Setting the Expiration Date on Beliefs

I was never picked first at gym class and before you feel bad about this you should know that I was totally hiding in the mass of awkward 7th-grade girls praying to not get picked. From this very early experience a belief was born:

I’m not athletic.

This statement may have been true at that moment but it’s more than that. It became a belief that I am not, I never will be, I couldn’t be and that’s where things start to spoil. It’s a belief that needs an expiration date.

I like the idea of 2020 being the year that more people identify the expiration dates on the beliefs that aren’t serving them. To that end, I’d like to invite you to finish this statement mad-libs style in your journal.

I could never ____________________ because _______________________________.

Now directly above the because part of the fill in the blank – like you’d see on a can of soup – put the expiration date. You can put the date to yesterday, last year, the year you started to believe it or in March. Simply recognizing it as something that expires will help you take the next step: Rewrite.

How it might look:

I could never run a marathon because I’m not a runner.

I could never get that promotion because I don’t make that big of a difference.

I could never travel across Europe because I can’t speak other languages.

I could never wear shorts because my legs look terrible.

I could never start my own business because I wouldn’t know where to start.

I could never have an 8 figure year because I’m not good at delegating.

You just might have a few of your own.

So when’s the expiration date set for? How long do you carry that belief around well past it’s time of protecting you?