You know that voice in your head that seems to never shut up?

You know that voice in your head that seems to never shut up?

• “Everyone else is so much smarter and more qualified than I am.”

• “I have to be perfect at everything I do, or I'm a failure.”

• "When people compliment me, they don't really mean it. They're just being polite."

• "I feel like I'm pretending to be something I'm not."

Here’s the thing: at one time, these beliefs were created as a way to protect you. They were created out of an experience that you internalized as a threat. And their role is to protect you from being put in that negative experience again.

There are two questions you can ask yourself. How did this belief serve me in the past? And is this belief still serving me today?

We often recognize that these particular beliefs are holding us back when we are pursuing a goal or going after something we desire. We see that these negative or limiting beliefs are holding us back from making progress.

Even though logically we know these beliefs are no longer serving us, it can be very uncomfortable to move on because they have been protecting us for so long. To override these beliefs with something different means stepping outside our comfort zone and into the unknown.

The solution begins with awareness: recognizing these voices as limiting beliefs. And instead of demonizing this part of ourselves, can we get intimately aware of what it sounds like, why it exists, and what it’s protecting us from? Only then can we begin to shift our mindset to something more supportive.