Randolph Jones

Limiting Beliefs One thing I’ve been meditating on lately is the concept and idea of limiting beliefs. Why do they exist? Where do they come from and most importantly why do people hold on to them so damn tightly. Conditioning Have you ever watched children interact with each other and the world at large? I mean, to kids, the sky is literally the limit. They run, play, smile, interact with everyone (mostly lol) and are genuinely just easy going with how things are. They want food, they cry. They pee their pants, they cry to be changed. They don’t like the way something is, they cry, question it and throw a tantrum. Now I’m not saying to cry and have a tantrum anytime we don’t get our way, but what if we acted more like children and believed that any and everything was possible, and when someone tried to tell us what we wanted couldn’t happen, we “why” them into submission……proving how futile their excuses and reasons really are. The thing with kids though, is that over time as they grow up, they’re bombarded with “you can’t, you shouldn’t, that’s not safe, are you crazy, why would you even consider such a thing” and the list goes on and on, until eventually, that free-thinking little renegade becomes conditioned to think just like everyone else. That dream they once had of becoming Prime Minister, walking on Mars or ending world hunger gets stifled because they’ve been beaten into mentally believing that it is no longer possible. Really and truly though we can’t fault anyone for this, not our parents, friends, teachers, schoolmates or anyone else, because everyone to a certain extent has undergone the same type of conditioning. I’ve seen this in my own life and to be honest, when I was younger, held a lot of resentment towards my parents for their way of thinking, but really and truly it’s not their fault, they were simply doing the best they could based on the information they themselves had. Not only that, but when you blame someone or something else for your limiting beliefs, you relinquish all your power…..and self-aware people just don’t engage in that type of behaviour. The Choice to Believe is up to you In this day and age, especially for those of us privileged enough to live in the first world, we have the CHOICE to believe in whatever we want. Yes, you heard me correctly, we can choose our beliefs. You can choose to believe that certain things are “impossible” (what a disgusting word) or you can choose to believe in your vision regardless of your surroundings or the naysayers. Why would we choose not to believe? That’s easy…..because it’s easier and less scary to go along with the statue quo. Think of it this way. Have you ever noticed that people only complain about things they have the power to change? I hate my job. My boyfriend is a douche bag My girlfriend has loose morals I’m not as fit as I’d like to be And the list goes on and on and on, when in fact the solutions are quite simply. Change jobs or start your own business, have a conversation with your bf/gf about their actions (or flat out leave them), go to the gym and change your diet. Easy. (I can hear the collective “but it’s not THAT simple”…..I challenge and say it is) The reason why we complain is because it’s easy and involves no risk whatsoever. We don’t run the risk of finding new employment or starting your own enterprise. We don’t run the risk of being alone if we settle for a less than stellar partner and we certainly don’t have to give up that bag of chips and donuts for lunch every day. Here’s the thing, if you think building your ideal life is easy, I have news for you…..it’s not. It’s not sexy, not “normal”, not convenient, no fail proof or any of the other creature comforts we enjoy. I could write a book on the mass amounts of failure, ridicule, heartbreak, inconvenience, sacrifice and plain old bullshit I’ve been through just to get where I am. The joke is, I’m STILL not in the exact place I want to be so guess what, there’s a lot more bullshit in store for me. That’s okay. You could say all those experiences have toughened me up and given me a thick skin where now I honestly that if the risk doesn’t kill me, then I’m all for it…….in case you’re wondering my dreams do mean that much to me. How much do yours mean and are you willing to choose a new set of beliefs to support your ambitions. Remember, it all starts on the inside.