What is the number one passion that you want to pursue in life?
See above, one of the most fear-provoking, nerve-wracking questions that can easily lead into a minor existential crisis, and straight into the deep end of self-doubt. As dreaded, and unwarranted as this question may be, it’s a quick and easy way to identify the biggest but’s and limiting beliefs that are keeping the soles of your feet planted in place.
Well…sigh…you want to do “X” BUT you can’t because…
Incoming a list of 100 reasons why you should not do said thing…
It’s pretty miraculous how quickly our minds can generate a myriad of excuses pertaining to why we shouldn’t pursue the things we want in life. Go on and try it. Think about that one passion that you’ve always wanted to pursue, and tell yourself why it’s a bad idea. You’ll find that many of the excuses that come to the forefront all spring from a mindset centered around lack, and you can pretty much substitute any word you want as an excuse. Lack of money, time, resources, natural talent, skills, sufficient information, education, etc…
Limiting beliefs are pretty easy to spot, and the worst part about them is how easy they attach to us. They settle into our subconscious, one thin layer at a time. So subtle, we don’t even notice them building, and piling up on top of each other until we look up, and fail to see over the wall that’s become the designated line between ourselves and who we want to be.
Likely this limiting belief has been building for a long time, so it won’t take overnight to deconstruct. But, the only way that you can progress in loosening its hold on you, is by taking a hard step forward in a direction that will directly challenge that belief.
Taking an example from the list above, let’s say you have a limiting belief about money, and you want to invest in a new project or goal related to your passion, but you don’t have the funds to do so. Or perhaps you do have the funds, but you fear it won’t be worth the amount that you have to initially dedicate.
If this is the case, the very first question you should ask yourself is: What can I do right now at this very moment to challenge this idea?
You don’t need to take out a full deposit or apply for a loan application in that very instant. You can start with something as little as $5 to set aside in a bank account, and increase the amount if you wish to do so as you go along. You simply have to find the action that you can take at the moment with the least resistance, and go from there. Taking the first step in a direction that is in direct opposition to your belief is the first step in wearing it down.
You can do this as well if you have already amassed a sufficient amount of funds, but you don’t know whether you’ll reap the benefits of utilizing them. At its core, this still stems from a mindset of lack. You’re afraid to let go of the money that you have, because you don’t trust that there is enough to replenish it, which springs from an even deeper rooted limiting belief about money.
You can challenge this by realizing that there is no such thing as a waste of money when investing in yourself. You will gain value, regardless of if its monetary, because you have taken an action to pursue your goal. What you learn through the course of this action is the return of your investment. But, you won’t gain anything if you don’t even try.
Similarly, you can deconstruct your lack-based mindset to challenge any of the other limiting beliefs listed above. If you’re afraid that you don’t have the perfect skillset or prior education to perform a specific task or role, there are so many ways that you can overcome this.
The first thing that you have to realize is that you aren’t at a disadvantage here. It’s very easy to look at individuals in your peer-set who are further along in their journey, or those who have already found success and compare your “right-now” to their “been there, done that.” But, you have to understand that they didn’t come into this world with any preconceived knowledge. They had to start learning with no prior experience, just like you.
One of the best advantages you have is that education and learning resources are abundant. There is no lack of available information. There’s no cap limit to knowledge to tap into, even if you’re someone who didn’t go to school, or didn’t earn a degree. If you have a device that you can connect to the internet or an available library within traveling distance, you’re pretty much set. There are a variety of accessible courses and certifications that you can obtain to learn any skill, free of charge. It’s up to you to decide whether to pursue them or not.
One last limiting belief to tackle is the common misconception that there is a lack of time in your life to pursue the things you want to do.
You, simply reading this right now is a testament to the falsehood of that statement. There are 24 hours in a day, which adds up to a total of 1,440 minutes. How many of those precious minutes do you allow to get away from you each day? Your minutes decrease every time you snooze your alarm, open up your social media feed to aimlessly scroll, weigh the pros and cons of pursuing your goal, and consult with Google.com to seek answers about whether you should go for it or not, and complain just don’t have enough time todo what you want to do in life.
You do in fact have time. I am positive that you can find one moment in a full day’s worth of 1,440 minutes to dedicate to your goal or passion. You don’t even have to dedicate a full hour. If all you can give one minute, even that is more than enough.
You have to make a conscious effort every day to challenge these beliefs in one way or another.
Don’t let them overpower you. You have the ability to take actionable steps in the direction that you want to go. Next time that you’re posed with the question of what you want to pursue in life, why not think of 100 reasons why you CAN do it. Instead of focusing on the lack, shift your focus towards the abundance of what you can learn and what you can accomplish if you give yourself the chance to start exactly where you are with what you already have.
