Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs

By: ActionCOACH Team

Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or can’t, you are right.”
Your thoughts have incredible power to build your reality. Think about it. Have you ever been excited to start something, writing a book, for example, and suddenly there’s a critic in your head that begins lobbing nasty things at you?

“Who are you to write a book? You don’t know anything about this. You’re not a writer. You’re going to fail. You should just give up,” the voice whispers. And then eventually you do give up.

Our words can be life handcuffs, keeping us in place or they can help us soar.
This is all at the heart of what self-limiting beliefs are. If you’re not familiar with self-limiting beliefs, basically, they are those things that we tell ourselves are true, yet are functioning as a wall of excuses. Excuses to not try. Excuses to stay safe. Excuses to avoid potential pain of failure.

The good news? You can break your self-limiting beliefs by practicing mindfulness.
Here’s an exercise: for a full day, note either on your phone or a piece of paper the number of times you think “I can’t do it.” What’s your daily count?

Start paying attention to your self-talk. If it’s not something you would say to a friend why would you say it to yourself? Here’s the thing, these beliefs can be ingrained in who you are and you have to consciously tear apart reality from the belief. Writing is a great tool for doing just that. Even if it’s for five minutes a day, write down your self-limiting beliefs.

The most important step is to get these beliefs out of your head. Identify them so that you can kill them. Some won’t die easily, so you’ll have to be an active participant in your recovery, diligently countering the negative self-talk that leads to these beliefs. But this is totally doable. It can change your life.

Reason #1: Different styles and methods of business coaching don't work for everyone

It's important to be honest with yourself and conduct a realistic assessment when it comes to business coaching. Though business coaching can have many benefits, it might not work for everyone.

Every individual brings their own experiences and values to the coaching dynamic, so results will vary. Additionally, some individuals might need more than just a coach. They might also need specialised knowledge or communication strategies specific to their industry or target audience. Below are a few key factors to consider:

Reason #2: There is no clear focus or vision (talk about time dedication here too)

cIt's important to be honest with yourself and conduct a realistic assessment when it comes to business coaching. Though business coaching can have many benefits, it might not work for everyone.

Business coaching is an effective tool for developing a clearer focus and vision for growing your business. A good coach will help you to take a comprehensive look at your strengths, weaknesses, and available resources that can be used to reach those goals. They will also help you draw up action plans with step-by-step instructions to get there.

By providing honest feedback and being patient throughout the process, a business coach can make sure that you’re on the right track. This will enable you to set realistic milestones and tasks.

These tasks may need dedicated time outside of coaching sessions. For example, a coach might help a client develop a marketing strategy or implement new systems for managing employees. However, if the client does not have enough time to devote to these tasks outside of coaching sessions, progress will likely stall.

Both the coach and the client must have enough time available to reflect on past experiences, brainstorm new solutions, and test out different strategies. If either party is rushed or distracted during coaching sessions due to other commitments or obligations, they may struggle to fully engage in this process.

Effective business coaching also requires a commitment to regular meetings and ongoing communication. If either the coach or the client does not have enough time to dedicate to these meetings, progress may be slow or nonexistent.

It's important to recognise that business coaching is an ongoing process that takes time to yield results. While some clients may see improvements after just a few sessions with their coach. Others may need months or even years of consistent effort before they begin seeing real changes in their businesses.

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