There are no limits on reaching success only those in your own mind. This is sometimes referred to as the Glass Ceiling. But what creates that glass ceiling in our minds, preventing success, limiting us?
Table of Contents
What is the glass ceiling?
From Wikipedia
- A glass ceiling is a metaphor used to represent an invisible barrier that keeps a given demographic (typically applied to minorities) from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy.
- The metaphor was first coined by feminists in reference to barriers in the careers of high-achieving women. In the US, the concept is sometimes extended to refer to obstacles hindering the advancement of minority women, as well as minority men. Minority women often find the most difficulty in “breaking the glass ceiling” because they lie at the intersection of two historically marginalized groups: women and people of color. East Asian and East Asian American news outlets have coined the term “bamboo ceiling” to refer to the obstacles that all East Asian Americans face in advancing their careers
Now the term is also used to refer to the limits we have in our own minds, referred to as limiting beliefs.
Where do they come from?
We listen and overhear comments and statements from a young age and many of these take root.
Ask yourself how much you CAN earn in a week, a month, a year.
Do you find yourself holding back, not wanting to be greedy? Do you say, that’s too much?
First ask yourself, Why is it too much?
If you work hard it is not wrong to expect to be paid what you are worth. We do have a tendency though to set a limit, even if we are unaware of it until we ask ourselves the question.
What is too much? £1,000 a month, £2,000, £5,000, £10,000?
Which number did you balk at, if none go higher and keep going until you feel uncomfortable. Once you do, then you know the limit you have subconsciously placed upon yourself.
Okay, now try this. Take the number you became uncomfortable at, say £5,000 a month. Now double it and keep repeating it to yourself. Tell yourself ‘I can earn £10,000 a month’. The more you repeat it the less uncomfortable you will feel.
Does it feel okay now? Yes? Now double it again! Repeat the same procedure until you feel comfortable, until it no longer seems to be an outrageous amount. Now you have broken through that glass ceiling you didn’t know was there.
If you still feel uncomfortable or are keeping the sum low, then the chances are that you have a Limiting belief in that area.
What is a Limiting Belief?
It is surprising how much we can hold ourselves back without even realising it. So much that we pick up from others becomes stuck in our subconscious and dictates our lives.
We are limited by much that we see and rules we are given every day but we know about those. It’s those that are hidden in our subconscious, created in the past, by parents, siblings, grandparents, teachers and more. Those who were part of our everyday lives who would perhaps say things in jest that we took seriously. Parents and other adults would make comments unaware a child is listening and could be affected.
Even now, as an adult we can take things on board that unknowingly bolster a previous limiting belief or form a new one.
Read about limiting beliefs in this post HERE!
How can you tell?
Every time something comes up that you feel uncomfortable with, the chances are it’s a limiting belief. We have so many that we never ever know about. For so many people it stops them becoming successful as they subconsciously sabotage themselves unknowingly.
Have you tried to run a business in the past, perhaps got to a certain point and gave up just before you could have become successful? Signed up for training, got really excited knowing this could be it, that this time you could actually succeed, then for one reason or another, stopped, dropped out, gave up right before the end.
I bet the reasons seemed valid at the time. Took too much time up, didn’t get enough time with your family or friends. It was too hard. You weren’t clever enough, not good enough to make it, you don’t have what it takes.
Sound familiar?
Sometimes those we are closest too can put obstacles in the way because of their subconscious fears. Fears that we might change, outgrow them, leave them behind in some way. Often they don’t even understand they are doing it themselves. It comes down to their limiting beliefs.
The Good News.
The good news is that we can overcome this conditioning that set so many limits without us realising it. You can search the internet/google ‘Limiting Beliefs’ and come up with a wealth of information.
Everyone, it seems, has a solution. You just have to wade through it and find what works for you. Some say you can do this with affirmations but it seems unlikely if these are long held beliefs and probably there are many you have no idea are tucked away in there.
What you need is not to know necessarily what they are, though it helps, but to have something that will help get rid of them without it taking months or years. Some people go the therapy route which can take years, others affirmations/reading books/watching every video they find, this can take many months and stretch into years too.
How do I know? I have been a seeker of knowledge for many years. I must admit though, it is much easier now with search engines at our fingertips making the knowledge more easily accessible.
- “Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives.” — Tony Robbins *
What are the solutions?
There are many if you google how to remove limiting beliefs, you will discover a great variety of ways to do so.
I am a firm believer in using methods that feel right to me. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution because we are all very different.
I have personally used Ho’oponopono an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness. It has been modernised, without losing the essence, to be more useful in the modern world.
However, you should do your own research and check what is available before deciding.
For those that haven’t ever quite managed to be successful and reading this post have realised this may be their problem, it’s an area worth exploring.
I know this is somewhat different than the usual affiliate marketing/ business start up/working from home type of post but I feel it is a subject that should be considered.
Perhaps you know of someone who tried and got close to success many times and inexplicably gave up or who sabotaged themselves many times. When you consider this happening to others and perhaps yourself it becomes a sensible step to explore the subject.
Just remember, There are No Limits, only those we impose on ourselves.
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Any questions? Please ask and I will do my best to answer.
Comments welcome. Thank you for visiting. Please come back soon.
