Life TherapyTM
Psychotherapy & Coaching + Mindfulness & Meditation

How Can We Overcome Our Limiting Beliefs?

This is a contribution by Guest Blogger Teju Ravilochan.
Originally published here.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” –Marianne Williamson
Here’s what I believe: all human beings have tremendous power to shape and advance the world. But that power is limited by circumstances, expectations, and the narratives we’re told our whole lives.
One of the most powerful lessons we can learn about unlocking human potential comes from understanding how an elephant is tamed. When an elephant is a calf, its trainer (or “mahouts”) ties it to a large tree by its legs. The young elephant exerts all its strength to try and escape. It wrestles, pulls, yanks, and trumpets until exhausted, and then she tries again. But her bonds don’t yield. Through her repeated failures, she learns that no matter what she does, she can’t escape. And she gives up.
And once she gives up trying to escape, her mahout never has to tie her to a tree again. All he has to do is tie her to a bamboo pole he sticks in the ground. Despite the remarkable ease with which she could escape (especially weighing around 4 tons), she doesn’t try. Her will has been crushed.
I look at people and I see us all limited by perceived bonds. By fear, by worry of judgment, by the expectations our parents set for us, by what our society tells us is possible. But I believe in a different world: a world where no one is limited by their circumstances.
Today, how will you break free from preconceived limits and create a freer world?

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