The Voice of Self-Imposed Limitations
What does the voice of self-imposed limitations sound like?
I have absolutely no experience, so how can I possibly do this?
With little to no experience, there is no way I’m going to be any good.
This undertaking is too big.
Have you been using the voice of self-imposed limitations: uncertainty, self-doubt, or the grandness of something you may have wanted to do, but it felt out of reach?
If you have, I have good news. In this post, I share a story about Holly Reid.
Is she famous? I guess that depends on who you ask and your definition of fame, but what I know is that she is destined to be a best-selling author.
Holly's relationship to me is one of accountability partner. Most Tuesday evenings at 8:00 pm we have a half-hour touch-base meeting over Skype. The purpose of our meeting is discuss where we are in the process of writing and publishing a best-selling book, as well as to share our goals for the upcoming week and to offer each other advice and encouragement.
I know from our first introductions that there was a time when Holly would never have used those words – author or best-selling – to describe herself. Now she claims it as true. Why does she think that of herself? You will have to keep reading to find out.
I encourage you to allow this brief story to empower you to quiet that voice that has been telling what you cannot do, what is too far out of reach for you, and what you do not have the knowledge or experience to do.
When the Voice of Self-Imposed Limitations Speaks
Being that can. will. DONE! is about helping people to choose to have a can-do attitude, I considered Holly's story one of inspiration and, I hope, transformation for you. As such, I asked her to share with me not only her limiting beliefs, which I referenced at the start of this post, but also how long she had pondered writing a book.
Holly's response follows below:
13 Years!!
I have documents dating back to 2003 where I was brainstorming the topics I wanted to cover in my book. That’s 13 YEARS ago!!!
For years, I struggled with my purpose in life and admired those who had a passion for something that was distinct to them.
I read many books and leaned heavily on my faith, praying for God to give me clarity and the answers to what he wanted me to do.
Finally, I had an “Aha” moment where I realized that I had an idea that I never fully pursued. I asked myself, “What if me acting on that ONE idea leads me to my purpose?
Is my disobedience or inaction with this ONE idea holding me back from discovering my purpose?
Before I move onto how Holly was able to silence her self-imposed limitations, I want to address the parts of her response that I have put in bold.
I specifically want to point out the last statement. “Is my disobedience or inaction with this ONE idea holding me back from discovering my purpose?” I love it! That is where Holly made a shift in her thinking. She acknowledged what she had not be doing.
Now on to Holly's transformation.
How to Silence Your Self-Imposed Limitations
Baby Steps
What follows is how Holly silenced her voice of self-imposed limitations. I put in bold the key elements of her transformation.
So while I still had these limiting beliefs in my head, I knew I had to take action and DO SOMETHING.
Simply writing the book was too big, so I started by creating a Facebook Group and challenged my friends and family to achieve a savings goal or a debt reduction goal over the next 90 Days. It was called The 90 Day Challenge – Dollars Up, Debts Down.
The challenge was so well received, it gave me the courage, confidence and the push to create my personal finance blog – The Master Playbook.
I took baby steps with a goal to write a blog post once a month to increase my comfort level when it came to publishing my thoughts to the world.
The Possibilities When Self-Imposed Limitations are Silenced
As you can see, as Holly's limiting beliefs were still present, but when she changed her behavior she became mentally stronger and empowered, in spite of her beliefs.
Say it Out Loud
What happens next is the first step in her living her claim to becoming a best-selling author.
I began talking more about my goal of writing the book, vetting the idea with friends and family and lo and behold –The Law of Attraction opened doors and brought people into my life.
As things began to fall into place and my momentum grew, I was introduced to a course which was instrumental in guiding me through the book writing and publishing process in September 2015. I felt led to join Self Publishing School and 3 months later, my book was written and just needed to be polished.
When Holly silenced her self-imposed limitations by taking action, taking small steps to build up her confidence, and then saying out loud what she would do, something amazing happened. On March 13, 2016 Holly Reid launched her first book, Teach Your Child to Fish: Five Money Habits Every Child Should Master.
In case you were wondering, Holly reached the status of best-selling author. She was able to do it because she silenced her self-imposed limitations, proving you can be the best anything. Be sure to check out her book on Amazon.
Start the Discussion: Holly has pushed past her limiting thoughts and beliefs. What small step will you take to start silencing your voice of self-imposed limitations. Share in the post comments, Facebook or Twitter.