As we set out on our unique path through life, a mysterious, winding road unravels before us. We take our first step into our mother’s arms — and from that moment, we must keep moving, growing, learning, building.
Nature and nurture take root in our hearts and minds. They intertwine and follow us everywhere, pushing and pulling in different directions, while we discover the world and quietly store important thoughts and ideas — often without even realizing it.
Sometimes, words tossed out in passing, or the ways people behave around us, get stuck inside. Our subconscious mind holds onto them as if they were valuable, believing they might help us stay safe, succeed in life, earn love, and gain the sense of belonging we crave.
Its only purpose is to protect us — but it’s not always right. Being part of our humanity, it does what every human does: it makes mistakes. And some of them can be very costly.
What Are Limiting Beliefs?
Limiting beliefs are thoughts or assumptions we hold about ourselves, others, or the world that restrict what we believe is possible.
They often start as protective measures — a way to avoid pain or failure — but over time, they become invisible walls around our lives.
Common examples of limiting beliefs include:
- “I’m not enough.”
- “People like me can’t do that.”
- “It’s too late for me.”
These beliefs can feel absolutely real because we’ve repeated them for so long… but feeling true doesn’t make them truth. They are learned patterns, and learned patterns can be unlearned.
You’ve seen these patterns play out in the stories we love, and they’re some of the clearest examples of limiting beliefs in action.
Moana carried the limiting belief: “I have to stay on the island — leaving is dangerous and wrong.” It came from tradition, family expectations, and fear of letting people down. This belief kept her restless and conflicted, ignoring her own instincts. When she challenged it, she discovered that following her inner voice was not selfish at all — it was exactly what her people needed.
The Beast lived under the limiting belief: “No one could love me as I am.” It pushed him into isolation, bitterness, and self-protection. This example of a limiting belief shows how our assumptions can create the very loneliness we fear. When he risked being vulnerable, love became possible long before the curse was broken.
Will Hunting is another example of a limiting belief that shapes an entire life: “I’m not worth the effort — and if I let people in, I’ll only get hurt.” Born from childhood trauma, it made him sabotage opportunities, push people away, and hide behind his intelligence. When he began to believe that he was worth the effort, new possibilities opened, in love, work, and life.
Clarisse Starling started her journey with the limiting belief: “I’m too inexperienced and underestimated to succeed in this world.” In a male-dominated field, she could have stayed on the sidelines. But instead, she used this belief as fuel to sharpen her skills, trust her intuition, and prove — first to herself, then to everyone else — that she had what it takes.
What These Stories Teach Us
Limiting beliefs go beyond books or movies, they live quietly inside us too. They shape what we try, how much we risk, and the future we allow ourselves to imagine.
Like Moana, maybe you’ve been told to stay where it’s “safe,” even when something inside you longs for more. Or maybe, like the Beast, you’ve felt unlovable as you are, and built walls to protect yourself. You might relate to Will Hunting, feeling that you’ve decided it’s easier to push people away than to risk being hurt. Or maybe you see yourself in Clarisse, questioning if you’re truly “enough” in the spaces you want to belong to.
These beliefs are not facts, they are stories you’ve rehearsed so often that they feel like truth. And if you can rehearse a story, you can rewrite it.
How to Challenge Your Own Limiting Beliefs
If you’re wondering how to overcome limiting beliefs in your own life, start small. Begin by noticing them — gently, without judgement — and giving yourself space to explore where they came from.
Here are a few journaling prompts to guide you:
- “What’s one belief that keeps holding me back?”
(Be honest, write the first thing that comes to mind, even if it feels uncomfortable.) - “Whose voice do I hear when I think this?”
(Is it truly mine, or does it belong to someone from my past?) - “What if the opposite were true?”
(Sit with this possibility. How would you feel? What might change?)
The goal isn’t to force a new belief right away, but to open a window in a room that’s been closed for too long. To let in fresh air and a different perspective.
Hypnotherapy is a great way to work with the part of your mind that holds these stories. Although you can’t erase the past, you are able to change the way it shapes your present. It’s a gentle way to find out what’s really yours… and what you’re ready to let go. In hypnosis, your subconscious mind — the storage space filled with all kinds of beliefs — becomes relaxed and open to suggestions. It listens softly and it lets you take things that don’t serve you anymore.
If you’re curious about what might change when you say goodbye to an old belief, I’d love to explore it with you.
After all, every hero’s journey begins with questioning the story they’ve been told, and choosing to write a new one.