by Personal Growth Magazine Editorial Team
Being stuck in your limiting stories is something you have in common with most people.
You ever catch yourself saying something like, “I’m just not good with money,” or “I always mess things up,” or “I’m not the kind of person who can do that”? Those are limiting little scripts we repeat in our heads, sometimes without even realizing it? Those are what we call limiting stories.
And here’s the thing: we all have them.
They’re the stories we’ve picked up over time through experiences, failures, what someone told us when we were ten, or even just stuff we assumed about ourselves. And once those stories are in place, we tend to live as if they’re true. Even when they’re not.
What Are Limiting Stories?
Limiting stories are those inner narratives that keep us stuck. They’re the beliefs that whisper things like:
– “I’m not creative.”
– “I’ll never be successful.”
– “I’m too old to start something new.”
– “People like me don’t get ahead.”
They feel like facts. But really, they’re just stories. Stories that maybe used to serve a purpose to protect us from failure or embarrassment. Now, they’re just holding us back.
Why Do We Believe Them?
We believed limiting stories because they felt true. Maybe you tried painting once, didn’t like what you created, and decided “I’m not creative.” Or maybe you got rejected from a job and thought, “I’m not good enough.” We don’t always fact-check these thoughts. We just accept them, and they quietly start shaping how we see ourselves.
Over time, these limiting stories get so ingrained that we don’t even question them. They become like background music that’s always playing, influencing how we act, but so familiar we barely notice them.
How Do These Stories Affect Us?
Imagine someone who’s always told themselves, “I’m terrible with relationships.” Even if they meet someone amazing, they might sabotage it or hold back because they believe it won’t work out in the end. It’s like wearing tinted glasses that are colored by that old belief.
Or think about someone who thinks, “I’m not smart enough to start a business.” They might never even try because their story is louder than their potential.
The good news is that stories can be rewritten. Just like we picked up these limiting stories over time, we can also let them go. We can challenge them, rewrite them, and choose better ones. But it first starts by noticing them.
Ask yourself:
– “What story am I telling myself right now?”
– “Where did that come from?”
– “Is this story 100% true?”
– “What might be a more empowering version of this story?”
You don’t have to leap from “I’m not good at this” to “I’m a world-class expert.” But you can shift to something like, “I’m learning, and I’m getting better every day.”
It’s Like Changing the Script
Think of your brain like an actor following a script. If the script says, “You’ll never succeed,” that’s the role you’ll play. But what if you handed it a new one? What if you gave it lines like, “You’re capable. You’ve got what it takes. You’re figuring it out.”? Your choices and actions will change and so will your life.
Being stuck in your limiting stories isn’t a sign that you’re broken. It’s a sign that you’re human. But you don’t have to stay stuck. You have the power to pause, question the script, and rewrite the narrative. It won’t change overnight but you’ll improve over time and you’ll get unstuck too.
So next time you catch yourself saying, “That’s just the way I am,” stop and ask: “Is it?”
It’s probably just an old story you’ve been telling yourself over and over again until you started believing it. You might be surprised how free you feel once you let that story go.
