2. Make a list of your perspective of yourself and be honest.           

           - Put those thoughts to paper

           - Be as honest with yourself as possible.

           - It might hurt or be hard to write them down but remember you are already thinking of them. I        Imagine what that does to you on a daily basis

EXAMPLE: I am not a runner and will never be. I won’t be able to do races. I can only walk, ride a bike or other forms of exercise that don’t involve running.

3. Analyze the source of the perspectives

           - What experiences led you to think that way about yourself?

           - Are their people in your life or where they people in your life that have encouraged or fed into        these beliefs?

           - Ask yourself is that really true?

EXAMPLE: When I was 19, I had knee surgery on both of my knees. My doctor told me I would never be able to run for long distances or skate again. He was the doctor for the New York Knicks so I took his words to heart for years.

4. Envision yourself in a different light.

           - What if you didn’t have those limits?

           - What would it be like to be able to do anything?

EXAMPLE: What could I accomplish if I was able to run? Maybe I could do a Spartan race or a 5k? How would I feel to be able to complete something like that?

5. Consider other’s perspectives.

           - Others often see the positives about us that we are sometimes blind to. Take a step back           and consider that what they are saying can be true or already is.

EXAMPLE: Ray, my husband, kept telling me I could probably strengthen my knees to get to a point where I could run.

6. Educate yourself and seek our help.

           - Do some research. We sometimes feel very alone in what we are dealing with. Yet, the odds       of someone having a similar issue are high and you can usually find someone that has             overcome it.

           - Talk to others in the same position or people that understand.

EXAMPLE: There are a million people who have the same knee condition I have. And many of them are able to run. I also talked to several doctors that told me it was 100% possible for me to be able to run for long distances.

7. Reformat your thinking.

           - Give yourself permission to see the positive perspective.

           - Lay out your plan as though you don’t have that limit anymore.

EXAMPLE: I decided to run Spartan races. Having not run for years, I didn’t particularly care for it…so I figured Spartan races were a good combination of running and strength.

8. Put your new perspective into action.

           - Start telling yourself the new and improved belief each day

           - Be aware if you are slipping into old beliefs

EXAMPLE: I ran the Spartan Beast, which is 13+ miles plus 25+ obstacles. I also found several exercises to do to strength my knees and have been doing them since I discovered a few years ago.

Our perspectives are often based on old data, experiences, beliefs etc and they can change if we give ourselves permission to. I still don’t consider myself a “runner” because I don’t like it (which is in itself a limiting perspective) but I now run. I broke through the thought that I would never be able to do that. Now I just have to work on telling myself that I enjoy it! =) 

What limiting perspective will you break through???

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