How often have you told yourself you’re not good enough or that you’re incapable of achieving greatness or being successful? Many people suffer from a lack of self-belief and if you have ever thought of those statements, you are not alone.
Self-limiting mindsets prevent you from becoming the best you can be. The good news is, that these beliefs aren’t factual. They are simply your mind’s way of crafting debilitating stories but every story can be changed and re-written. So how do you change yours?
What Are Limiting Beliefs?
Limiting beliefs are deeply rooted negative thoughts and attitudes that act as barricades in your mind. These often stem from early life experiences, social pressures, or previous setbacks. Maybe in childhood, you were told that people with your background don’t achieve a certain level of success. Or maybe you were told that you’re not intelligent enough nor capable of getting incredible grades in school? As time passes, such phrases become part of your thinking, damaging your self-image.
Here is the shocking part – those limiting beliefs have a broad impact, and their impact is not confined to just thoughts. They can affect your physical and emotional well-being along with your everyday choices. Having a negative self-image and believing that you are incapable of doing anything successful will, in turn, drive you to never even try for anything. Similarly, thinking that every relationship will end in disaster means that you might end up purposely isolating yourself before it gets too emotionally intense. (Susaeta, et. al, 2020)
10 Common Examples of Limiting Beliefs
Self-imposed barriers are presumptions that inhibit progress. They arise out of negative past experiences, cultural conditioning, or the mere idea of failing, which can be limiting beliefs that hold you back. Here are some of the self-imposed barriers that are probably impacting your life:
- Low Self-Worth – If you think that you’re not worthy, you will avoid taking opportunities that can be transformative and help you discover your capabilities, ultimately holding you back from embracing a new belief in your potential. (Keane & Loades, 2017)
- Fear of Success –Successful people might make estimations about their surrenders and find them too intense, thereafter not capitalising on their potential. ( McGee, 2000)
- Scarcity Mindset –People incapable of moving ahead because they are terrified of dilapidated financial conditions or the non-existence of benevolent possibilities torching their life’s adventures. (Denti, et. al, 2024)
- Fear of Failure –Not being prepared to try new things or take chances because of the possibility of error is the greatest hindrance that progress could face. (Mehdi & Singh, 2025)
- Imposter Syndrome – Not feeling satisfied with what one has achieved even though putting in effort leads to haughtiness, and one procrastinates from achieving one’s purpose.(Todd, et. al., 2025)
- Fear of Rejection – People suffering from abhorrence of new relationships or opportunities for fear of meeting new people promote loneliness and lack of courage to seize the chances presented. (Denti, et. al, 2024)
- Attachment to the Past – Holding onto past negative experiences or failures can define your future and significantly impede new opportunities and personal development. (Weber, et. al. 2010)
- Fixed Mindset –Having a set view of one’s intelligence and abilities leads to a rigid outlook that hinders learning, flexibility, and the development of coping skills. (Denti, et. al, 2024)
- Resistance to Change – Failing to accept change positively can impede progress as it forces you to remain in unsatisfactory conditions. (Mehdi & Singh, 2025)
- Perfectionism – This can often stem from limiting beliefs in the workplace that hinder your professional growth. The belief that you must do everything perfectly can lead to procrastination, burnout, or never feeling satisfied with your work. (Todd, et. al., 2025)
How Limiting Beliefs Have An Impact On Success
Success in personal growth, career, or even relationships requires the right mindset. But when self-limiting beliefs come into play, they confine you within a loop of self-defeat. Here’s how it can impact you along the way by helping you overcome your limiting beliefs. (Susaeta, et. al, 2020)
Self-Sabotage: You could begin undertaking actions that confirm beliefs you hold unflattering, like reasoning that you “knew you’d fail regardless.” (Keane & Loades, 2017)
Fear of Failure: Not only do you look at failure as a lesson, but you also completely restrict yourself from taking the risk. (Mehdi & Singh, 2025)
Low Self-Worth: Some people may have the attitude of being unable to achieve success, so they settle for less. (Keane & Loades, 2017)
Now, the reality is success has nothing to do with needing luck or being perfect. Success can be achieved by changing your mindset, understanding your capabilities, and acting regardless of the anxiety involved.
Overcome Self-Limiting Beliefs and The Impact of Emotional Resilience
At first glance, one might assume emotional resilience is synonymous with ‘toughing it out’ during tough times. Its proper form is slightly different: one must recognise self-sabotaging beliefs and overcome them to work toward their success. One has to possess the mental and emotional capacity to bear difficult situations, not just to survive but to thrive in life. It is this emotional resilience that allows people to take obstacles and look at them as an opportunity. (Irfan & Rukun,2019).
In the struggle to alter an individual’s self-defeating beliefs, emotional resilience is paramount to shifting one’s mindset towards taking necessary actions despite the presence of fear, doubt, or uncertainty.
Break Free and Soar Toward Your Full Potential with InPsychful
Have you noticed how it sometimes feels as though you are working hard, in fact, a little too hard, but not making any significant progress? Perhaps self-doubt rears its ugly head when you contemplate taking the next step, and fear of failure prevents you from trying altogether. You are not in this alone. Many people face this barrier that is real yet completely unrecognised and confines them from reaching their goals.
At InPsychful, we understand that being successful is not merely about accomplishing tasks. It is also about having the right mindset. We have created the S.O.A.R. approach to help you overcome the mental and emotional barriers that restrict progress. Whether you are lost in your career path, dealing with reasonable self-doubt, or searching for clarity, we can help you identify and develop the mindset shifts that are needed for real change.
If you find yourself relating to the following, then you may be constrained by limiting beliefs:
- Feeling as if you are not moving forward career-wise or personally and not knowing which direction to take.
- Avoiding risks due to the fear of rejection or failure.
- Experiencing anxiety and persistent stress because of never-ending self-doubt.
- Finding the need for resilience is daunting to the extent that it feels impossible to achieve.
Those problems are not only annoying. They can also sap your energy, self-worth, and happiness. But the silver lining is that you can change things for the better.
The InPsychful Bridge to Success
To facilitate the movement from stagnation to breakthrough, we provide the S.O.A.R Approach to help you eliminate limiting beliefs and change your life.
- Self-Awareness – The first step to ‘real’ change is to be cognisant of your thoughts and emotions. We help you identify the underlying beliefs and patterns that contribute to your stagnation.
- Overcoming Self-Imposed Limitations – We all tend to tell ourselves stories that prevent us from attaining success. These negative narratives need to be reframed. At InPsychful, we will empower you with beliefs that you can take action on, helping you to eliminate limiting beliefs.
- Emotional Agility – You must be able to confront adversity with faith and confidence. It is not easy to move forward with clarity when emotions keep overshadowing you, but this can be achieved.
- Resilience – Weaker approaches to self-defeatism need support. It is maintaining a positive attitude in the face of adversity that is resilient.
We help you achieve emotional resilience, mental clarity, and a success-dominating mindset sifter through your limiting beliefs with personalised one-on-one coaching sessions.
Getting ready to S.O.A.R.
Almost everything is achievable with the right mindset; this includes self-imposed barriers like self-doubt, which limit you from changing your life.
Achieving all these will InPsychful assist you in emotionally thriving and provide the clarity needed for you to succeed. Let us S.O.A.R together and take the step of achieving our goals.
References:
Keane L, Loades M. Review: low self-esteem and internalizing disorders in young people—a systematic review. Child Adolesc Mental Health (2017) 22(1):4–15. doi: 10.1111/camh.12204
Susaeta, L., Babinger, F. & Muñoz, N. 2020/06/08. Influence of limiting beliefs in soft employability skills: An analysis for the hospitality sector. DO – 10.37741/t.68.2.8
McGee R, Williams S. Does low self-esteem predict health compromising behaviours among adolescents? J Adolesc (2000) 23:569–82. doi: 10.1006/jado.2000.0344
Denti Leif , Sturén Erik , Johansson Lars-Olof. 2024. Scarcity mindset among schoolteachers: how resource scarcity negatively impacts teachers’ cognition and behaviors. Frontiers in Psychology. DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1333735
Todd, Valerie & Mcilroy, David. (2025). Construction and initial validation of an academic impostor syndrome measure. Current Psychology. 1-13. 10.1007/s12144-025-07499-3.
Mehdi, Syed Asif & Singh, Lata. (2025). Effect of entrepreneurial fear of failure: a moderated mediation model of resilience and emotion regulation. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies. 10.1108/JEEE-08-2024-0325.
Weber S, Puskar KR, Puskar KR. Relationships between depressive symptoms and perceived social support, self-esteem, & optimism in a sample of rural adolescents. Issues Mental Health Nursing (2010) 31:584–8. doi: 10.3109/01612841003775061
Irfan, Dedy & Rukun, Kasman. (2019). Self Regulated Learning and Limiting Belief Academic for College Student. 10.2991/ictvet-18.2019.30.