In my last post, I claimed that the purpose of life is to acquire knowledge and use that knowledge to create. This purpose can be seen clearly in a child’s inborn curiosity of the world as they learn and play. As we grow older, we slowly start to lose this sense of curiosity. One reason for this is we start to develop limiting beliefs.
I have many myself. I’m not a creative person. I don’t have what it takes to start my own company. I’m naturally shy around strangers. Public speaking is terrifying and I can’t do it. These beliefs are not inherently true. By definition, these limiting beliefs are just illusions of the mind. I’m on a journey to overcome my limiting beliefs and I hope to inspire others to do the same.
As the imaginary barriers crumble in our minds, we once again feel the child-like curiosity we once felt. If we truly breakdown the barriers, we no longer fear failure or embarrassment or all the other negative emotions that are associated with limiting beliefs. Rather, we look at it as the next exciting adventure in our lives as a chance to gain additional knowledge and grow as a person.
We also start to see how we have applied similar beliefs to others; even those who we love the most. This can lead to a vicious cycle where we start to confirm each others limiting beliefs and make it even harder to overcome. If we zoom out a bit more, and look at our interaction with society as a whole, we see that often we pigeonhole others and put them into neat little boxes in our minds. It doesn’t need to be this way. We just need to be aware of when our brain is establishing patterns that are harmful and break them.
Breaking these patterns is like breaking any other bad habit. It is not going to happen overnight but if we focus on the end goal which is a whole new way of looking at ourselves, at those we love, at the world, we will find the motivation to overcome. Most of us remember when we were told as a child that we can be whatever we want to be in life. Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing more true.
The Inquisitive Journey 