Limiting Beliefs: Everything You Need to Know

You’ve probably heard (or thought) one of these before:

• “I’m just not a math person.”
• “People like me don’t get opportunities like that.”
• “If I try and fail, everyone will think I’m a joke.”

These are all limiting beliefs (aka blockers or mental blocks). Untrue but convincing thoughts that quietly shape your choices, behaviors, and potential. Most of us have them, and we typically don’t realize how much they’re holding us back.

Here, we’ll break down what limiting beliefs are, where they come from, how to identify them, and most importantly, how to challenge and change them. Whether your blocks are personal, professional, or emotional, learning to spot limiting beliefs is the first step toward empowerment.

What are limiting beliefs?

Limiting beliefs are assumptions or thoughts you accept as true. They restrict what you believe you can do, be, or have. They often sound like personal truths, “I’m not creative,” “Success is for other people,” or “It’s too late for me,” but they’re usually based on fear, past experiences, or social conditioning, not facts.

Most resources talk about limiting beliefs in terms of self-worth or ability, but they can also be about the world: beliefs about how life works, what people are like, or what’s possible in society.

These beliefs operate quietly in the background, shaping your decisions and holding you back from opportunities without you even noticing. They’re often invisible until you actively look for them.

Examples of limiting beliefs

Limiting beliefs can show up in every part of life. Here are some common examples:

Self-Related Limiting Beliefs:

• “I’m not smart enough to do that.”
• “I always mess things up.”
• “I’m too old to start something new.”

Worldview-Based Limiting Beliefs:

• “You have to know the right people to get ahead.”
• “Money is hard to come by and only for a lucky few.”
• “The world is too broken for anything to really change.”

Relationship-Related Limiting Beliefs:

• “If I open up, I’ll just get hurt.”
• “I’m not lovable the way I am.”
• “I have to earn love by being useful.”

These thoughts often feel true, but they’re usually built on past pain, fear, or inherited assumptions, not facts. The first step in changing them is noticing them, and you can do that by reading more examples of limiting beliefs.

Understanding the impacts of limiting beliefs

As the name suggests, limiting beliefs, well, limit you. They don’t just shape what you think is possible, they shape how you feel about yourself, your future, and your worth.

One belief can set off a chain reaction. If you believe you’re not capable of something, you probably won’t try. Over time, this can lead to frustration, missed opportunities, or even depression from living out of sync with your authentic self.

Some beliefs create blind spots. For example, if you think emotions are a weakness, you’re unlikely to work on emotional intelligence despite it being one of the most important skills for leadership, teamwork, and career success.

And limiting beliefs can compound. If you believe you’ll never make enough money, that mindset might stop you from applying for better-paying roles, asking for a raise, or starting a business. If you also believe emotions are a weakness, you might avoid developing the emotional intelligence that will help you get promotions. Together, these beliefs create a cycle that keeps you stuck financially.

These thoughts don’t just hold you back in one area; they ripple through your life, affecting your confidence, relationships, goals, and growth. They can:

• Keep you stuck in jobs, relationships, or routines that don’t reflect your potential
• Lower your confidence and increase self-doubt
• Cause chronic procrastination or avoidance
• Make you second-guess your choices—even when they’re right for you
• Prevent you from taking healthy risks
• Lead to burnout from trying to prove your worth
• Block personal and professional growth
• Strain your relationships due to fear or mistrust
• Reinforce a negative self-image over time
• Create a constant sense of frustration or dissatisfaction

Many people don’t realize how to overcome limiting beliefs until they start questioning how they got their beliefs in the first place.

How we get limiting beliefs

We’re not born with limiting beliefs, we learn them. Think of your mind as a blank slate when you enter the world. Over time, it gets written on by everything around you. Parents, teachers, peers, media, culture, and even advertising all send messages about what’s possible, what’s valuable, and what’s true.

Some beliefs are taught directly, like being told “you’ll never make money doing that.” Others are picked up indirectly, like noticing that people who express emotions get shut down, so you start to think feelings are unsafe.

Over time, your brain builds mental shortcuts based on these repeated messages. It creates thought pathways that become automatic. These patterns become the lens you see life through and they’re often invisible until you step back and question them.

Even a few repeated suggestions, especially in childhood or high emotion moments can shape your sense of what’s realistic or allowed. And once these beliefs are in place, your thoughts tend to follow those same mental tracks unless you actively redirect them.

Can you spot any familiar phrases in this list of limiting beliefs examples?

How to get rid of limiting beliefs

Learning that you may have been limiting yourself can be jarring, but the great news is that you are already working to overcome these beliefs just by learning about them. Since limiting beliefs typically go unnoticed, overcoming them involves bringing them to the surface, identifying them, and changing them into more empowering thoughts.

Learning how to get rid of limiting beliefs starts with awareness, but the real progress happens when you challenge those beliefs and replace them with something better.

For instance, if you believe “I’ll never make enough money to live comfortably,” you may catch yourself in moments of doubt and challenge that thought with a reframe like, “I have the ability to increase my income by learning new skills and taking on opportunities.” By doing this, you begin to shift from a mindset of scarcity to one of growth and possibility.

The first step in overcoming limiting beliefs is recognizing them. This requires self-awareness, which is developed by reflecting on your thoughts and noticing patterns. Once you identify these beliefs, you can replace them with more empowering and supportive ones. This process of identifying, challenging, and reframing limiting beliefs is key to freeing yourself from their constraints.

A useful technique is to ask yourself questions such as:

• “Where did this belief come from?”
• “Is it based on facts, or is it an assumption?”
• “What would I tell a friend if they had this belief?”

By challenging the origins and validity of these beliefs, you begin to weaken their hold on your thinking. The more you practice replacing limiting beliefs with positive alternatives, the more automatic it becomes.

Ready to get empowered?

If you want to fast-track your progress in overcoming limiting beliefs, check out Big Think: Empowered Thoughts — a book specifically designed to help you identify the limiting beliefs hidden in your mindset and create healthier, more empowering alternatives.

Learn more or get your copy here: Overcome Limiting Beliefs Book on Amazon