Life as we know it is all about limits. There are coupon limits, speed limits, and even weight limits. Our world is so inundated with putting restrictions on what we can and cannot do, that too often this trickles over into other aspects of our lives. I’m not saying that all limits are a bad thing; but what I am saying, is that too many times we place limits on ourselves that prohibit us from living the life we were meant to have.
How many times have we said, “Oh I can’t do that,” and it never fails that our neurological design goes into overdrive to prove our theory correct. We put that limitation on ourselves, and our brain starts programming the rest of the results to ensure that what we say becomes truth. It is almost as if that magic genie in a bottle says, “You say you cannot do this; your wish is my command.” What we find is that we cannot accomplish what we already told ourselves was impossible.
Now, I want you to rethink your ideology on this subject. What if you were to replace the word “can’t” with “can”? What do you think would happen? Well, first you must believe that you can actually be successful and rid yourself of what we touched upon in the last article – that four-letter word fear. I am a firm believer that limited thinking leads to limited lives.
I want you to think about any historical figure who has achieved greatness. You may have thought about Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and Martin Luther King Jr.; no matter who you thought about, the one common denominator for any of these individuals boils down to the way they think. Their outlook on life is what made the difference in their own life, let alone the millions of others they were able to impact.
Yet going back to the limits we place in life, I find that what separates an individual from achieving success and abundance, versus a life of lacking the basic necessities, comes down to their mentality. As children, we were all familiar with the Little Engine Who Could and the key concept was, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” This is a great children’s story that seemingly gets left behind as we mature into adults.
As a child, we are taught to believe we can do great things, which is a life with no limits; but the older we get, the realities of life become known to us. You know what I mean – the ones that suggest a poor boy from the country cannot grow up to lead a country, or that a shy teenager cannot blossom into a public official with the ability to lead an entire state. The world around us is filled with such negativity, but then I am reminded of the phrase “thinking outside the box.”
That phrase is one that has been around forever, yet I believe is the most misunderstood sentence in our society. When we think outside the box, we are no longer thinking about those things that confine us to thinking inside the box. We take the limitations that society has put on us, and we break through those limitations. Yet we hear this phrase very sparingly to suggest that only a few are able to break the limits life has put on them. We put a limit on speaking about people breaking limits.
If this sounds like you, then welcome to a new level of achievement. You cannot solve an issue until you know what the problem is. If you are guilty of placing limitations on your life, this is the first step in breaking out of the box. This is how you go from having a good life to having a GREAT life.
What limitations are you restricting yourself with today? Maybe you’re restricting God and placing limits on Him. What if the miracles He has waiting for your life are being blocked because you are limiting Him and yourself? Find it hard to believe? People are guilty of this every day.
We have all seen the person who has everything going for them but for whatever reason, they just cannot get out of their own way. They become their own worst nightmare, preventing themselves from obtaining abundance in their life. Maybe this is you. I dare you to take the limitations off your thinking and enjoy the unlimited potential of everything life has to offer.
By: D. A. Slinkard
D.A. Slinkard is the manager of the Athens Staples store
