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Let me catch you up

Last year I wrote a series of New Year’s Resolution articles. In those articles, I promised to detail how to succeed at New Year’s Resolutions. I also promised to update you on my progress journaling. So far I have only missed 4 days journaling, the first day of the year ????, and a trip to Colorado. That puts me at an above average 88% success rate. For me, that’s pretty good because it is still infinitely better than no journal at all. If you want to check out those articles they are here, here, and here. I recommend starting at the first one. Today though we are going to break through some limits

Limiting Beliefs

Updating you was just the beginning of this article. I wanted to give you some more meat today too and give you a sweet idea acheiving goals. Limiting beliefs are exactly what the two words mean; your beliefs limit what you think you can do. Seems simple right? If it’s that simple, it should be easy? I had a friend tell me, “if you look in a thesaurus you will see simple and easy as synonyms.” He continued, “as any Christian can tell you simple and easy are anything but synonyms.”

The goal of this articles then is to help you reveal your limiting beliefs and then adjust them, so you can do some amazing things. The example we are going to use is you can’t start a new year’s resolution in February. Which by the way may be the perfect time to pick up a resolution, especially if already tried and failed in January.

Naming Limiting beliefs

So how do we reveal limiting beliefs? This part involves naming what is holding you back from reaching your goal. What you will find is that there is rarely an external something holding you back from accomplishing things. John Wooden, a famous basketball coach, never scouted the opposing teams. He said, “If I can get the guys on my team to play the right way and the right game then it won’t matter who our opponent is. We will be successful.”

Naming a limiting belief starts with the external problem or goal you want to achieve and then you ask what is holding you back. Click To Tweet

Let’s start with our example of the New Year’s Resolution. The problem is that you want to start a New Year’s Resolution. The belief that might be holding us back is that it isn’t the new year anymore, or it is too late to start on your resolution. So how does that limit us? Well, now we can’t start our goal until next year in January. Also, if we failed in January this year, we have to hope that the next time with be better despite changing circumstances. Let me just spell that out a little clearer:

Belief – I can only begin a New Year’s Resolution in early January.

Limit – I can’t (or I don’t have to) work on my New Year’s Resolution this year.

Breaking Beliefs

So, we have our limiting belief named and defined. So, what now? Well, if we want to change our limit, then we have to change our belief. Seems obvious, but this is where the simple and easy break happen. Beliefs are often deeply held. They both motivate and trap us. The deeper the belief, often the greater the limit is on us.

This becomes especially true when you consider the phrase ought to or ought not to. If you think something ought not to happen then that is a limiting belief. For example, a scientist with little theological training ought not to write a theology book on the Genesis 3 Fall of Man. But, I did it. Consider this: should a stay-at-home dad be anything other than a bum who plays video games? Yet, I wrote and published a book while raising my son, and I will do it again with a new daughter.

The words “ought not“seep into our being and we live our lives framed by them. The word, only, comes to mind. I am only a Dad. I am only one thing. You are only one thing. That’s limiting. To return to our example I can only begin a Resolution in January. “I can only” limits us to a corner we don’t need to be in. You can get started on that New Year Resolution any time.

I am not saying that breaking limiting beliefs is easy. It is difficult. The air we breathe is saturated with them. You can’t do this or I ought not to do that. Sometimes these beliefs are helpful. Many are not. Click To Tweet

You define what new is. In English, we have two different definitions of new that most other languages use two different words or syntaxes to differentiate. The first new is that of brand new, never before seen. Think, “the Samsung Galaxy S10 is new.” The second new is new to you, not freshly created. For example, “we just bought a new car. It only has 30,000 miles on it.” So maybe your “New Year” begins after the Lunar New Year which means today is the best day to start. Maybe February still feels like a New Year to you. Sometimes reframing the problem helps adjust that limiting belief.

Freedom

Taylor Swift wrote this incredibly catchy tune called Shake It Off. In that tune, she talks about shaking off all the naysayers, haters, and disbelievers. We have to shake off our inner naysayers, critic, and limiting belief. That brings freedom, and sometimes we need help.

Sometimes what we need to break our limiting beliefs is seeing someone or something do it before us. Obviously, if someone has already broken a limit then it no longer is a limit. So, where can we look to find inspiration to break limiting beliefs? I think the Bible is an excellent place.

Limit-Breaker God

God breaks limiting beliefs frequently. Slaves don’t break free from their masters. A murderer ought not lead a nation as the prophet of God. The red sea ought not part so people can walk on dry land. Fire doesn’t come from the sky to lead a march of millions of people by night. That’s just the first few chapters of Exodus. That has nothing to do with the radical laws that God gives his people.

You know my favorite thing that God does in that book though. Before he gives them any laws, rules and before the ten commandments God gives them a party. The Passover is instituted before Moses ever parts the sea. Before they have even left Egypt. God institutes a party. God says, “this is how you shall remember me.” I give life, fun, and parties. We’ll get to the rules later, but you should remember me by feasting. What god does that besides maybe Bacchus but then God gives us rules too just to break the limit again.

Faith

Faith is the belief of things unseen. It is inherently limit breaking because you have never seen it. It stands in contrast to the Solomonic wisdom of there is nothing new under the sun. God stands with Isaiah, “Behold I am doing a new thing!”

New is exactly what God is breaking into our world to do over and over. The addict can’t overcome his addiction, but behold God is breaking in and doing a new thing. A stay-at-home dad is a failure, but behold God is breaking in and doing a new thing. The obese person can’t lose weight, but behold God is breaking in and doing a new thing. I don’t know what your thing is, but God can break in a do a new thing. I am not promising it will be easy, but prayer is simple. God breaking in is a simple thing. Painful and difficult, full of trial and strife yes but oh so worth it. Because when God breaks in there is freedom, life, and parties. There are no limits to His abilities. That is faith, simple and not easy.

Because when God breaks in there is freedom, life, and parties. There are no limits to His abilities. Click To Tweet

Broken Limits

Faith is how I break my limits. There are so many on me. I ought not do many things, but I refuse to believe anything less of God and myself. It sounds simple because it is. It is not easy. Breaking your limiting beliefs is going to be the hardest thing that any of us ever do. I can promise you this. It is the most worthwhile.

Me

I have broken the limits in this little way this year. I am have started journaling consistently and successfully. You know what limiting belief holds me back the most. I don’t believe people like me very much and so I stay withdrawn from them in conversation and relationship. Now, some of that is my doing, some past experiences, but do you think I will ever break that belief if I never build a real relationship? That’s a big limiting belief. I use it to protect myself, but imagine how much freedom and life I would have if I didn’t have that belief.

You

What’s your limiting belief? Sometimes it really helps to get it out. Even succeeding at the small ones like journaling can lead to getting bigger ones out of the way. Let me know in the comments or by email. Here is a link to subscribe to the email community.

Get started on your new year’s resolution today!

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