Finding the limits

I talk a lot about the small changes and shifts in this space and the power of all those little bits. Small changes and improvements are a great, low pressure way to move ahead. While I fully believe in the little bits, and I am constantly looking for the next little bit, I have made some huge jumps too. I read in one of Jen Sincero’s books quite a while ago that the best way to find out what your limiting beliefs are is to take some big scary action towards what you want. This I know to be true.

There’s nothing like leaping off the building to force you to grow your wings and lay down the weights. The amount of limiting beliefs I had to sort through after I committed myself to building this house was bonkers. Same thing when I took the leap to become fully self-employed. As soon as I made a big leap, all the fears and reasons I couldn’t do it reared up and grabbed me by the ankles. They always will. Thankfully, I’ve gotten really good at seeing them for what they are. It’s just my brains way of keeping me safe by chaining me to the familiar. It’s what my brain was designed to do. Keeping to the familiar is not my goal though. So I welcome in the shock to the system that comes with the big leaps. I now take it as an opportunity to work on the beliefs that are driving those fears.

Recently I was reading a book by Noor Hibbert and there was a little exercise in there that simulates that big leap a bit to drum out the limiting beliefs that I found pretty cool. Get a notebook or scrap of paper. Close your eyes and imagine your dream income level. How much money would you earn per year that you think is a really great income for you to reach. Once you have that feeling and number in your mind, write it down at the top of your page.. and add a zero to the end. Try and picture yourself earning that amount of money. This is the fun part.. notice all the fears, insecurities and limiting beliefs that pop up and write them all down under the dollar amount.

I’ve done a whole tonne of work on my beliefs around money, but I was shocked to see the ones that popped out on the page! Here are just a few:

• I can’t make that kind of money and still spend lots of time with my kids
• I can’t make that kind of money in Newfoundland
• My skills don’t warner that kind of income
• I’d have no time for ease or fun
• Wanting to make that money makes me greedy and dirty
• I’d be wasteful if I made that much
• Single moms are supposed to struggle
• My time isn’t worth that
• The big experiences that come with that aren’t in the cards for me

Talk about a whole pile of crap! When I look at those in black and white I know they aren’t true. I have lots of experience to back up how they might be, but they aren’t 100% true if I choose for them not to be. There are lots of people in Newfoundland making even bigger money than that. There are lots of single moms who are doing amazing financially. It is absolutely possible to have a balance of work time and family/ relax time. I know the possibilities in passive income too, so I’m not relying only on trading time for money.

Give this one a try! See what pops out. Then rewrite the beliefs the way you want them to be and repeat them until it becomes your new, sure way of thinking. There’s a full post on how to change beliefs from a little while back too that can come in handy here.

Our brains are designed to seek information that supports itself. It’s called confirmation bias and we all have it. If you drive down the road and you are looking for red cars, you will see lots of red cars. If you’re driving down the road searching for red cars you also probably won’t take much note to the blue cars. If you go about life assuming you can’t make great money in Newfoundland, you will see all the people and the reasons why you can’t. If you look for the ones who are doing it and the ways that you can, you will find them and start opening yourself up to it. Both are here and both are available to you. It’s what you believe and focus on that determines what you limit yourself to.

Rooting out these crappy old beliefs keeps us from running on auto-pilot and continuing on creating and re-creating the same old. This is where we get to choose new beliefs that can take us higher.

Lots of love

Dawn