“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” ~Albert Einstein
My greatest wish in life is to be able to travel the world. Unfortunately, I don’t have the financial means nor job flexibility to do so. Ok I admit it– THIS IS JUST A WEAK EXCUSE! I keep telling myself that I can’t afford to travel, yet I continue to go about my life without changing anything to make my dreams possible. At this rate I’ll never get to visit the Great Wall of China, The Basque Forest in Spain, Vietnam’s Halong Bay, California’s State Route 1, Parc Guell in Barcelona, or New York’s Greenwich Village.
I became aware of my limiting beliefs on travel one spring break during sophomore year in college. I had never really gone anywhere for spring break before, for the same reasons I stated above. On some level I believed that travel was something exclusively for wealthy-wildly-adventuresome people and that normal folks had to stay put and settle for local.
This spring break would be different, a group of friends and I just decided to hop in our car and go to the beach which was
4 hours away. No planning, no thinking, just doing. Simple as that. It may not seem like a big deal to someone who’s been half ways around the country, but for a girl suffering from a case of small town mentality this was quite the adventure.
I’m not wealthy enough, I’m not stable enough, I’m not young enough, I’m not old enough, I’m not brave enough, I’m not adventurous enough — some of the reasons why we might put off our dreams.
Do you know what limiting beliefs you hold?
Sometimes we aren’t even aware of them, yet these limiting thoughts go on limiting life. Our thoughts create our reality, so why continue going through life clinging on to wildly confining beliefs. If you are ready for a really big, new life change dare to think differently.
Below are the 12 steps to breaking mental barriers, to start living unexpectedly, and to enjoy enlightening experiences that otherwise we’d pass on.
The 12 Steps of Limited Thinking Addicts Anonymous: 
- We accept that we hold limiting beliefs that confine us to mediocre living.
- We are now aware that we must expand our thinking.
- We turn to our fellow bloggers (sub in whichever term you prefer), particularly those who have struggled with limited thinking.
- We have made a list of our limiting beliefs and situations in which they are most likely to creep up.
- We admit to our family and friends the exact nature of our limited mindsets and ask them to remind us of it in those situations.
- We are ready to discard the should dos, what ifs, and what might happens.
- We passionately embrace more spontaneity in our lives.
- We have made a list of the dreams we have harmed and which we we hope to make a reality.
- We shall do all we can to make them a reality, in a way that will not cause anyone harm.
- We will continue to take personal beliefs inventory and revise them as needed.
- Through creative introspection we improve our self-awareness and free ourselves of subconscious limiting beliefs.
- Having had a creative spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we are ready to help others who may come to us in the same way.
You are a creator, gifted by nature. Choose your thoughts wisely and start creating the life you have always dreamed of.
What do you do to overcome confining mindsets? What mind blowing experiences have you had that never could have been possible had you remained stuck in limiting thinking?
As always a mind rebooting from your creative mind. Seriously, I can read this and honestly admit that although I haven’t thought in quite a while, I am too young. I do have a lot of limiting thoughts, many, that I ignore or just accept as fact rather than challenging them. I have said it before and I will say it again, I learn a lot every time you post. It is almost like you are doing it to push me along in life to where I need to go. Thank you for the thoughts. I have to re-read this.
I’m so happy to help in any way that I can
so where do you think you’ll be heading next?
First I am working on getting rid of the limiting thoughts, like, I want to travel but I can’t right now. because….. as you said money, irresponsible. I would like to write for publications, I can’t because I am not good enough yet, what would I say that anyone would want to hear? blah, blah, blah, I had been the same way in other aspects of my life as well. I am still not sure but know I may never be. So to answer your question, I am determined to take one step toward my goals each day, no matter how minuscule they may seem. What about you?
One small step at a time makes it a lot easier to manage. I’ll be doing the same, maybe it’s time to sit and write a plan even though I’m not a big fan of plans, but I’ll do it. To be able to cross things off builds momentum. Like getting my shots for class registration, it’s small enough totally doable.
That is a good idea. I think I should at least write down what I think I want to have happen. I am suspect of even writing things down because then they are real, and open to ridicule and question and I defeat myself before I even get started. I think that is a great idea and something I will do. My post today is going to be about common ground, perhaps the common ground I need to find is with myself? Thanks for the food for thought.
Thank you Jonathan for the inspiration
Please do write about common ground, I’m looking forward to this post.
Now’s your time to travel – before having kids. Live it up! I did and it was the best decision ever. My husband and I plan to take our daughter on lots of trips in the future…but the toddler and young childhood years aren’t really conducive to it (as much as we tried to convinced ourselves otherwise while we were pregnant; we were all “we’ll just continue living our lives exactly the same, and just bring the kiddo along.” Good optimistic thought…but not totally realistic, depending on the kiddo’s temperament). And you really must see Greenwich Village; the pastries on Bleecker Street that come in little boxes with red and white string encircling them is worth the trip in its own right.
I really do want to go everywhere and anywhere. What did you do to make your traveling possible, where all have you gone?
We did a lot of budgeting! It’s not very exciting, but it’s necessary. We would plot for years for our trips, and then budget down to the dollar every single month. Well worth it. We went to Switzerland, Paris, Wales, Scotland, England, Quebec City (many, many times), the Canadian Rockies (twice), Montana, and all over the Northeast. We wish we’d been able to do even more, but the salaries of teachers do confine a bit. That said, we are so grateful for the opportunities we had (and that we didn’t have to go into debt for any of them) and feel very fortunate. We hope to bring the kiddo along someday in the future! Here’s wishing YOU happy travels!
I really appreciate this post and I appreciate your list. I have recently been struggling a lot with number 6 as challenging and entrenched emotions rear their heads in deep meditation. Specifically, “what if’s” in terms of what initiated those emotions in the past, and “should do’s” in terms of how to process those emotions in the present. Thank you for posting.
djd
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me and for stopping by. #6 is tough, we don’t like to loose control of our lives, and getting rid of what ifs and should dos involves a lot of letting go. I think that key to giving up control is to trust, trust your instincts and trust that everything happens for a reason.
we are limited by our imaginations
it’s ok to be limited sometimes.
i’ve never been abroad, the material side of me wants to explore, but the deeper side of me doesn’t care, i can already smell freshly cut grass, rain on the road, food of foreign shores cooked in neighbouring houses.
there’s a whole universe of miniature worlds right on the doorstep
i wanna write more but am more busy than usual with family life lol
It’s is true about where I live also, there is a melting pot of culture here. But I guess what really makes me want to travel is to see the different landscapes. Like for example the Basque forest, it is totally different from anything here it really is like something out of a fairytale.