Carrie Baker – The Growth Collective

Are you ready to hear some of the ways that YOU can be the biggest limitation of your own potential and how to overcome it? In my previous blog post, we covered more ways that this can happen.

As I step into who I am created to be, as a creative soul who just has to write, I am learning all the ways I have held myself back and gotten in my own way.

The thing is friend, I know that I am not alone in this. I want to help us both to learn the self-limiting behaviours that we are prone to, so we can jolly well get out of the way and make room for all our God given ‘amazing-ness’.

If you missed the last one, that’s ok – you can catch Part One of this blog post here, and I’ll also pop it at the end as well.

I think it’s time we tackle some of these limitations!

Ready?

Feeling Unworthy

“Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy.”

– Tony Robbins

This is one of those things that can take up residence in your mind without you ever knowing it was there. Our self worth can determine how much we can achieve, because we will never be, do, earn, or experience more than what we think we deserve.

I have started following someone on Instagram, ‘@dbmindset’, I saw a reel recently that really made me pause and think. He was talking about self worth, and the badly paraphrased version of what he said is this: We will never be more, attain more, or earn more than we think we are worthy of.

If I am being honest, this really blew my mind… because he was talking about me.

Maybe you feel stuck at the same level, and as much as you try, you can’t seem to go above it. The reason this may be happening, is because on a subconscious level, you don’t think you deserve more.

Perhaps there were words that were spoken over you, and are still on repeat in your mind. Maybe your experience of life has shaped the way you see yourself and what you are worthy of.

How to conquer this:

Know Yourself: By knowing who you are, really knowing, you can begin to change your self worth to the level it should be. Get to know you by focusing on all the great and good things about you. Write down all these great things as we as all those past achievements. Find the origins of those thoughts of unworthiness and where they come from. Rewrite that narrative, you are as worthy as the next person. Say it until it feels true.

Truth: Read in the bible who God says you are, and speak those words to yourself in the mirror. Write down those verses that speak to you and read them daily.

Choose: You can choose to believe that you are worthy of so much more than the life you have experienced so far. That the one who created you, wants so much more for your life. You can choose to feel worthy of your goals, life, or dream by the choices that you make to keep moving forward.

Daily Affirmations: Just like I mentioned above, they are a great way to rewrite a negative belief system. Daily affirmation are such a great way to do some mental reprogramming. Write out some things you need to change, and rewrite the language you use for yourself. What thoughts are you struggling with? Write a positive affirmation to battle the negative ones.

Imposter Syndrome

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.”

– William James

Imposter Syndrome is a real thing. I have to be open with you for a minute. I have struggled with this for a long time. I would be so much further along my own path, if I’d learned to overcome this earlier in my journey.

Imposter Syndrome can happen to anyone, and surprisingly, it often happens to successful people. They feel like they are a fraud, that their success is a fluke and that someone else could have done it so much better.

In your thought life it can sound like, “I don’t have anything to offer.” Or “I’m not very good at this, anyone else would do a better job.” Or even “Why would anyone want to listen to me?”

It can also feel like fear of losing your job because you’re worried that even though you’re doing the job, you’re not really doing a good enough job.

The great news is, that none of it is true and by challenging your thoughts and feelings, you can win the war against it!

How to conquer this:

Check the Facts: Your feelings and often your thoughts can lie to you. And because it feels true or sounds true in your mind, you decide that it must be true.

Are you qualified? Do you have lived experience? Have you actually already and successfully done this in past or doing it now? If you answer yes to any if these, you can do it and have full permission to do it.

Tell someone: A lie is loudest when you keep it in. Talk to a trusted friend who knows you well, tell them your thoughts and feelings and ask them what they think. If it’s imposter syndrome, they will shoot down all that negativity. Then they will tell you all the things you are capable of and leave you feeling encouraged.

Celebrate wins: We talked about this in Part One, but celebrating and recognising your successes is key in dealing with imposter syndrome. It shows you proof that you can do it. It builds your confidence, and it encourages you to keep going.

Self Sabotage

“Your potential is unlimited. As long as you remain focused on your goals and move forward with persistence and tenacity, you can achieve anything you want.”

– Brian Tracy

Self sabotage is a subconscious thing that often those doing it, aren’t even aware of it. It is also connected with your self worth.

You subconsciously sabotage the thing you want, because as we talked about already, deep down you don’t believe you deserve it, and you do things to stop yourself from reaching that goal or dream.

This is also a self protection thing too. Sometimes you don’t really know what you would do with that dream or goal if you actually reached it. You need to be tenacious, to battle against those things you do that trip you up, in order to reach the lofty height you dream of.

How to conquer this:

Decisiveness. Be decisive about what it is that you really want in life. What is it you are trying to achieve? Acknowledge that you are prone to getting in your own way, and keeping yourself from the things you want.

Recognise: You need to recognise the ways you have self sabotaged in the past or are likely to, and when you see you are doing it again, you can train yourself out of those old behaviours. Just being aware of this, is the first step to tackling it.

Affirmations: Words are powerful, and as we talked about above, you are rewriting the old ways/thought/choices/actions, with new ones. Speaking those affirmations will remind you of what you deserve, what you want and where you are going.

Comfort Zone

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

– Neale Donald Walsch

Staying within your comfort zone will limit your potential to achieve the things you are working towards. Taking risks and trying new things is essential for reaching those goals, dreams or the life you want. But people are cautious by nature, and you don’t naturally want to step beyond what is comfortable.

Anytime you begin to move outside of your comfort zone, you start to feel uncomfortable and stretched. Your mind interprets this as something to fear. Your instinctive reaction, is to run away, and go back into the places in your life that make you feel safe and at peace.

When you step outside of your comfort zone, you are stepping into the growth zone. The growth zone can feel really uncomfortable. You may think to yourself, “If it feels like this, why on earth would I want to be outside my comfort zone?”

Because friend, everything you want in life, those hopes and dreams are there waiting out there.

How to conquer this:

Acknowledge: Speak to your feelings, and acknowledge them. Give your fear a nod and say, ‘Hello again’. Tell your heart that you are safe. Remind yourself that this is what growth feels like, and that you are going to be fine.

Start Small: By taking smaller steps outside of you comfort zone, it will feel less scary and more attainable than taking big leaps. The more you do it, easier it becomes and then you feel ready to go even further out of your comfort zone.

Vision: Remind yourself of all that is waiting for you, beyond the edges of your comfort zone. Write yourself a vision statement, or write down what your goal or dream is and read it every day.

* * * * * * *

There is one more limiting factor that I want to make you aware of. This one happens to you, but I want you to be aware of it, and also to know how to battle against it.

Spiritual Opposition

“The devil will try to stop you on your path to success, He can do this through doubts and fear.”

– Sunday Adelaja

We are spiritual beings living in a physical body, in the natural world, and sometimes we forget that. We aren’t always looking out for it, and often don’t recognise it when it’s happening.

If you have a faith you will already know about the battle that happens between light and darkness. The evil in this world, would love nothing more than to stop your God-given potential.

The way we can win the fight against this, is to do what we always do, and that is to pray. Let the Lord fight on your behalf as you pray and invite Him into the situation. Pray that He will clear the path for you, to give you success in the things He is calling you to.

If God is for you, who can be against you?

We read in the bible all the ways that God grew and challenged his people, shaping them into who he had intended them to be.

He works with us as he work on us.

In a way, this is kind of like a collaboration, because we need to be willing to let him do it, and to trust him in the process. In my experience of this, the Lord has always lead me gently through these times.

And though he never promises that we will have a life of ease and comfort, he does promise that he is with us always, that he will empower and strengthen us anytime we need him to.

Let’s recap what we have covered:

Feeling Unworthy: Conquer it by – Knowing yourself and going back to when these feelings began, reading biblical truth about who God says you are, choose to believe you are worthy, and speak daily affirmations to rewrite how you see yourself.

Imposter Syndrome: Conquer it by – Checking the facts by asking yourself some questions, tell someone how you feel and get their feedback, remember your successes and celebrate them, they tell the story of who you and what you can achieve.

Self Sabotage: Conquer it by – Being decisive about what it is you want in life, recognise when you self sabotage so you can stop old behaviours, there is power in words when you use affirmations each day.

Comfort Zone: Conquer it by – Acknowledge how you feel because fear doesn’t always mean danger, start small with stepping out of your comfort zone, remind yourself what it is that you are reaching for.

If you want to go back and read Part One of this blog post you can read it here.

I see it as my personal mission, to help you to become all that you are create to be, by cheering you on, challenging you and being your biggest encourager.

I am so passionate about personal growth and reaching for those dreams. If you would enjoy some regular encouragement and love right into your inbox – You can sign up for that here!

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Thank you for hanging out with me friend,

See you soon,

Carrie xxx