The tricky thing about limiting beliefs is that you DON´T KNOW they´re just your belief. You can see something as a reality and not question if it´s true or if it´s just your limited perspective on the situation. Sometimes, you reveal the truth only in confrontation with others. And maybe the sudden realization can hit you like a brick in the head as has happened to me 😂
The shocking story about my limiting beliefs 🙂
When I was in Florence for the first time, my friend showed me a fountain with a metal wild boar. “Put a coin into the boar’s jaws! If it falls through the grating, you will return to Florence. Come and try that!” she asked me with an excited smile. I politely smiled back but I wasn´t excited at all. Actually, I was quite anxious by the thought that it could go wrong and I wouldn´t return. And it would break my heart because I fell in love with this city at first sight. I was lucky, the coin fell into the right place. I could almost hear the big stone falling off my shoulders: I can come here again!
And this could be the end of the story BUT… A few years later, I visited Florence with my youngest daughter (she was 15 back then). I showed her the fountain, told the story, and asked her to try. Here´s her answer:
I´m not going to do that. I like this city so I´ll return. I can decide myself, I don´t need to ask permission from a stupid pig!
I was shocked!
Not because of the answer – she made valid points. I was shocked by the realization that back then when I was asked to do that, the idea of refusing what I actually didn´t want to do didn´t even pop up in my mind!
For me, it was just a matter of fact that I must do what I was asked to do and that´s it, like it or not. This people-pleaser mentality was imprinted in me so deeply and I didn´t even realize that! The victim mode I was in, just complaining about what was happening to me without even thinking about speaking up or changing the situation…
And another revelation: I don´t need to take the story so seriously, this is just for having fun! The excitement and curiosity, the adventure of taking the test and feeling the thrill for a second until the coin falls down. This fun game DOESN´T DETERMINE my future! It is my decision if I come back or not! Why was I so scared? Why did I believe I had no power over my destiny?
And the revelations of limiting beliefs continue…
I thought I learned the lesson so I wanted to record a video about my insight in front of the fountain. While I was waiting until the group of tourists finished their explorations with the boar I experienced another shock as I overheard someone say “Oh, what a pity… (obviously the coin didn´t hit the right place). Try again!”
WHAT??? You are allowed to give it another try? Why did I expect I had only one fatal attempt? The idea of the second (or even third) try didn´t even pop up into my limited mind… Can you see how these limiting beliefs caused all this unnecessary pain?
This is still not the end of the story…
I decided to write down this experience so I used Google to find the original story about the fountain. Guess what I found out?!
“Visitors to Il Porcellino put a coin into the boar’s gaping jaws, with the intent to let it fall through the underlying grating for good luck, and they rub the boar’s snout to ensure a return to Florence, a tradition that the Scottish literary traveler Tobias Smollett already noted in 1766…”
WHAAAAT???? So that moment of pure terror I had experienced was absolutely unnecessary because to return to Florence, it was enough just to rub the boar’s snout!
Can you see at how many levels I limited myself without even recognizing it? In this example, there weren´t any consequences, it was just a banal and unimportant thing. But how many important decisions have I made (or not made) because I believed I had no choice??
What are your limiting beliefs?
Where have you sabotage yourself subconsciously because of what you believed about yourself or your life circumstances? How did you get the big revelation? Let me know in the comments 🙂
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