The Weekend Leader - It’s in the mind

Get rid of the limiting self-beliefs, you can if you think you can

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Roopleen Prasad

10-August-2012

Vol 0 | Issue 1

“Cometh the hour, cometh the man” reads the tattoo on the multitalented runner Richard Whitehead’s forearm and encapsulates everything he stands for. These inspirational words meant so much to him that he got them etched in ink forever.

Richard Whitehead is a living proof of what a person can achieve if he is willing to jump over the mental barriers.

Richard is a congenital above-the-knee double amputee. In 2009, he became the first leg amputee (single or double) to break the three hour mark for a marathon.
In less than a year, he lowered his own world record to an incredible 2 hours, 42.54 minutes. He also broke the half marathon world record with a run of 1 hour, 14.14 minutes.

Richard has competed in seven marathons, two ultra marathons and has the distinction of being the fastest double leg amputee on marathons. He once remarked, “With a big heart and the will to succeed you can overcome barriers put in front of you."

Richard has proved that nothing is truly impossible. Limitations exist only in the mind. He always dreamt of being able to run a marathon. With sheer determination and will power, he overcame the barriers and realized his dream.

Everybody wants to become successful in life but only few made it to the top. What holds most people back and stops them from achieving their goals is the mental ‘road blocks.’

Mental barriers put limits on your success. They restrict you to your comfort zone by creating fear and plaguing your mind with self-doubt thus holding you back from pursuing your goals and keeping you from achieving greater success in life. When you have self limiting beliefs you pigeon hole yourself and sow the seeds of self sabotage.

Success, as they say, is a mind game. Those who succeed are the ones who have overpowered the mental barriers that stop them from reaching out and grabbing their dreams.

Roger Bannister became the first man to break the mental barrier and run a mile in less than four minutes. Soon after other runners did the same.

Bannister inspired many other athletes to do what they never thought was possible. He proved that running a mile in less than four minutes was nothing more than a ‘self-limiting belief.’ How he overcame mental barrier lends hope and inspiration to all those who have imprisoned themselves in the fortress of self limiting beliefs.

Marlee Matlin, fondly remembered for her role in the famous movie ‘Children of a lesser God’ is the youngest actress, and the only deaf performer, to win the Academy Award for best actress in a leading role. She became deaf at the age of 18 months.

Stevie Wonder, the American icon and indisputable genius of R & B is credited with winning 28 Grammys. He was blind virtually from birth. Ray Charles, the famous American pianist and musician who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues also lost his eyesight at an early age.

All these examples boil down to a similar moral: limitations are there only in the mind and often times, these are self-erected.

You yourself create a fortress of self-limiting beliefs around yourself when you let self-doubt creep in your mind and convince you that you are not worthy of success. You allow yourself to fall prey to psychological barriers and limitations when you lack self-belief and conviction in your goals.

If you think poorly of your abilities and of yourself you will never be able to achieve anything worthwhile in life.

Change your view of yourself. Overcome the mental barriers; get rid of the limiting self-beliefs.

You can do it. Richard Whitehead did it. Roger Bannister did it. Marlee Matlin did it. Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder did it. You too CAN do it. Refuse to hold yourself back.

Leap over the mental barriers. There are opportunities beyond the obstacles, solutions beyond the challenges and openings beyond the hurdles. Get past those barriers.

If you want to be successful in life, change your mindset from negative to positive. Let go of all the self created limitations and roadblocks. Stop restricting yourself.

Get into the mindset of a winner. Jump over those barriers, explore your full potential and move forward towards success.

Someone rightly said, “If you want to excel, you need to go beyond the ordinary. Get out of your comfort zone. Dare to jump your barriers.”

Your potential is unlimited. What you can achieve is limitless. The limitations are only in the mind. Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of United States, once said, “There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit and no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.”

So dare to succeed. There are no barriers formidable enough. Limitations only exist if you believe they exist. Believe in yourself, have faith in your abilities and you will see your mental barriers blown away.

The Author is a Motivational counselor, Speaker, Ophthalmologist, and Author of 'Principles of Success Made Easy-14 Easy Steps to Climb the Ladder of Success'
 

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