them the permission they need to do it also. 

An extraordinary life is not for the few "lucky" individuals - it is for YOU. That's why you are here right now. You know deep down in your heart that it's for you. So don't limit yourself by thinking that you have to be perfect or have everything figured before you can start taking action towards the life you truly want. You can take an imperfect and messy step forward right now. You are worth it. 

If any of this resonates with you and you are ready to invest in yourself, let's talk. Click the link below to schedule a complimentary transformation session with me. Let's connect and work together to figure out the highest possibility for your life. 

Make the time. Take the step. Reach forward. Schedule a call.

I look forward to connecting with you.