Guest Post by Matthew Crowe.
If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning. – Mahatma Gandhi
Most successful entrepreneurs gravitate toward working on themselves. Reading personal development books, exercising regularly, eating healthy, having mentors, attending seminars, meditating, and so on. Why? I guess a whole host of reasons. But as a student of life myself, I would say that we should always be striving for excellence, which takes continual and deliberate practice.
Now, more than ever, we have the tools at our disposal via the internet, books, videos, etc. on how to become highly successful in life from many legends such as Napoleon Hill, Anthony Robbins, Jim Rohn, and Earl Nightingale, to name a few. These giants have shown us that anything is possible. Absolutely anything. Upbringing and social status no longer matter. Education, looks, and your last name don’t have the same clout as they may have 100 years ago, and the New Rich of today are in all different shapes and forms. All that being said, there is one thing that is for certain: they all had a strong belief system in tact that we can all learn valuable lessons from.
For someone like myself who didn’t come from blue blood, a trust fund, or given anything on a silver spoon, I appreciate what it takes to work your ass off with constant self-improvement, dedication, perseverance, and belief to achieve your goals and dreams. However, until we understand how our brains operate it’s hard for us to put into practice methodologies to release us from the shackles that hold us back from our true potential.
Pushing through our limiting beliefs, learning how to let our belief system propel us to levels we never thought humanly possible, and understanding that what we think about the most is who we become are just a few of the fundamental pillars of not letting your limiting beliefs hold you back.
Many of my limiting beliefs were instilled in me at a very young age. Maybe it was when I was a young boy and my parental conditioning (or lack thereof) had a large impact, maybe the influence of my social circles during my teenage years? Who knows? Whatever it was, those beliefs held me back for many years from my true potential. Whatever it may be for you, we all have had something. So the real question is how did I start to move past those improper beliefs that were limiting me from my true potential within, and how can you put those same principles into practice?
1. Rituals:
Create simple rituals of consistent ways to implement the beliefs you would like to have.
2. Repetition:
Continual repetition over and over and over and over until you start believing what it is you would like to believe. Once you start believing that new belief, keep doing it over, and over, and over, and over, and over again some more.
3. Reprogramming:
Without going into too much detail about how we operate from a psychological level, our brains are very similar to the motherboard of a computer. Information and experiences can be stored, processed, and deleted. However, everything we do can also be reprogrammed to work more efficiently, quickly, and effectively.
“Reprogramming” your brain with the information you would like to have in it will get rid of what’s in there that you don’t want.
Nobody is perfect, especially not myself. However, we all have the tools at our fingertips to plow through our limiting beliefs and achieve ANY and I mean ANY goal we want. These are just a few helpful tips, and the day you decide to not let your beliefs hold you back will be a momentous turning point in your life.
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Matt is the Founder and Chairman of Huckleberry, a Minneapolis, MN venture capital firm with a unique focus on Crowdsourcing and “building companies.” He writes regularly at matt’s blog – business and philosophy, is a columnist for Real Business Magazine, is the author of the book Winners Persevere, and hosts an online talk radio show called The Matt Crowe Show.
