Are Your Beliefs Limiting You Without Your Knowledge?
Are your beliefs limiting you without your knowledge? A story of transformation.
Have you ever experienced something that at the time seemed insignificant, but later had a transformative impact?
I had one of those moments, and I reflected on it this week since it was someone special’s birthday.
She didn’t know that she changed my life, but she did.
Here is that story, that still feels like a fairy tale:
Once upon a time, there was a woman with limiting beliefs. She believed her body and back were fragile, because she had been told by her surgeon that they were. She felt her abilities finite, and her adventures were… well, sometimes limited.
One day, she flew to Calgary, excited for some peaceful writing time in nature. She asked her cousin Laurie, someone she’d never met in person where she should head as she was thinking Lake Louise might fit the bill.
Laurie, though, loved adventure, and said “You don’t’ want to write at Lake Louise, you want to climb a mountain!”
But the woman had never climbed a mountain.
Over a BLT in Laurie’s kitchen (on some kind of magical cheese bread), plans were made. “How are your knees?” Laurie asked.
“Knees are fine,” said the woman. “But my back’s a mess—spinal fusion candidate kind of mess.”
“We’ll do an easy mountain,” Laurie promised.
Spoiler alert: It wasn’t easy at all.
On a snowy, foggy ascent that turned vertical immediately, our protagonist found herself questioning her choices—and her pulse.
“If this is an easy mountain, what’s a hard one?” she asked Laurie.
There were wonderings about mountain rescues, a stop to listen to her heart pound in her ears, and an understanding that she wasn’t really adjusted to the altitude at all.
But step by step, she made it to the summit. There was a flag, a photo, and a much-needed snack. Triumph!
Both women were thrilled that they had made the trip, but they were tired, and a little ashamed that an easy mountain felt so hard.
Later, just as the woman poured herself into bed, Laurie texted with the news.
“Umm… apparently that was not an easy mountain at all. I got confused, it was actually a difficult mountain.”
The woman laughed—hard. Because if she’d known it was difficult, she wouldn’t have even tried. But without those limiting beliefs weighing her down, she’d done it anyway.
That day, she learned a powerful truth: What you believe you can do sets the limits of what you actually do.
So, Happy Birthday, Laurie Francis. I don’t have many limited beliefs anymore. Thanks for helping me clear the fog that day—both literally and figuratively.
I still think of you when I need a reminder to believe in my own power and I enjoy the journey along the way.
Theresa Bailey is a bestselling author and the exclusive North American provider of Play Doh Power Solutions Corporate Training.
