The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 176 Shedding Limiting Beliefs

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

Limiting beliefs: How they keep us stuck and how we can free ourselves from them   Book your free consultation with Renée HERE Download the transcript from this episode HERE   Mind Over Finger Visit MindOverFinger.com for all things peak performance – including impactful online courses and free resources on peak performance. Connect: https://www.youtube.com/@MindOverFinger https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindoverfinger https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/     Thank You Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme:  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson.

You're listening to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 176. Welcome to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, where we dive into the world of mindful music making, peak performance, and crafting a purpose-driven life and career. I'm your host, violinist, certified performance and life coach for musicians, and your guide to unlocking your full potential, Dr. Ranipo Gautier. Hi everyone. How are you doing? Amazing, I hope. Today's episode is a solo show. It's just me. So let's have some fun with a big topic and let's talk about limiting beliefs, how they keep us stuck and how we can free ourselves from them. If you're like me and like just about everyone I know, you have experienced the shackles of

limiting belief. I'm sure of it. And what is a limiting belief? Simply put, it's a thought that holds you back, that makes you doubt your abilities or your potential. And I think we all understand the limiting portion. But let's talk about the belief part. What is a belief? Well, a belief is a thought that you keep on thinking until you accept it as truth. A belief is a thought that you keep on thinking until you accept it as truth. You accept it as a fact. But in reality, it's simply a thought that you choose to believe. Let that sink in for a moment. It's a thought you choose to believe. These thoughts that our brain offers us that become beliefs, they come from our environment, our upbringing, society, however we've been trained

and influenced and conditioned by our surroundings. Now, don't get me wrong. There are facts out there. There are certain things in life that we have data on, of course. But everything else, everything else is just a bunch of thoughts we have chosen to accept as truth. And we know that This is true because every single human believes different things. If every belief was true, every single human being on the planet would believe the same thing as you. But they don't. So what does that tell you? It tells you that the stories you believe are just that.

Stories. Stories your brain offers to keep you safe. And things get hard for us when there's one or more specific belief or beliefs that we hold on to, which hold us back. And that's why it's really important to notice these sentences running in our heads and to examine them with curiosity, with love. reconsider them question them doubt them we do this by raising our awareness and getting curious awareness can be raised many different ways and there's a very simple approach that you can get started with today so let's say there's something you very much would like to do Well, it's possible you're dealing with a limiting belief if, when you're dreaming about that thing,

there is a B-U-T, but, that slides in the sentences that are running in your head. I'll give you a couple of examples. Here are some things I hear from students, from clients, from listeners who write in. Some people say, I'd love to put together a recital, but I don't have a good memory. I'd love to learn this piece, but my technique is not good enough. I'd love to visit XYZ country, but traveling is very complicated. I'd love to do XYZ, but it's way too hard. But I'm not disciplined enough.

But I never finish things. But I'm not good enough. And that last one is one that I personally had to overcome in one instance. And once I did it, it changed my life forever. Let me tell you that story. As many of my colleagues, I got an undergraduate and a couple of graduate degrees before I started my performing career. Very typical.

And I really love school. I love researching. I love learning. And there was a part of me that always wanted to do a doctorate. but i never even allowed myself to contemplate it seriously because my main thought was i'm not good at theory now i know enough about theory to accomplish the basic analysis of performing violence needs i can identify my cadences my chord progressions my sequences my modulations all of that good stuff. But I always thought that only people who are really great at advanced

theory could do a doctorate. I just had this thought that I'm not that good at theory, and only people who are really good at advanced complicated theory can do a doctorate. So I can't do a doctorate. And I repeated that to myself over and over, and I kept believing it. I believed it so much that I never even looked at what the actual requirements might look like. Not once. And it didn't feel good to believe this. And I'm sure you can relate. When there's that one thing you wish you could do, but you don't think you're good enough, it always leaves this bad aftertaste in your brain when you think about it, right? This feeling of being disempowered, not able. And I'm never going to forget the moment when that changed.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. And I was thinking about ideas I had for a dissertation and how nice it would be and fun it would be to do a doctorate if only I was better at theory. And in that moment, I had a realization. And I don't know why or how it happened. but I noticed that limiting belief. I saw it as a thought and not a fact for the first time. I doubted it for the first time. Again, I don't know where it came from. Maybe the desire got stronger than the fear for the first time. I'm not sure. But all of a sudden, there was a different

thought that entered my brain. And it felt like a light bulb moment. I totally got what people meant when they used that expression, that aha moment that Oprah talks about. And that thought was, but what if I could figure it out? It's just a teeny tiny, innocent little question, just a little seed of doubt that felt like it came out of nowhere. And it made me see everything from a completely different perspective. What if I could figure it out? I'm pretty smart. What if I could figure that advanced theory thing out? And with just that, that little question, I felt an entire world of possibility open before me. And let me tell you, I was excited. I felt empowered. Okay, so I believe that I'm not that amazing a theory, but what if I could

figure it out? That question absolutely changed the course of my life. For the first time ever, I sat down, I looked at what the requirements actually were, and I started to believe that it was possible that I could figure it out, even if it was difficult. And with one step at a time, one new small belief at a time, building on top of each other, I did figure it out. It was amazing. It was excruciating. And I hated and loved every minute of it. And I got my doctorate. And the most empowering thing is that it created a completely new belief system and self-concept. I'm someone who can figure things out. And all of that started in a split moment with a simple question, a simple new thought that made me reconsider a deeply ingrained

belief and allowed me to decide, decide that I did not believe that anymore. It completely changed everything, changed my perspective. I chose to believe something else. I chose to believe something else. That's how it works, my friend. It starts with just one thought. Now, it might don't fall over a long period of time, of course, but it only requires one thought to ignite a massive transformation. It takes one domino to get the whole setup going. You can transform your performance. You can transform your practice. You can transform your career. I'll say it again, and I want you to repeat after me. It starts with just one different thought. So, how do you shed limiting beliefs?

By shining light on them with awareness. Limiting beliefs operate best hiding in the shadows. They love to lurk in the darkness and they whisper incessantly in our ears. And by raising our awareness, we start to notice what's happening in our mind. We observe our thoughts. And how do you know you're having a thought? You know you're thinking something if you're feeling something. That's the clue.

Always. Remember episode 153 to 155. Our thoughts generate our feelings. Our feelings fuel our actions and our actions create our results. So if you're doing something, it's because you're feeling something. And if you're feeling something, you're thinking something. So if you're dreaming about something, if there's a goal you'd love to pursue, pay attention to what you're feeling when you think about it. Identify the feelings and let them lead you to the thoughts behind them.

And when you have an idea of what those thoughts are, investigate. Get curious. Okay, I'm thinking that it's too hard for me. is that true could I figure it out maybe it's very hard but what if I could develop the skills eventually or I'm thinking that I'm not disciplined enough really is that true because there are plenty of times in my past when I've showed discipline maybe I've not always been disciplined in the past, but there is evidence that I can be disciplined, what if I could figure out a way to stay on track for this project? See how that goes? So doubt those limiting beliefs. And by putting

their accuracy under scrutiny, you can purposefully redirect your mind to more uplifting, action-generating thoughts, and, usually, more accurate thoughts. So, we dissolve limiting beliefs by planting these tiny seeds of doubt. And these seeds, they grow and grow, and they change your whole landscape. We plant doubt by asking ourselves, Hmm, is this true? Is this really true? Could another alternative be just as true? And let me tell you something.

When you look for another alternative, you usually find it. So try this this week. Think about the dreams that you have, the goals you've been wanting to pursue, but you're not going for. And look at the reasons why you're holding yourself back. What thoughts are chaining you down? when you think about that dream that goal is there a but that pops in your mind but that would never work but that's not for me but I'm not good enough but I would never be able to do that but that's too hard for me but I'm not disciplined enough but people will judge me

and then say to yourself okay maybe but what if Maybe, but what if I could figure it out? What if I could learn how to do X, Y, Z? What if there was a way I could find out? So overcoming limiting beliefs and stepping into a new way of doing things is possible. And if you feel the need to get guidance to navigate that journey, book a consult with me. What I help my clients do is tap into what's possible for them in their career, in their life, that they might have never let themselves contemplate. I help them connect with their deep purpose, create a vision, and we tackle those limiting beliefs and we make things happen.

So maybe there's one big dream you want to go for, but you feel stuck. well go to mindoverfinger.com slash coaching and book your call of course i'll have that link in the show notes for you and when you come to the call it's completely free and we talk i'm going to help you reconnect to your deep purpose open some possibilities for you and we're going to identify the thoughts that are blocking you and if it's a good fit we can continue working together in my six-month one-on-one track. But no matter what, no strings attached, you're going to come away from that call with clarity.

All right, this is what I have for you this week. I hope this episode brought you insight and maybe sparked a little fire of possibility inside of you. So go ahead, plant those seeds. I send you much love and à bientôt. © transcript Emily Beynon