Think about what goals you have in your life, no matter how big or small.
Maybe it’s to lose weight, to start a new hobby, to save some money, or to strengthen some of the relationships you have in your life.
When we create these goals, these thoughts start to come into our mind reminding us of the times we’ve failed at these same goals or other ones. These self-sabotaging thoughts creep in, discouraging us from going after our goals.
Let’s call these thoughts dragons. These dragons of our mind come in and they try to sabotage our goals.
Do you know what else we can call those dragons? Limiting beliefs. These limiting beliefs enter our minds every single day.
The reason I love the analogy of the dragon is that we can think of the dragon as tormenting the village. All the villagers have come together to say “This is just how it’s going to be.” They start to accept this as their reality.
They think “We are just small villagers, and that’s a huge dragon, so we’re just going to succumb to our environment, and the dragon is going to run the show.”
Sound familiar?
The Hero’s Journey
Then one day, a brave villager says “Hand me that sword! I’m going to slay the dragon and protect the village.”
Whether or not the villager was successful, we are left feeling inspired. In all of these stories, there’s a hero that rises above fear. There’s a character that slays the dragon and comes back to the village with everyone shouting at them that they’re a hero.
That’s the hero’s journey. This journey inspires us all. That hero’s journey is happening in our minds every single day.
Whenever those limiting beliefs, those dragons of the mind come in telling you that you can’t do something, there’s something bigger in you that shows up. That true voice comes out and says “I’m ready”. You don’t let your limiting beliefs stop you from facing your fears, you slay the dragon. You become the hero.
Where Did This Dragon Come From?
Here’s the thing. The dragon is there, and you’re going to have to slay it anyways. Do you want to make it fun, or do you want to make it painful?
When you start to believe that you deserve to achieve your goals, you start to have fun with the process.
You might be wondering “Where did this dragon come from? Why do these limiting beliefs come into our minds in the first place?”
Change Your Belief System
In our society, we’re raised to chase outcomes. We’re taught to be good, to get good grades, to lose weight and be healthy, to get rich. We grow up being constantly gratified by achievement. When we achieve those outcomes, we build a belief system that validates that we are worthy of those outcomes.
We start to ourselves a story that these achievements are what make us worthy, that these achievements are our identities. This helps us to build confidence, to feel worthy of success, and we start to take positive actions that are in line with that belief system.
We continue to study, to eat well, and to treat people with respect. More than likely, those positive actions give us great results. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, creating a cycle of positive actions and great outcomes.
The challenge is that those outcomes aren’t always there. We’re not always going to get that good grade, or that job we wanted, or that promotion we were hoping for.
Sometimes things happen that are outside of our control and we don’t always get those outcomes. When we don’t get those outcomes, what do we believe? This is when we start to believe that we’re not worthy, inadequate, or incapable. When we believe that about ourselves, then how do we feel?
This is when we started to feel anxious, worried, depressed, burned out, or overwhelmed. What type of actions comes from these feelings? We start to become reactive and push back against our loved ones, or we isolate ourselves and build resentment. This starts to rewire this identity or this story of our limiting beliefs. We start to believe and accept that that’s just how it is. That we’re a loser or not going to get that job, or that relationship. We start to accept our reality.
Just like the villagers did.
Change Your Reality
This pattern keeps us from taking risks, from making commitments, we start to disengage from our lives.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
You can choose at any moment to slay that dragon.
How do you do it?
Instead of chasing outcomes, you influence beliefs. When you do this, you start to dramatically change your story and invite new feelings into your mind. This change of feelings means you’ll inevitably change your actions. So whether or not you get the outcome you wanted, you’re influencing your beliefs.
Here’s a real life example:
Say you lost your job during COVID, something that was completely out of your control.
Before I go to bed, I say to myself “Regardless of what’s happening outside of me, I’m capable of figuring this out. I’m confident, I’m capable, I’m worthy of great things. I’m going to let this journey unfold and know that I’m worthy no matter what happens.”
That belief system helps you to feel calm, centered, and confident in your future. This gives you a sense of certainty and motivates you to take risks and actions that will positively impact your future.
No matter what outcomes happen, when you continue to have this belief system, continue to slay the dragon, and move forward, you will eventually reach your goals in one way or another. Not only that, but you’ll feel fulfilled along the way, and know that you are worthy of all that you achieve.
