Time is money, so let me cut to the chase: One of the biggest derailers of our success is limiting beliefs. We all have them. It’s the negative thoughts that stand between us and the person we want to become.
But, the struggle that most of us have, whether we’re real estate investors, crypto investors, options investors, or all the above is the ability to recognize those thoughts… and actually get past them.
This is one of the biggest mindset shifts that happened for me, which has allowed me to build, grow and scale something that I’m passionate about and that truly makes an impact.
Do you realize that your beliefs shape everything that you do… all of your disciplines… all of your habits?
They most certainly do.
So, I want to talk about how to identify the beliefs that are holding you back. Once you ID them, you can then eliminate and flip those limiting beliefs.
I remember way back when, a couple years into my business… I was doing pretty good, hovering around $400,000–$500,000 a year. But then we hit a massive wall that we could not crack through.
And when I looked at it in hindsight, one of the reasons we couldn’t crack through was because of my limiting belief.
See, I thought I was the guy who earned just $150,000 a year. That’s who I was. That’s the mindset that I had at the time. Those were the skills and abilities I had at the time. That’s the network I had at the time.
So, in my head, I shouldn’t be earning more. (Limiting belief!)
See, I didn’t believe I could make that income before, and I definitely didn’t believe in my heart of hearts that say, $10 million, was realistic.
That’s why things fizzled out. Because of my limiting belief!
And it also occurred to me that if I wanted to make a million bucks, I needed to get around the right people. I needed to better myself. I needed to believe I could make a million dollars.
So, I realized I needed to shift my thinking. My mindset. My limiting beliefs.
Now, it’s definitely OK to shoot for the stars. Why not have a big, massive, huge goal?
Well, the problem with that sometimes is you throw out something so big that you don’t believe in your heart of hearts — because you have no context, and possibly no ability at that point, to even help you understand how to take the next step. Then, it can oftentimes be demoralizing because you’re looking it and thinking, ‘Oh crap, how the heck do I reach that? I don’t know what to do. What have I done? What did I get myself into?!”
So, be careful — know that that that outcome is something that could come out of the whole limiting belief saga too.
But also know this: No matter what you’re doing, you’re always at a level where you don’t know how to get to the next level, because you’ve never done it before.
There’s going to be a set of beliefs that you’ve got to shift and adapt to fully believing and understanding that you can make it to that next step, that next level.
As I mentioned, the first thing I like to do is identify those limiting beliefs when I hit ceilings with stagnant or negative momentum. Think of it like this: You’re moving forward, but it feels like you’re walking in mud. And you just can’t get past the level or next step or hurdle.
Your limiting beliefs are preventing you from getting there. That’s how I recognize that type of limiting belief that’s holding me back.
As soon as you start to feel negative momentum or you’re stagnant, you likely have beliefs that are keeping you where you are.
The next way that I like to recognize limiting beliefs and call them out is by asking people around me things like:
- Do you think I should be thinking bigger, but I’m not?
- Where do you think I’m unrealistic in the way that I’m thinking?
And if you ask the right people — the people you trust and the people who would go to bat for you and you’d go to bat for them — they will tell you their honest opinion.
Now, make sure that person is big thinker. Because if you ask someone who’s a smaller thinker, you’re going to be stuck with their limiting beliefs, and they might even drag you down further.
If someone responds to you with: ‘Why are you trying to think bigger? You’re already amazing. You’re already doing that awesomely… why go bigger?’
Walk away. That is not the right person to help you.
Now, after you’d identified your limiting beliefs — you’ve got to eliminate them or flip them to a positive.
So, I write down my limiting beliefs and ask myself: Has anyone in the world ever said this belief is absolutely, positively true?
Here’s an example…
A few years ago, I honestly didn’t think that I could build a business over $10 million a year. I thought, I’m a guy who can get into the low millions. I figured out how to get to $1 million, and I think I can repeat that, but getting to $10M seems like a different ballgame… I don’t think I’m that $10M guy. There are certain things I don’t know how to do, and I don’t really want to build a big team and all the other stuff that comes with it.
So I asked myself, Why don’t I want to build a big team? My response: ‘It just feels like I’d be miserable, a big team is a burden, there’s payroll, and managing them is a hassle…’
That’s my process. ID the limiting belief, ask if it’s true…
Write each limiting belief down. And go through the exercise of talking through whether it’s absolutely, positively true… whether anyone has ever done that thing… whether anyone has ever done that thing the way that you would want to do it.
So, using my example: Has anyone ever taken a business from $1 million to $10 million? Yes, definitely. Has anyone who’s lived in a small town like I do done that? Yep, 100%. Lots of people. Have they done it in a way where they love the business and they love their team and they absolutely love the work that they do — is there anyone ever in the world who’s built a business and done that? Of course.
Now you can clearly see how my limiting beliefs were not true. So right there, throw them out. They’re not serving me anymore. They’re not helpful at all. Those beliefs are not true.
We just proved that they’re not true. That’s where you eliminate them.
Here’s how to flip them…
Since those beliefs are not true, ask yourself what new beliefs you want to adopt. And here’s where your trusted circle of big thinkers comes in again. They can help create a plan to get you there, to the new, healthy beliefs. Have a think with them.
Pro Tip: You’ll want to replace the unproven/false limiting beliefs with something that’s positive, aspirational and new.
So…
Find out what’s stopping you. Are your limiting beliefs true? If not, eliminate and flip them. This is a super-powerful habit to practice regularly.
I strongly suggest you start now. You’ll be happy you did.