Small Business Articles from Make-it-Fly®

Your Beliefs Could Be Holding You Back
By Victoria Munro

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Subtle yet deeply held limiting beliefs could be preventing you from achieving your goals. What we truly believe—those often-unconscious assumptions about who we are and what we’re capable of—can propel us to greatness and enable us to achieve audacious dreams, or they can sabotage our efforts.

Negative beliefs that hold us back are rarely based on fact. They may have come from parents, early caregivers, teachers or society. We may have been told, “You can’t do …” “You’ll never…” and at some level have assumed it to be true.

Because we’re seldom aware of these ways of thinking, we rarely question them. Worse still, we may reinforce them with negative self-talk.

The good news is that we can choose what we believe.

What Do You Really Believe?
It’s a good exercise and can be revealing to find out what you truly believe. Take a minute and write down what you believe about money, yourself and your capabilities, success, your business, your market and/or your competition.

Change Limiting Beliefs:
In order to develop new thought patterns we must take a look at what we really believe in the objective light of day. Write down and think about each potentially limiting belief. Then, after each old limiting belief, write down a new, more appropriate belief. Repeat your new belief out loud. How does it feel?

Ask yourself the following questions:

	Is this belief based on fact?
	Where did it come from?
	Does this belief support and help me to reach my goals?
	What effect does believing this have on me and my business?
	How does it make me feel?

Uncover any negative self-talk that supports this belief. Write a new positive self-talk statement.

To cultivate and keep a positive mindset, determine to change your “I can’t"s to “I can"s.

What You Believe Can Determine Your Destiny
Our beliefs are a powerful force within us. They can keep us trapped in the status quo, or free us to become who we were born to be and achieve the dreams we set out to reach. Henry Ford understood this when he said, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.”

Choose to change your old limiting beliefs now. This can alter the direction of your life and your business, and enable you to achieve extraordinary dreams.

(398 words)
© 2005-2007 Victoria Munro.

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About the Author: Victoria Munro is co-founder (along with husband Dave Block) of Make-it-Fly® LLC, a company dedicated to creating success for small-business owners through creatively designed programs and tools. Victoria has started and run nine different businesses. To receive FREE business success articles with tips to help you with your business, sign up for their award-winning ezine, “In-Flight Refueling,” at: www.Make-it-Fly.com, and receive a free copy of the eBook, Get More Done in Less Time: 101 Quick and Easy Time Tactics & Tips.

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