Carrie Baker – The Growth Collective

What if I told you, that your potential was limitless?

But what if I were to also say, that THE greatest limitation that stands between you and all that you are created for… is YOU?

In this blog post we are going to take a look at the ways that we often limit ourselves, learn to recognise them as well as how to tackle them.

Before we dive in, I want to remind you of a couple of things:

You have more power over your life and the direction it takes, than your mind can comprehend. Your mind is a powerful tool, and when you can learn to master those inner battles, you’ll find that nothing will feel impossible.

Another thing that I want to remind you of: You have been lovingly and exquisitely created. You have been given gifts and talents, by a God who has beautiful plans and purposes for you. And he is a God who will move mountains on your behalf, when you walk in his will for your life.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

– Jeremiah 29:11

This verse should make you feel like nothing can stand in your way… and yet here we are, humans with complicated feelings and a mind so powerful that can also STOP us from doing all that we are created for.

Ready to find out how your are limiting your amazing potential?

Let’s go….

Fear of Failure

Here it is again, your old friend – The Fear Of Failure. This alone, is probably the biggest thing you have to overcome in life.

You fear failing, because it feels to you like the worst possible thing that can happen. You don’t want to get something wrong, and when you do you can feel embarrassed over it. No one ever wants to be humiliated, so just in case you might fail, you avoid ever trying something new to begin with.

This fear can hold you back from taking risks and trying new things that could actually lead to success.

You shy away from failure because it makes you feel a whole array of feelings. And because as a human your instinctual nature is wired to avoid all possible danger, this fear you feel about failure, make everything within you scream ‘Run away!’.

You want to avoid failure at all cost, but in fact there is so much you can learn from it. I have written about this in a previous blog post, you can read How Failure Can Be Our Teacher, if you want to know more about it.

How to conquer this

You accept this is just a part of the journey. You will fail, you need to make your peace with that.

Get comfortable with it by choosing to fail at something. Go and intentionally make the worst piece of artwork. Write the worst blog post/ poem/ article you can, on purpose. When you set out to do this in the safely of your own parameters, you can know that ANYTHING you try to do, make, create, will be so much better than the worst you can do on purpose. It releases you to jus have a go

Expect it. Expecting to fail means that it won’t ever be a surprise when you do. When you do fail, acknowledge that you did something hard, and that in itself is a success, as well as progress.

Lastly, I’m pretty sure the worst thing WON’T happen when you do fail.

Lack of Confidence

“The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the ‘buts’ you use today.”

– Les Brown

Confidence plays a such large part in your ability to achieve your potential. If you don’t believe in yourself, you’re not able to take the necessary steps that are needed, to achieve your goals, or reach your dream.

Not everyone we given confidence when they were born, but the great news is for the rest of us, that’s ok. Confidence is something you can grow! If you don’t feel that you have any, or enough to do the things you want to do, this is something you can work on.

A lot of people you see doing difficult things, often feel the same as you, but they made a choice to do the thing, despite how they felt.

How to conquer this:

Choose to do it despite how you feel. Sometimes you feel confident after the fact, when you are able to prove to yourself that you can actually do the thing. This is a great way to overcome this obstacle, because if you waited to try a new thing until you felt ready or confident – you’ll never feel ready.

Confidence in a muscle you can grow. Start small, with something this isn’t too far out of your comfort zone, then push yourself to do something a little harder the next time.

Celebrate the wins. It’s so good for you to acknowledge your achievements, and to keep a record so you can look back and be encouraged when you need it.

Before you know it, you’ll be confident to do things you never thought you would! I promise you, it gets easier!

Negative Self-Talk and Doubt

Your inner dialogue can either motivate you or hold you back. Negative self-talk creates doubt and negativity, which will limit your potential.

“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”

– Jordan Belfort

What story are you telling yourself? What is your inner dialogue like at the moment? Pay attention, and you may surprised at how negative you are. Your thoughts become your words and then they become your actions.

How you think and speak about yourself matters. How do you speak about yourself to others? Imagine speaking to your favourite 4 year old, the way you speak to yourself… you wouldn’t would you? You deserve just as much encouragement, patience and grace, as a little person learning to do big things.

Here is blog post I wrote a while ago, Never Underestimate The Power Of Your Words, if you want to hear more about that.

How to conquer this

Find some bible verses or a few good quotes, that speaks to your specific situation, read them when your thoughts become negative.

Remember that the bible is a powerful weapon we can use when it comes to battling your own thoughts, reading scripture changes and transforms you in so many ways.

Daily affirmations are also a great way to carve new pathways in your thought life, and to rewrite the negative thought habits. Taking a couple of minutes each day to read aloud some positive words over yourself is really powerful, and this has worked for me.

Procrastination

Hands up if you are really good at procrastinating… Me too!! I am so glad it’s not just me!

When you delay doing the things that you know will move you forward, it prevents you from reaching your full potential.

By putting things off, you miss out on opportunities and can feel that you have fallen behind, or not as far as you hoped to be.

“The biggest wall you have to climb is the one you build in your mind: Never let your mind talk you out of your dreams, trick you into giving up. Never let your mind become the greatest obstacle to success. To get your mind on the right track, the rest will follow.”

– Roy T. Bennett

Another reason you may procrastinate, is that in order to reach for the things you want, or the life you long for, you are required do the work to get there or make the changes to get there.

I can’t tell you how many things I just haven’t attempted in the past, because of how much work it was going to be!

(Feel free to check in and keep me accountable on this point!)

How to conquer this

Make a plan. What is it you need to do, to get from where you are now, to where you want to be? Here is: 7 Steps Towards Your Dream blog post if you want some more help with this.

Start small. What is one small thing you can do, to take you closer to your goal or the life you want? When you achieve it, set another.

Know when in the day you are more likely to be at your most productive, and plan to take action then. Have some kind of small reward or celebration for when you accomplish it.

Visualisation. I know this can sound a bit ‘woo woo’, but remember that thoughts become words, and words become actions. If you can see it, you are more likely to recognise steps to get you there and what you need to do, to action them.

Because this blogpost got really long, (again – I know! I had so much to say on this topic) catch part 2 for the last 4 ways you limit your amazing potential.

But for now, let’s recap what we went through today:

• God has so much ahead for you, and even though scripture says that he does, but we still struggle.

• Fear of failure. This would be the biggest limiting factor you need to overcome.

• You need to accept it, get comfortable with it by intentionally making/doing bad art/writing/creative stuff, so that any thing you choose to do well, will never be as bad as that.

• Expect it. Failure will happen to you, and when it does, mostly no one will die as a result!

• Lack of confidence. Most people aren’t born with oodles of confidence. But the great news is that you can grow it! Challenge to do something difficult even though you are nervous, and when you do, you will feel confident! Bigger challenges and bigger steps get you there.

• Negative self talk and doubt. The way you think about and talk about yourself, will determine whether you succeed or fail. Speak truth over yourself in the form of bibles verses, quotes and daily affirmations. Rewrite the bad with the good!

• Procrastination. We have all been there! Decide what it is you want from life, make a plan, start small and visualise where you want to be so you can see the way ahead.

I can’t wait for you to catch part two already, I will have that out for you soon, friend. I would love for you to share this on your socials, and with a friend.

If you enjoyed this or it spoke to you, please let me know, I’d love to hear from you! Or if you want to fuel my writing, why not Buy Me A Coffee Here.

I am here for you friend, cheering you on in all the ways you choose personal growth and pursuing those beautiful dreams.

You can find all the usual places I hang out : Here

Seeing you love friend,

Carrie xxx