SELF LIMITING BELIEF.

All men are equal potentially. I believe every man has got what it takes to become anything they want in life. For several millennia, billions of people have lived and walked the surface of this planet earth, but only a handful has made trans-generational impact.

These great men that would never be forgotten throughout history had no additional physical features or special powers inaccessible to others who lived in their time and generation.

What made these great people stand out is what they did, but others couldn’t or wouldn’t dare to do. What these great men did and accomplished naturally shoots from their belief systems.

They were not special people, they were just normal people with exceptional beliefs, they simply acted on their beliefs, and they achieved greatness because, they believed in great things.

Many of us today do not have our personal philosophy about life. What does life mean to you? The whole idea of existence and the world you live in, what is your opinion about it? What is mankind to you? What do you think of yourself and your life and this world?

You see, what you fail to study you cannot understand, what you can’t understand you cannot comprehend, what you can’t comprehend you can’t master, what you’ve not mastered you can’t manage effectively.

The world offers everyman tremendous opportunities for greatness and glory. There is no limit to what you can achieve and accomplish. Nothing in this life is strong or powerful enough to stop or limit you.

You can do anything and achieve everything you want in this life. Whatever you think or say is impossible is exclusively your opinion. Impossibility is not generic; it resides only in the mind of individuals.

Like I’d always say, a mindset that dwells most of the time on challenges and limitations can’t go very far. A mindset that is busy thinking of possibilities and solutions to every challenge and limitation is unstoppable.

In truth there are no limitations confronting mankind in this life, what we call limitations are situations that have till now defiled solutions. As soon as there is a solution, it’s no longer a problem.

If a mind can conceive and create a heavy flying machine called the airplane that can despise the law of gravity, the mind can do great things!

 If the mind of a man can create a small device that can enable you hold conversations with anyone, anywhere in the world by just pressing some keys of numbers on this device called a mobile phone, the mind is unlimited!

If the mind can think up and create a screen called the television, that will enable you hear and see people thousands of miles away real time, then the mind is capable of anything!

The mind of a man has the power to think up, conceive and create anything. The extent of energy, development and focus a mind enjoys determines what a man can accomplish with his mind and consequently, levels attainable in life.

Your mind practically sets the limit for your life. This mind we hardly reckon with is extremely powerful; to the end that it fuels the quality of your life through your belief system.

In fact, what you believe is your reality, not the reality; reality is a relative term. What many think is impossible is what many others have accomplished seamlessly; it’s all in the mind.

Do you know your body reacts and respond to what you believe? Your body is not independent of your mind; your body has a way of responding to your belief system. What your mind tells your body is what your body does.

 I read a story recently about a lady who whilst a teenager used to be on the big side; she was fat. This made her so uncomfortable because many of her friends made fun of her and consequently she developed a low self-esteem.

In her late teenage years and early twenties however, she began to work on her weight through regular exercises and diet, in fact she wasn’t dieting, she was practically abstaining from food; anytime she felt she had eaten too much she would look for a way to throw up.

This continued for so many years and after a while her system just stopped retaining anything ingested. No matter how little it was she ate, she would throw up even if she didn’t want to; she had developed anorexia. It became a major health issue for her and she had to see a psychologist.

Anything you feel you can’t do today is only in your mind. Immediately your mind begins to consider the possibility of doing it, your body will naturally adjust to this new thinking.

Dear friend, what you believe today is absolutely an outcome of the information you have. The kind of information exposed to and stored up in your mind over the years determines your belief system.

The quality of information gathered and retained can also be influenced by your environment and those who raised you.

The quality of information you carry can also be influenced by your choice of media exposure. What you watch on TV, listen to on the radio, read off the pages of newspapers and magazines as well as the internet determines your mindset.

The quality of information you have can also be determined by your friends, mentors and religious leaders.

What you hear or read and believe will determine or shape your belief system, what you believe will determine what you do and how you respond to life issues, how you respond to life issues will determine the quality and value of your accomplishments.

Dear friend, the total quality of your life and your accomplishments today is an outcome of what you believe.

In a seminar I coordinated recently, one of the participants was telling the class he plans to celebrate his fiftieth birthday with a 25 million naira German SUV. Many of his colleagues were impressed by this ambition and felt it was a good dream, I didn’t comment on it, but in my mind I was wondering why you’ll want to buy a 25 million naira car at 50, what’s wrong with planning to acquire it at age 35 or before 40, why 50?

In my submission, a car shouldn’t be a major investment project for any ambitious, hardworking dreamer at 50. At 50, the challenge should be about multi-million naira investment projects in different ventures and sectors including owning a car manufacturing plant if you choose.

At 50 you should be living a life of investments, not primarily acquiring, buying a 25 million naira car should be something you would do on impulse at 50; it shouldn’t be a dream or a big deal! It’s all in your mind!

Dear friend, it is possible, thinking it’s an impossibility is absolutely a self-limiting belief.

When you limit yourself in your mind, you will miss and let go of the best opportunities for greatness and trans-generational achievements.

What you believe determines what you do or don’t do. What you believe determines how you plan your life’s journey, what you chase and your sense of urgency.

What you believe determines who you compare with, where you compete and how you compete. A man planning to be the president of a nation by age 18 should become a very active card carrying member of a vibrant political party. You don’t venture into politics at retirement and achieve much.

What you believe makes you great or small, what you believe determines who you envy and what makes you jealous, what you believe determines what you fight for, what kind of fights you fight and who you should ignore.

What you believe would determine you work-life pattern, your career path, and how you invest in you.

What you believe determines your daily activities and routine. For example I love football so much, but unfortunately I can’t create time for this entertainment because of my career type, my work demands and my ambition. Time is of extreme importance to me, I have to let go of football to move very fast on my dreams. I work for more than 12 hours every day and sleep for only about 4 hours, it doesn’t hurt me, even when I want to sleep I can’t, my body has adjusted to it, just like an athlete would train his body for superior performance; the body would naturally adjust to the command from your mind.

Many people have worked for so many years and in their minds have ruled out the possibility of becoming a senior staff, many have worked for years as managers and the thought of becoming a director is not on their minds, in fact many senior managers of mega establishments today believe they cannot become the MD CEO, in fact they feel they lack the competence or capacity to lead at that level, hence they have closed their minds absolutely to the possibility.

It’s amazing the number of intelligent and exposed employees with very small and conservative post retirement dreams. Most top women whom in their paid employment currently make billions for their employers want to open a small shop and do buying and selling after retirement. They tell themselves they will be too old and weak to do much and unfortunately, their bodies would agree and align with the thought.

How about establishing a multi-million naira business and engage people to run it? Why a small shop?

Dear friend, destroy every self-limiting belief today, there’s nothing you can’t do; the power is in your mind, what do you believe?

Written and Composed by: Muyiwa Afolabi (CEO Frontiers Consulting )