The crocodile attack claiming the most lives occurred during the Battle of Ramree on
February 19, 1945, in what is now Burma. 900 Imperial Japanese soldiers, in an attempt to retreat from the Royal Navy and rejoin a larger battalion of Japanese Infantry, were forced to cross 10 miles of mangrove swamps containing thousands of crocodiles. By the next morning, of the original 900, only 19 succeeded. We each have mental swamplands to cross on the road to success, each equipped with crocodiles lurking in the form of self limiting beliefs. Self limiting beliefs, like hungry lurking crocodiles, can and will eat you alive on the pursuit of success—if you let them!
Our greatest challenges to success will always be the ones we create in our minds. As an exercise finish these statements: “Never at talk to ________.” “Don’t ask so many _______.” “Always eat your ________.”.“Always wear clean ________.” “Keep your elbows off the ________.” “Don’t make me pull this ________ over!” *(*A personal favorite after the recent family road trip.)
How were we able to finish each statement? We have heard these multiple times since childhood; although harmless, they can become beliefs that condition how we act and live. When do they become destructive? When they limit our ability to reach our full potential, which is what defines a self limiting belief. For example, if you have allowed certain assumptions or perspectives to keep you from reaching a specific goal, such as: I’m not good enough; I may never be able to succeed; other people are better than me; I’m probably going to fail; etc.
All beliefs, even the destructive and self limiting ones, are executed by the subconscious mind. This is both the strength and the Achilles heel of the subconscious mind; because while it’s able to automatically carry out complex tasks, it cannot distinguish between beliefs that serve you and those that don’t. It is up to you to become conscious of your limiting beliefs and learn to overcome them by consciously reprogramming your subconscious mind.
An entire society or company (including the company you work for) can collaboratively be influenced by self limiting beliefs. For example, prior to May 6th, 1954, everyone in sports believed it was impossible to run a mile under 4 minutes. And because everyone believed it, it was true – no one was able to break this record. But there was one athlete willing to go against the grain; Roger Bannister believed he COULD break the 4 minute mile. Even more amazingly within one year of Bannister completing the mile in 3:59, nearly every professional runner had broken the 4 minute mile. Why? They now believed it was possible because Bannister had proved it.
Your company can and will become the leader in the industry. Do you have any self-limiting beliefs getting in the way of believing this statement? It comes down to the crocodiles we allow to harbor in the five inches between our ears. Don’t let those crocodiles stand between you and success.
Stay tuned as next coming weeks I will be discussing ways I believe we can overcome self limiting beliefs.
How we think is so important. In junior high school I remember placing well in a cross-country run and after finishing the race reflecting on how I was just running. I was not running to win. Had I thought that I could win, I might have run to win, not just to run.
We need to approach life this way. This doesn’t mean that we will come first in every race, but we will certainly approach our full potential and enjoy living a wholehearted life.
Whatever our hands find to do we should learn to do it with all of your heart.
Hi William, thanks for sharing your personal experience. Shoot for the stars, if you miss you might land on the moon! Best, Sean