In my last post “What Is a Limiting Belief?” we spent some time talking about limiting beliefs: what they are and how they affect our ability to live the life we want.

But did you know that limiting beliefs are NOT the real problem?

I know that sounds strange.  After all, most people — especially the so-called “gurus” in the personal development industry — tend to think that if they could just eliminate limiting beliefs, they’d never struggle again.  So they get to work, applying this technique or that strategy to minimize the effects of limiting beliefs.

But limiting beliefs are NOT the source of the core problem.

They are merely a symptom.

The core problem is that you have a distorted self-perception that is feeding all the limiting beliefs you’re experiencing.

Let me give you an example.

Say you’re struggling to stay physically fit.  You’re overweight, you’re tired.  And though you know you want to be healthier, you can’t quite bring yourself to get off the couch and throw away the potato chips.

Traditional personal development teachers might tell you that your root problem is that you subconsciously believe you are fat.

This isn’t wrong, but it only scratches the surface.

You can spend all the time in the world trying to convince yourself that you ARE someone who can be thin, fit, and active — trying to change, or replace your limiting belief — but if you don’t dig deeper, it probably won’t work very well.

Instead, you must recognize this fact: all limiting beliefs are the dark side  of a profound truth about yourself; something that your subconscious is trying to protect.

The only thing that can truly heal, complete, and correct a limiting belief is for you to become aware of the light side of your truth — what I call your Virtue, or your true identity.  Then you can embrace what is real, and your limiting belief will melt away.

In our example of someone who struggles with their weight,  realize that the belief system doesn’t even know that you’re overweight, or what weight is for that matter, but it DOES no how important it is for you to feel connected and have a sense of belonging with those who are important to you or who you love. So to add a few clichés here such as; “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” and “birds of a feather flock together”, there’s a good chance that the people you are closest to also have weight problems. Obviously, having a deep sense of connection and belonging with those you love is a good thing and thus the light side of who you are. However, conditioning says that you must maintain that connection at all costs and one way to be liked by them is to look like them. Thus, subconsciously speaking, being overweight is your ticket to fill the need of connection and belonging. Consequently, the subconscious fulfills this prime objective by maintaining a limiting belief that compels your dominant thoughts, feelings and behaviors to sabotage your efforts to lose weight whenever it might arise.

Do you see?

The real problem isn’t the limiting belief; it’s what’s behind the limiting belief.  The limiting belief is just a symptom of a more serious malady.

For help discovering your Virtue and ridding yourself of limiting beliefs, request a FREE 30-minute Beyond Breakthrough Coaching Session with one of Quantum Emergence’s qualified coaches today.