Shattering Limiting beliefs

Are We Essentially Blind?
What if we didn’t see the obvious things before us?

Let me start out with a story:

The other day I was in the train listening to an audiobook, Think and Grow Rich if I remember correctly. One story was about a student who came to the United States from China.

(note this was early 20th century)

The principal of the university, or some kind of bigwig at least spoke to him.

And he asked:

“What has been the thing that stood out to you most since coming here?”

The student replied:

“Well, it’s the unusual shape of your eyes.”

The Irony of Blindspots

Funny isn’t it?

When we (in the Western world) think about the Chinese, one of the first noticeable differences we spot is that their eyes are an “unusual” shape. Yet, they think theirs is normal and we are the ones with an unusual shape.

We get accustomed to our situation.

So much so that our minds blind us to differences, to a great extend.

This is the blindspot bias.

If we take this to a personal level, you might have that person in your life who gives the best advice. However, his or her own life is completely in shambles. And clearly, it’s not because of their lack of wisdom or knowledge.

Yet somehow, they think their own situation is different.

Here’s the thing:

If you were looking at a map from a distance, you’d be able to get a pretty good idea of where it is you wanted to go and how to get there. If, on the other hand, you were to get sucked inside of the map (you’re now a single dot), then you would lose all that clarity.

Our Beliefs & Abilities

You might be wondering where I’m going with this.

Simple, I want to talk about the blindspot bias in relation to beliefs.

Let’s start with the basics:

We are in our own heads literally 24/7. Because of this, at both a conscious and subconscious level, we tend to think that the way we see the world is correct. And we tend to think we view it objectively.

Both of those ideas are false!

That’s a highly subjective expression, because of this bias.

You might have seen someone build success in business, you thought was impossible. Or see people rise to “sudden” fame. You might have someone you look up to you for being at an insane level of social skills.

Things that you might consider to be impossible.

However, they operate on different beliefs.

To you it might seem impossible, but not to them!

It’s one of the ways in which our own beliefs hold us back. Most limitations to our achievements don’t exist, except in our own minds! We hold ourselves back to an artificial level of achievement.

Why?

Because in essence we are blind, blind to the world outside our own worldview!

We assume that our beliefs are the actual limits.

In a way we are like a baby elephant. In captivity, like the circus, they are usually tied to a pole. It tries to get away but isn’t strong enough. After a while, it gives up and believes that the pole is its true restriction.

The elephant believes there is no way to break free.

And it stops trying completely.

Even as an adult elephant it stills hold the belief that it cannot escape, even though in reality, it would be EASY! It is blinded by its own beliefs about what is possible…

As is true for most people!

The 4-Minute Solution for This

The question then becomes:

“How can I break out of this?”

Glad you asked!

And even if you didn’t, I’m going to pretend you did (#dealwithit).

You have probably heard of the 4-minute mile, right?

Somewhere in the last century, nobody had ever run a mile in under 4 minutes. In fact, people thought it was impossible. People thought their heart and lungs would explode if they tried.

But not Roger Bannister.

HE did not think it was impossible!

In fact, he pulled it off in 1954!

And funny enough, after Roger did it, that false belief got shattered! Within a year multiple people had run miles in under 4 minutes! Nothing at all changed for any of these athletes, except the belief it was possible!

So, how can you shatter yours?

Firstly, ask yourself:

“Has ANYONE ever achieved what I want to achieve?”

If so, congratulations, it is 100% doable for you as well!

Take the belief that successful people are somehow lucky, blessed, superhuman, special or better in any way! For almost any goal, this is simply NOT true. The exception to this would be sports for the most part.

I would never be an NBA player, no matter how much I practiced.

For 99.9% of goals though, it is within your grasp!

Success leaves clues, so from this moment on, it becomes a journey of figuring out what it is you want (the hard part) and then figuring out who has already achieved it.

Success leaves clues, find the right people and look at what they did!

Do what they did, and you’ll get similar results!

Remember your limiting beliefs are NOT objective reality!

Break them!

Your Wise Guide

Where do you turn to for advice?

The truth is that we are stuck in our own heads with our own beliefs and our own way of thinking. Because of this, we can’t see the situations in our own lives objectively.

So, how can we get around this?

The obvious answer would be to get a mentor or coach. Or to get around other people who are on a similar mission. Other people who can see the things we ourselves are blind to and point these out to us.

But there is a way we can emulate this effect inside our heads.

Note: Try to find your mentors and likeminded peers too, this isn’t a replacement.

Here’s the thought experiment:

Imagine that you were to meet your elderly self, maybe at 90 years old.

This version of yourself has been through the entire journey that you would love to go through. He or she has achieved all the goals you have on your mind. All the obstacles have been overcome!

What would you ask yourself?

That’s up to you.

But when you pretend that you’re talking to a version of yourself that has already moved past the limitations of your own mind, you can ask for advice! This is because there is a part of you that DOES believe in you and it does know what you should be doing!

With this experiment, you’re basically asking the part of yourself that knows best.

BOOM!

Your new source for wisdom on demand. :)

Additional Resources
Getting out of your own mind.

Action Step to Create Conviction

Let’s start with the basics:

If other people have achieved what you want to achieve, it’s possible for you.

However, you might not feel that yet…

Here are a couple of steps you can take to solve this:

• Take a goal you have, but you don’t yet feel convinced that you can achieve this goal.

• Write down why you think it’s not possible. Make a list of them. These are the excuses you have. Let’s shatter them.

• Think about the people that you know have already achieved similar results to those you want to achieve. Look at some of the interviews they’ve done, the content they’ve created and so on.
  
  What you’re going to find is that the people you look up to will have been through similar struggles like you, they have had fear, doubt, and other limitations too. Again, if they can do it, so can you.

• If you want to take this a step further you can go to Google and type in something along the lines of “famous ___ who ____”. In the first blank, fill in your goal and in the second fill in your limiting belief.

When you’re going through these steps you’ll realize 2 things:

1. The people you look up to are NOT special. They don’t have any crazy gifts or incredible luck. For the most part it’s consistent, hard work.

2. YOU are not special either! You don’t have a crazy disposition or are unlucky. For the most part, it’s the lack of consistent, hard work.

Time to break the glass ceiling and get started!

Quick Question for You
Thank you for reading this newsletter until the end! Hope it brings great value to you! :)

Since my goal is to help people, I’d like to ask the following:

Is there any question related to personal development that is on your mind? Or perhaps you’re facing a problem in your life? Reply to this email and I’d be happy to talk about it in a future newsletter (if I have a solid answer).

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