5 Steps To Clearing Limiting Beliefs To Stop Self Sabotage

Years before I started my online business career, I bought into a couple of limiting beliefs: that I needed a lot of money before I could start as an online entrepreneur, and that my niche idea had to be “perfect” before I could launch. Those thoughts literally dictated how I behaved every single day. I was held back by an unseen force. I literally couldn’t take action toward my dreams because of those limiting beliefs.

It wasn’t until 2007 that I discovered what that “unseen force” actually was. While reading a collection of top self-help books, I stumbled upon the subject of “self-sabotage.” I had no idea until then what it really meant — but my identity was instantly elevated. I realized that self-sabotage was the internal enemy I needed to conquer.

If you’re at a spot in life where you’re NOT taking action on the dreams you’ve created for yourself — but WANT to — today’s article is for you.

1st Key to Stop Self-Sabotage

Stopping self-sabotage involves changing beliefs — which can be a tricky thing to do. Beliefs lead to Thoughts, leading to Emotions, which lead to Actions, and finally to Habits.

The first foundational pillar to stopping self-sabotage is to take 100% responsibility for your life and actions — no matter what. It’s the most powerful antidote available. Doing so will transform you from victim to victor.

When you blame your circumstances, upbringing, time, money, or personality, you subconsciously give away your power. This opens the door to excuses and patterns like procrastination, overthinking, and perfectionism.

Even in situations where beliefs operate below our awareness, we must still take personal responsibility. Taking personal responsibility is the foundational KEY to conquering self-sabotage — because you’re exercising your free agency, the power to act, not be acted upon.

Limiting Belief Examples

Later in this guide I’ll teach you about all 3 categories of limiting beliefs — but first, let’s cover some of the most common beliefs within the first category.

The “I’m Not Good Enough” Category

This is one of the most common limiting beliefs I’ve encountered among the thousands of students I’ve mentored over the past 20+ years. It attacks your true identity — your genuine potential as a person and entrepreneur.

We buy into false narratives: I’m not good enough to go out on my own; I’m not good enough at marketing or sales; I’m not good enough of a leader to start an online business. These are all limiting beliefs that sabotage the development of skills needed to be successful.

Other common “not good enough” limiting beliefs include feeling you’re not worthy of earning significant money, or feeling guilty about surpassing the earning power of your parents. All of these are false — and they go on to hold us back from living our full potential.

With what you’re about to learn today, you can liberate yourself from these false images, the lies you’ve told yourself, the damaging thoughts you’ve bought into. Let’s dive in.

What Are Self-Limiting Beliefs?

None of us are exempt from having limiting beliefs enter into our minds. They tell us all kinds of things that hold us back from taking action toward what we want.

A limiting belief is any conscious or unconscious thought or emotion that falsely influences you to justify not taking action.

Darren Hardy, former publisher of SUCCESS magazine, once said (paraphrased): “We all have negative thoughts — but the difference between the successful and the unsuccessful is the habit one develops to quickly clear limiting beliefs. The key is reducing the time-frame between the moment you become conscious of the limiting belief and the time it is completely cleared.”

In a nutshell: you’ll know you’ve cleared a limiting belief because you can NOW take action. There’s no longer a roadblock in front of you when the limiting belief is gone.

Each of us has the power to break through barriers every day by choosing to take control of our minds. When I learned this truth, my life changed by quantum leaps.

Unconscious vs. Conscious Mind

The two major types of mind are the conscious and the subconscious. Think of them as an iceberg. The conscious mind is the tip above the water — the thoughts you’re aware of throughout the day. The subconscious mind is everything below the surface — your long-term deeply held beliefs that influence at least 90% of your actions every single day.

Ninety percent of your actions are dictated by beliefs you’re not even consciously aware of. Think about what that means for a moment.

It’s important to realize that you are not your thoughts. Thoughts are separate from who you are — they don’t define you. What you DO defines you.

As Napoleon Hill once said, life is like riding a horse — you can choose to ride the horse, or the horse will ride you. Taking control of your mind means choosing the former, even though it takes more training and work.

As you go through the 5-step clearing process below, keep in mind: the goal is to become 100% aware of the limiting beliefs holding you back, so you can clear them. You shine light on what was controlling you without your awareness — and do some house cleaning.

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs in 5 Steps

1. Know what you don’t want
2. Know what you do want
3. Clear the belief
4. Breathe life into what you want
5. Act with faith

Step 1 — Know What You Don’t Want

This first step is about briefly becoming aware of what you do NOT want, so you can get clear about what you DO want in step two. The goal is not to dwell on the negative — it’s to create clarity. Define what you don’t need, with the end goal of identifying what you truly desire.

Take a moment right now to write down what type of lifestyle you do not want. For example:

1. I don’t want to be trapped at a 9-to-5 job working for a micromanaging boss anymore.
2. I don’t want my daily schedule controlled by anyone other than myself.

Be clear and specific about what you don’t want — then move on. Avoid putting a lot of emotional energy into this step.

Step 2 — Know What You Do Want

Now it’s time to write down what you desire most to achieve and experience. Describe it in detail, with emotion. For example:

1. I want to use dropshipping as the vehicle to reach a level of financial freedom where I choose where to work, with whom, with no cap on my earning potential. I am deeply committed to this goal and will do whatever it takes.
2. I want the freedom of working 3 to 5 hours a week to manage a business generating at least $130,000 in annual net income.
3. I want to take at least 4 two-week vacations to beautiful places in the world every year with my family.

Step 3 — Identify and Clear the Limiting Belief

Now that you’re clear about what you want and don’t want, it’s time to identify and clear the limiting beliefs holding you back. First, understand the three categories — then choose a clearing technique that works for you.

The 3 Categories of Limiting Beliefs

1. External Limiting Beliefs — These tell you something outside of you is lacking or blocking your progress. Thoughts like “there’s never enough opportunity,” “never enough good jobs,” “never enough good suppliers.” These are false. There is an abundance of opportunity. Whatever you focus on expands — focus on scarcity and you get more scarcity; focus on abundance and you attract more of it.
2. Internal Limiting Beliefs — These tell you something inside of you isn’t good enough, smart enough, or ready enough. “I’m not good with technology.” “My parents weren’t successful so I can’t be either.” These are also false. You are more than enough. You can choose your own self-image without waiting for permission from anyone.
3. Perspective Limiting Beliefs — These tell you the possibilities end where your current thinking ends. They stop you from seeking new information, perspectives, or help. The truth is that what you currently perceive is only a fraction of what’s actually possible. There will always be someone who can teach you something new, and new levels of knowledge to pursue.

Top Clearing Techniques

There are hundreds of clearing techniques. The key is identifying which ones work best for you — and you’ll know a technique is working when the negative thought or emotion is no longer present and you feel free to take action. Try any of these:

• NLP — Neuro-Linguistic Programming
• Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT/Tapping)
• Ho’oponopono — repeating the phrases “I love you, I’m sorry, Forgive me, Thank you” directed toward yourself or others
• Identify the limiting belief, rate its energy on a scale, give the emotion a shape and color in your mind, visualize moving it out of your body and destroying it, then re-rate and repeat until cleared
• Practice letting go, forgiving yourself and others
• Shift your perception of a person or situation
• Regularly check in with yourself: “How am I feeling right now?”
• Whiteboard method — visualize writing your limiting belief on a whiteboard, then erasing it completely
• Ask: “Is this thought or emotion actually useful?”
• Listening to uplifting music
• Playing a musical instrument
• Exercise and physical movement
• Meditation
• Consuming positive, motivational content (books, podcasts, videos)
• Any combination of the above

Step 4 — Breathe Life Into What You Want

Now you’re ready to make what you want come alive in your mind. The goal is to convince your conscious mind through repetition, emotion, and animation that what you want is already a reality — you just haven’t seen its physical counterpart yet.

1. Repetition — Repeat what you want as often as possible every day. The longer you dwell on your vision, the sooner it becomes part of your operating belief system. Place reminders around your environment, ask people to help hold you accountable, or work with a success coach.
2. Emotion — As you repeat your vision, associate it with as many positive emotions as possible: love, joy, gratitude, excitement, peace. Your mind does not know the difference between real and imagined emotions — so vividly feel what it would feel like to already be living your dream. Immerse yourself in that feeling completely.
3. Animation — Go beyond repetition and emotion. Give your vision depth, color, movement, and life. See yourself engaging with people, moving, speaking, carrying on the conversations that are part of your dream. Bring it fully alive in your mind the way an animator brings a character to life.

Step 5 — Act With Faith

With the previous four steps complete and underway, it’s time to act with faith. Faith, first and foremost, is an action word. It requires you to do all you can do before its real power can be manifested.

To have faith in your dreams means you leave no room for doubt. No fence-sitting. It’s GO time. Seek out answers, make a plan, get help, hire a mentor, and implement consistently. Acting with faith means burning all escape routes and pouring your full effort into making the living vision a reality.

By acting in faith, you consistently press forward — breaking through barriers, building skills you didn’t know you had, discovering things about yourself you never expected. It’s a personal development journey like no other.

Acting with faith also means trusting that the outcomes you’re working toward — if they’re aligned with what’s truly right for you — will come in time. And even if what you originally set out for transforms into something different along the way, that’s not failure. The person you’ve become in the process has greater knowledge, stronger habits, and more wisdom than when you started. Often, those who don’t reach their original goal exactly realize that the real reward was the growth, the memories, and the people they influenced along the way.