8 Thoughts That Are Holding You Back and How to Rethink Them

By GG Renee




We all have dreams about how we want to live and how we want to feel, but we don’t talk about them because we are embarrassed. They seem too farfetched and we don’t think we are good enough to deserve such things. I used to think that dreams were for other people. I was only interested in surviving. I knew I could get by, but I didn't think I was the type of person who could live abundantly. I messed things up, I always did and that was that. Soon I realized that I wasn't surviving at all. I was killing my spirit slowly, trying to just get through life without drawing too much attention to my inadequacies.

Our thoughts create our realities. I started changing my life slowly, one step at a time, by changing my thoughts.

Maybe there is faith and courage in your heart but in your head you are still repeating the same negative beliefs to yourself. One way to change that is to identify the limiting thoughts in your mind (write them down!) and contradict them with positive ones. Consider the eight examples below, and do try this at home.

“I need to have all the answers before I make a change that my heart is calling me to make.”

Here and now is the time to let go of the idea that you should already have all the answers. Life is about discovery. The people who truly live and have less regret are those who explore their questions instead of running from them. Be discerning when someone criticizes you for your journey. Who is the criticism coming from and how are they projecting their own limitations onto you?

“My ideal life will land in my lap and if it doesn’t, it wasn’t meant to be.”

Always be cautious of hearing bits and pieces of people’s stories and romanticizing how easily it all came together for them. The best way you can prepare for any kind of opportunity is to invest time and energy in your own self-discovery. Self-awareness leads to life decisions that are aligned with your soul.

“No one ever understands my point of view, so I must be the only one who feels the way I do.”

Appreciate yourself. Don’t measure yourself according to the way the world receives you. Starting with a core, fundamental appreciation for your life and the way your Creator made you, you can build upon that. Authentic power comes from being yourself regardless of outside validation. This kind of power is magnetic and will both attract and polarize people and that’s okay. If everyone loves you and no one disagrees with you ever, then you are probably watering yourself down too much.

“I need to play down my natural interests to make others who can’t relate feel comfortable around me.”

If you don’t differentiate yourself, you are denying yourself the gift of full exploration. How will you ever know what you are capable of? You will have to make sacrifices to grow and one of those may be giving up your hiding spots. When you reveal yourself, there will be some who are threatened by your light, but there will also be many others who are inspired by it.

“The vision I have for myself is unreasonable. There’s no way I can get from here to there.”

These are words that the world forces into our minds. If we don’t seek truth, we can easily go through life believing all the lies and limitations. The closer you get to your truth, the more resistance you will face. The more the fear will rise up. If the desire is planted within you, it is for a reason. When you feel doubt, fear, anxiety, it is a sign that you are getting closer. Push through it. Don’t think about the distance. Think about how it will feel to live a life that shuns fear.

“My personality always gets me in trouble or leaves me feeling isolated. There’s something wrong with me.”

Resist the urge to numb yourself to the fires that burn within you. Fan your flames, don’t put them out for fear that they are too big or too hot or too much for other people. You will always be “too much” for someone. But self-denial will send you on a dead-end course in the wrong direction, away from your purpose. Challenge your doubts. Feed your truth. The more you stick to it and stay true to yourself, the more you will attract situations that fulfill you.

“I’m not passionate about anything. Nothing excites me or turns me on.”

If nothing excites you or gives you a feeling of deep satisfaction, then there is something in the way. Maybe it’s shame. Maybe it’s bitterness over past grievances. The realities of life have a way of breaking our spirits and zapping our creativity. Consider if you had no worries, nothing to defend yourself against, what would you take pleasure in doing? How would you spend your time? What are your top values? Adopt the mindset of a child and revert back to a world full of wonder. Where does that take you?

“Positive thinking is foolish and always leads to disappointment. It’s better to be realistic and prepare for the worst.”

I love Joel Osteen’s phrase, “Be a prisoner of hope.” There are facts and figures and probabilities but when you are a prisoner of hope, none of those things can shake you. What you focus on always grows. Grow your faith. Grow your confidence.

GG Renee Hill is an author, speaker and advocate for self-discovery through writing. She creates books, courses and events for women who crave honest dialogue and inspiration for the joys and challenges they face every day. Blog // Twitter // Instagram