Category: Challenge

In an effort to facilitate personal growth, I will share weekly theme-based challenges here. Feel free to share your experience with and responses to the challenge in the comments!

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Confronting fear and limiting beliefs

Imagine this..

Go on this brief thought journey with me. You just were let go from your job. Subsequently, you try to understand how and why this has happened to you. With limited information, you start to fill in the gaps with the following ideas: “I was not a great employee, so of course they let me go.” “I could have worked harder.” “I did not deserve to have this position.” “I wont ever find another role like that.” “I am not good enough to find another position”. *end thought journey*

this is part of my truth

Those exact thoughts went through my mind a few months ago. Without fully grasping the facts surrounding the shift in my role and employment, I created my own. Importantly, the thoughts were not based on feedback from a supervisor or co-worker. They were entirely my own and they were harmful to my esteem and damaging to my self-worth. As I write this, I have moved though these feelings and am upset that I allowed those thoughts to be primary. In short, I have more unlearning to do.

Fear in the body

The next time you catch yourself immersed in a limiting beliefs thought loop, see if you can tap in to your body and identify where in your body you are feeling the emotion. Is it a tightness in your chest? an awareness of your heartbeat? a dry mouth? a sudden headache? do you want to curl up into child’s pose? It may be some of those sensations or something entirely different, but tuning in and confronting the feeling is an important step. In addition, it also encourages greater physical body awareness.

As you explore the sensation, think about ways that you can honor the feeling and also return to a state of equilibrium. Find a comfortable seated position, take deep breaths, place your hands over your heart and your stomach, close your eyes and allow yourself to be in the moment. That sequence of events helps me get back to a grounded space. Feel free to give it a try!

If you can identify with this thought pattern, you may, like me, default in certain situations to limiting beliefs. You may be continually getting in your own way with negative self-talk. Thankfully, there are ways to work through this; ways to allow your love for yourself to overshadow the fear. On my youtube channel, I discuss a different example of my own limiting beliefs and part of the process for moving through the feelings. Below, is a challenge or exercise for you to do to help clear those thoughts. To use nature imagery, a way to clear the shadows or clouds of fear that are obstructing the affirming light in your life.

Clearing limiting thoughts exercise

  1. Identify a desired outcome that brings up fear, doubt, or limiting beliefs
    • Fill in the blank: I want to clear limiting beliefs and doubts around ——-.
  2. Identify two or more limiting beliefs
  3. Thank the limiting beliefs for what they teach you or how they protect you
  4. Forgive yourself for carrying the thought
  5. Give yourself permission to honor the thoughts and move past them

Want to learn more about limiting beliefs? Dr. Tomi Bryan has a great worksheet on her site that follows these steps and also goes more in-depth about what limiting beliefs are.

I’m glad my words were able to reach you. all my love

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Deconstructing self-doubt

This is a self-awareness exercise. Feel free to take a few minutes to answer these questions.
  • Where does self-doubt live in your life? 
  • Does it manifest in your actions, words and/or thoughts? 
  • When is the last time you doubted yourself or your abilities? 
  • What fueled your doubt? 
  • Is the source of your doubt subjective or objective?
    • Objective – Observation of measurable facts
    • Subjective – Personal opinions, assumptions, interpretations, and beliefs
  • How do you respond to self-doubt?
  • What actions do you take to combat doubt? 

Take a look at self part 1: doubt and procrastination for the tips I use to combat my doubt.
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Movement and stagnation

In this week’s blog post, I talk about movement and stagnation. What are some ways that you move mentally, emotionally, physically and/or socially? Write them down and see if you can put two of them into practice this week. If you feel like you are not able to or feel stuck, take some time to think about what is getting in the way. Is something out of alignment for you? Are there thoughts and feelings taking up space and preventing you from moving?

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Take your ideas for a walk

List 2 or 3 ideas, thoughts, or aspirations that are important to you. They can be related to anything.
  1. Plan: Under each thought, write out some steps that you would have to take to turn your idea into reality. You can work from the present moment or think about it in reverse as if it is the moment before your idea becomes tangible. The number of steps will vary, but do your best to go into detail. It will make the next step easier. There is no time frame on how long you spend in the planning stage, but be careful to not get caught up in the minute details. Finding a happy medium between too much and too little detail takes practice.
  2. Execute: Pick one of the ideas or thoughts and start to implement the steps from the planning stage. As you progress through each step, take note of your feelings. Are you excited, overwhelmed, confused, bored, insecure, optimistic or something else? Allow these feelings to guide you. If confused, take a second to gain some clarity perhaps through research or conversation with others. If overwhelmed, take a second to pause. There are no deadlines unless you self-impose and if there are deadlines, a moment to pause will do more good than harm. If insecure, try the self-inquisition challenge to get to the root of your insecurity. If excited, take a moment to pause and then keep on moving. Keep moving through the steps until your thought or idea has been manifested.
  3. Do it again: Take note of what you learned during the planning and executing phases and do it all again, with the same idea or with a new one. It is completely up to you!

take a look at Show Up for Yourself: PED for some inspiration.