How To Find Your Limiting Beliefs (And Change Them For Good)
Have you ever found yourself saying things like "I’m just not a morning workout person" or "I always fail at sticking to healthy eating plans"? If so, you’re not alone.
As a wellness coach who supports people working from home on their health and wellness journeys, I hear these kinds of statements all the time.
But what if I told you that these thoughts aren’t just simple observations about your life—they’re deeply held beliefs that are actively creating your reality?
Mindset vs. Reality: What’s the Difference?
We often think of reality as something fixed and objective—things we can see, touch, and measure. The number on the scale. The minutes you can hold a plank position. The stack of unread work emails. Your mounting to-do list.
But here’s something to consider: what if reality is far more subjective than you realize?
Try this simple thought experiment with me:
Think of an object near you right now. Maybe it’s the chair you’re sitting on, the water bottle on your desk, or the yoga mat rolled up in the corner.
Now ask yourself: What was this object before it became what it is today?
You might think "raw materials," "plastic," or "fabric."
Let’s go further back. Before it was raw materials... what was it?
Keep going back, and eventually, you’ll arrive at a profound realization: it was a thought.
Every single human-made object around us—your standing desk, your fitness watch, the resistance bands in your home office—none of these things would exist if someone hadn’t first thought of them.
And if nobody had ever imagined these objects… would they even exist at all?
This simple exercise reveals something powerful: thought precedes reality.
And this applies not just to objects but also to how we see ourselves and our capabilities.
Mindset Myths That Hold Us Back
When it comes to our health and wellness goals, certain mindset myths can keep us trapped in patterns that really don’t serve us:
Myth #1: "My thoughts about myself are fixed truths."
Many of us walk around with beliefs like "I don’t have enough willpower" or "I’m not naturally athletic" as if they’re unchangeable facts about who we are. We operate under the belief, “That’s just who I am,” and “I’ve always been this way.”
In reality, these are simply thoughts and assumptions—and thoughts and assumptions can be examined and changed.
Myth #2: "Positive thinking alone will transform my life."
While optimism and manifestation have their place, simply repeating "I am fit and healthy" won't magically make it so. Real mindset work involves both positive vision and honest acknowledgment of obstacles, followed by strategic, aligned action.
Myth #3: "My past attempts define my future potential."
Just because you’ve struggled to maintain healthy habits while working from home before doesn’t mean you’re doomed to repeat the same patterns. Every day offers a fresh opportunity to adjust your mindset, approach your goals differently, and therefore, make a change.
Understanding Limiting Beliefs and How They Sabotage Your Success
Limiting beliefs are those persistent, often subconscious thoughts that tell you what you can’t do, who you can’t be, or what isn’t possible for your life. They’re like invisible walls that keep you in the same spot and squash your potential—boundaries you’ve drawn for yourself over many years without even realizing it.
What Exactly Are Limiting Beliefs?
At their core, limiting beliefs are assumptions or perceptions about yourself and the world that constrain your potential and prevent you from taking action toward your goals.
They’re the quiet voice that whispers, "You can’t..." or "You’ll never..." or "That’s not possible for someone like you."
The tricky part? Most limiting beliefs feel like plain, simple truths. They disguise themselves as rational thoughts, practical advice, or lessons learned from experience. This is what makes them so difficult to identify—and so powerful in shaping your reality.
The Anatomy of a Limiting Belief
Limiting beliefs typically share these characteristics:
They feel like facts, not opinions. "I don’t have time for self-care while working from home" feels like an objective reality, not a subjective viewpoint.
They’re often absolute. Notice words like "always," "never," "impossible," or "everyone"—these signal the presence of a limiting belief.
They create emotional reactions. When challenged, limiting beliefs often trigger defensiveness or discomfort because they’re protecting a core story about who you think you are.
They create predictable patterns. If you find yourself repeatedly hitting the same obstacles or experiencing the same frustrations in your wellness journey, a limiting belief is likely at work.
How to Spot Your Own Limiting Beliefs
Identifying your limiting beliefs requires becoming a detective of your own thought patterns. Here are some practical ways to uncover them:
Listen to your language. Pay attention to the phrases you repeatedly use about yourself, especially those that start with:
"I’m not the kind of person who..."
"I could never..."
"I always..."
"That’s impossible for me because..."
Notice your automatic reactions. When faced with a new health opportunity or challenge, what’s your immediate internal response? The instant "no" or "but" that arises often points to a limiting belief.
Examine your explanations. How do you explain your wellness successes and setbacks to yourself? Beliefs like "I just got lucky" or "I’m just not disciplined enough" can signal that you have some limiting beliefs around your capabilities.
Investigate your comparisons. Do you often compare yourself to others and come up short? Thoughts like "She can maintain her exercise routine while working from home because she doesn't have the responsibilities that I do," are a good indicator of a limiting belief.
Consider your family narratives. Many limiting beliefs are inherited from our families. Did you grow up hearing phrases like "People in our family just have bad metabolism," or "We’re not athletic people"? These family stories often become our personal limitations and prohibit us from seeing ourselves as anything other than those perceived truths.
The key to identifying your limiting beliefs is all about the awareness itself.
Once you can see those invisible walls you’ve built around your potential, it’s like you can’t un-see it.
This awareness makes the choice to walk through them—or to tear them down completely—much easier.
As you begin recognizing these thought patterns, remember: a limiting belief is not a life sentence.
It’s simply a thought you’ve had so many times that it feels like the truth. And any thought, with awareness, care, and intention, can be changed.
Uncovering Your Current Mindset: The Stories We Tell Ourselves
To create meaningful change, we first need to identify the stories currently shaping our reality.
Grab your journal or open up a fresh note on your phone or computer, and answer these reflections:
Name one health or wellness goal where you feel stuck or uncertain.
What belief do you currently hold about this goal or challenge? For example: "I never have enough energy to exercise after work calls," or "Healthy eating is expensive and takes too much time.”
Where did this belief come from? Was it something you learned from past experiences? From others?
Does this belief feel true, or just familiar?
What evidence do you have that challenges this belief? For instance, maybe there have been days when you found energy for a quick workout after a few meetings, or times when you prepared a simple, cost-effective, healthy meal in just minutes.
How can you rewrite this belief to empower you rather than limit you? Instead of "I never have energy to exercise," perhaps "I’m learning to identify my natural energy peaks during my workday and use them strategically."
The goal here isn’t to force positivity. It’s to examine whether your current beliefs serve you, or if they create unnecessary limitations.
The Truth About Momentum
Here’s a truth that many wellness programs and practitioners don’t emphasize enough: momentum doesn’t create action—action creates momentum.
We often wait to "feel motivated" before starting, but the secret is that motivation usually follows action, not the other way around. Those first small steps—even when they feel insignificant—are actually the building blocks of lasting change.
For my clients who work from home, I recommend starting with tiny actions that fit seamlessly into your day:
A 30-second stretch at your desk between calls
Drinking a glass of water before checking email
Taking three deep breaths before responding to a stressful message
Preparing a healthy snack during a work break
Each of these small wins sends a powerful message to your brain: "I am someone who takes action toward my health goals." Over time, these micro-successes stack up, creating both psychological and physical momentum.
Your Mindset Is Your Reality
As you move forward on your wellness journey, remember:
The dialogue happening in your mind is always actively shaping your experience of reality.
Every thought you have either expands or limits what you believe is possible for yourself.
The good news?
You get to choose which thoughts you nurture and which ones you release.
It’s not about achieving perfection in your thinking or your habits. It’s about bringing awareness to how your thoughts influence your actions, and gradually steering both in a direction that serves your deepest wellbeing.
Working from home presents unique challenges—and unique opportunities—for nurturing a mindset that supports your health. The flexibility of your environment ultimately means you have more control than you might realize over creating a space conducive to your wellness and a routine that honors your unique needs, goals, and desires.
If you’re ready to transform your mindset and create lasting change in your health and wellbeing, I’d love to help you identify and release the limiting beliefs holding you back.
Book a free, 20-minute discovery call to explore how wellness coaching can help you not just change your thoughts, but also change your reality.
