I agree with you Vesuvius that we haven't really talked much about limiting beliefs here, which is kind of surprising when you think about it, because limiting beliefs pretty much seem to lie at the heart of every problem or issue we encounter in our physical realities.

I think if people generally realized just how much they are slaves to their beliefs and belief systems, we would be discussing nothing else but how to shift and mold limiting beliefs.

And I think almost every question would ultimately come down to a question of belief alignment.

Some of my own personal favorite methods for tackling limiting beliefs are here.

As for examples of limiting beliefs, I have been through an encyclopaedia of them in my own life so too many to choose from. :)

But I think the one non-limiting belief I have had which has always (eventually) transcended all of those limiting beliefs, and has helped me enormously in my life, is this one...I WILL find out the truth...even though that truth is probably just my truth.

Limiting beliefs are usually those beliefs that we adopted in childhood to keep us feeling safe in our world. We are often not even aware of or conscious of some of them until we begin to look within to find what is holding us back in life (ie. usually a limiting belief from childhood).

As a young child I was always pretty confident. I did exceptionally well in school. However when I was around 8 or 9 we had a substitute teacher, an older nun, and for some reason she did not like my confidence or brightness and never let me answer a question in class. I did not realize until several months ago that my subconscious had held on to those disparaging remarks that she made, and as a consequence my self confidence became buried. Since uncovering this I have felt some of my confidence come back and I'm not as fearful about speaking up in a group setting.I was also blown away that I could hold on to this after so many years which shows that we have to be very careful in what we say to children because even a seemingly innocent remark can affect someone.

I have only begun uncovering others and it can be scary to let them go, even though they are not playing a valuable role in our life, especially those we learned from caregivers because although they are limiting they are also familiar which lends an air of safety.

At the beginning of this search ,I too, made a decision that I would not give up until I found my own Truth and when I have those moments where I feel I am backsliding or resisting, just remembering that decision to never give up keeps me right on track.

Great question:-)

Imagine that your subconscious is like a dark, moist place. A limiting belief is like a giant mushroom that lives happily in your subconscious and controls your behavior without your realizing it.

For example, when you were three, a big dog chased you and scared you to death. The mushroom grew that you dislike and detest big dogs. You refuse to entertain the notion that not all big dogs are bad- in fact, you don't even consider changing the belief because it seems innocuous.

Limiting beliefs can be very deeply rooted. Prejudice against a certain race is a limiting belief. Somehow, someplace, somebody planted that mushroom in you. Fear of water, fear of poverty- all these point to limiting beliefs. The problem with limiting beliefs is that they limit our choices and control our behavior on a subconscious level.

With my limiting belief that I cannot end a post without a salutation, (LOL)

Jaianniah (Elizabeth)

"The problem with limiting beliefs is that they limit our choices and control our behavior on a subconscious level."

A limiting belief might be, "you have to work hard for money."

Or

"I work very hard for my money and I am a very moral and honest person. I refuse to do money-making things that I consider dishonest".

My neighbor has more money than me, yet he does not work hard. This must mean that he is not honest/moral, ie, he must be doing something that I would find offensive to me. A person with this belief is likely to reject opportunities.

So this belief could prevent seeing valid opportunities for making money easily.

Most of the successful people I know agree that making money (honestly and morally) is easy. They do not have the limiting belief mentioned above, and money flows quite naturally to them because they expect it to do so.

And many of them are self-made. They started with small successes that grew into huge successes.