Why Limiting Beliefs Don’t Exist – And What’s Actually Holding You Back

You’ve probably heard it before: “You have limiting beliefs.”

The self-help world is obsessed with the idea that these invisible mental barriers are what’s keeping you from success, wealth, love, or happiness. The solution? “Rewrite” them, “crush” them, or “release” them.

But what if I told you that limiting beliefs don’t actually exist?

What if the thing that’s stopping you isn’t some subconscious script that needs rewriting—but rather a misunderstanding of how your mind truly works?

This isn’t just a feel-good concept. It’s a principle rooted in reality, particularly in the work of Dr. John Demartini, whose methods reveal a deeper truth: You don’t have limiting beliefs—what you actually have is an imbalanced perception of reality.

The Myth of the Limiting Belief

People often assume they have a “limiting belief” when they repeatedly hit the same obstacles.

• “I’m not good enough”
  
• “I’ll never make enough money”
  
• “I can’t have a successful business and a fulfilling personal life”

It seems logical to think these beliefs are “limiting” you. But in reality, they aren’t limits—they are one-sided perceptions that your brain is holding onto because you haven’t yet balanced the equation.

Every Belief Serves a Purpose

Your mind is always seeking equilibrium—a perfect balance between support and challenge, pleasure and pain, order and chaos.

What we call a “limiting belief” is just an imbalanced perspective that hasn’t been fully explored.

For example:

• If you believe “I’m not good enough to succeed,” your brain is focusing on evidence that supports that statement while ignoring the equal and opposite evidence that proves you are more than capable
  
• If you believe “I’ll never make enough money,” it’s because you haven’t yet identified how your current financial reality is actually serving you (to get what you want) in ways you don’t yet recognize

Your so-called “limiting belief” is actually serving a function—it’s maintaining a balance in your life that you haven’t consciously acknowledged.

Perceived “limiting beliefs” are actually helping you be, do, and have the things that are most important to you, and I prove it with my clients in sessions all the time.

Let’s take an example: Someone says, “I can’t charge higher prices for my services because people won’t pay.”

If this individual were my client, I’d go to the moments where they perceived this, and we’d find the benefits to the client in those moments in terms of their highest values.

In other words, for a client who values business, we’d find how my client got more business as a result.

Sounds counter-intuitive, and it is.

But when you balance your perception, you no longer need to “fix” your limiting beliefs—because they dissolve on their own.

And you empower yourself in more ways than you know.

So if “limiting beliefs” aren’t limiting you, what’s actually holding you back? The answer to that: Imbalanced Perceptions.

The Root of “Limiting Beliefs”: Imbalanced Perceptions

At the core of every so-called “limiting belief” is an imbalanced perception—a way of seeing reality that focuses on one side of the equation while ignoring the other.

Your brain is constantly filtering information, prioritizing what aligns with your values while distorting, deleting, or ignoring what doesn’t. When you experience a challenge, failure, or setback, your mind might lock onto the negatives—the pain, struggle, or perceived lack—while tuning out the equal and opposite benefits that are happening simultaneously.

How Imbalanced Perceptions Create the Illusion of Limits

Imagine someone who believes:

• “I’m not good at business”
  
• “I always fail in relationships”
  
• “I’m just not smart enough”

These beliefs seem real because the person’s perception is lopsided—they are seeing all the evidence that supports their belief while being blind to the ways they are succeeding in those areas.

Because they’re only seeing what went wrong, they believe the problem is an inherent limitation—when in reality, it’s just an incomplete perception.

The Brain’s Hidden Agenda: Why It Keeps Perceptions Imbalanced

Why does the brain do this? Because every imbalanced perception serves a purpose in maintaining your highest values.

The problem isn’t that you have a limiting belief—it’s that you’re unconscious of the benefits your perception is creating for you.

How to Balance Perception and Dissolve the Illusion of Limitation

When you find the hidden benefits of what you’ve been resisting and the drawbacks of what you’ve been idealizing, your perception naturally balances.

And when your perception is balanced, the belief dissolves—because you see it was never a limitation to begin with.

How This Applies to “Not Enoughness” and “Incapability”

Let’s take beliefs like:

• “I’m not enough”
  
• “I’m incapable”

Both of these are nominalizations—labels that make a process seem like a fixed identity. But when you denominalize, meaning you turn that label back into the actions that created it, the illusion disappears.

For example:

• If you think “I’m incapable,” ask: What specific actions did I take that led me to label myself this way?

Next, find the benefits of those actions.

• How did doing that action in that moment serve you in that moment?
• How did doing that action in that moment serve you from that moment to today?
• How did it support you in achieving what you want based on what you value most?

When you see that every action you took—no matter how “incapable” you felt—was actually moving you forward, the “limiting belief” dissolves on its own.

True Growth Comes From Integration, Not Eradication

Most of personal development tries to get you to “overwrite” or “release” your beliefs, as if your brain is a broken software program that needs a new script.

But transformation doesn’t come from “removing” old beliefs—it comes from integrating both sides of the truth.

A “limiting belief” is nothing more than an imbalanced perspective. Instead of fighting it, find the other side of the equation. The moment you do, the “limiting belief” loses its power—because you’ve seen the full picture.

And when you operate from a fully balanced perspective, there’s nothing left to hold you back.

So stop chasing “limiting beliefs.” Start balancing your perceptions—and watch your life transform.

Would you like my assistance in addressing so-called “limiting beliefs” by balancing your perceptions?

If so, schedule a diagnostic call now by clicking this link.