Limiting Beliefs

Assuming Failure

There is a point in every yoga class where I look at the students, and I can tell they are starting to doubt themselves.

The class is starting to get hard, and they want to quit.

But if they can push past that one thought. That one moment. They will get past the hardest part of a class and see that they can finish and finish strong.

Last night the self-doubt and lack of faith were palpable. All of the women seemed tired, and I felt prompted to encourage them to notice any of the limiting beliefs in their heads and let go of them. The class finished strong and I made sure to prompt a few expressions of each pose so everyone had an option- because everyone was at a different level.

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Later that night, I went over to my friend’s house for dinner. I was telling her about work lately and about how often I doubt myself and get stuck. She laughed and repeated to me my own words and said, “Blair, you have to let go of those limiting beliefs.” She was making fun of me but also encouraging me to take my own advice.

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Today as I sat down to work, I realized I consistently get to a point with work where things get scary. I don’t feel equipped to do a certain project, or I am scared not a single journalist will be interested in the stories I pitch (I do PR for a company), so then I freeze. I couldn’t understand for a while why I would get hesitant to send out pitches, but now it is so clear that it is a fear of failure.

I think this same fear of failure that can happen to us at work can show up in our workouts, and I think that is what’s happening when I watch yoga students want to quit. They think they can’t finish the class. But they can. They might have to make adjustments and sit in Childs pose for a moment, but they can finish.

We might have to sit in a child pose with work and life, take a walk, take a break, call on a co-worker or friend, but we can finish strong. We can keep moving forward through the hard parts when we can actually call out what is going on- a fear of failure or assuming failure before failure has even happened.

Where are you stopping yourself from going after what you want or even just doing your job?

What are your limiting beliefs?

This was written in 2021*