Breaking the Invisible Barrier: How Limiting Beliefs stop Business Growth and Drain Your Energy
We hear about limiting beliefs all the time in professional and self-development spaces, but what are they really? In business, strategy, funding, and execution are often seen as the key pillars of success. But beneath all of that lies a quieter, more telling force, one that often goes unnoticed yet holds incredible sway over outcomes: limiting beliefs.
These internal narratives act like invisible fences. You don’t see them, but you feel their boundaries every time you try to scale, innovate, or take a risk. Left unchallenged, they can quietly sabotage your business potential and drain your personal energy in the process.
What Are Limiting Beliefs?
Limiting beliefs are subconscious thoughts or assumptions that we accept as truth, which hold us back in some way. They often sound like:
“I’m not a natural leader.”
“I have to do everything myself if I want it done right.”
“I’m not ready to scale.”
“Asking for help is a sign of weakness.”
“People won’t pay more for what I offer.”
While these may seem harmless or even practical on the surface, they form the mental ceiling that defines how far you believe you can go. And in business, that ceiling often becomes your company’s ceiling too.
How They Impact Business Growth
Decision Paralysis
When you’re stuck in a belief like “I might fail if I try something new,” it’s nearly impossible to take bold steps. You hesitate, overthink, and delay decisions that could lead to major breakthroughs.Self-Sabotage in Scaling
Many founders struggle with delegation, believing, “No one can do it as well as I can.” This creates bottlenecks and prevents the business from growing beyond the founder’s personal bandwidth.Underpricing and Undervaluing Offers
Beliefs around worthiness and value often show up in pricing. If you believe your product or service isn’t worth a premium, neither will your clients.Avoidance of Visibility
A belief like “I’m not good on camera” or “I’m not an expert yet” stops many business owners from marketing effectively, avoiding videos, podcasts, or speaking engagements - opportunities that could exponentially grow their reach.
How They Drain Your Energy
Every time you act against your own potential, there’s a kind of friction that builds up. You work harder than you need to, say “yes” when you want to say “no,” and carry a mental load of fear, doubt, and impostor syndrome.
This constant inner battle isn’t just emotionally taxing, it’s physically exhausting. Entrepreneurs often find themselves burned out, not because they’re doing too much, but because they’re doing it under the weight of beliefs that say, “You’re not doing enough,” or “You’re doing it wrong.”
Identifying Your Limiting Beliefs
The first step is awareness. Ask yourself:
What thoughts immediately come up when I think about growing my business?
Where am I holding back, and why?
What am I afraid might happen if I take the next big step?
You can also look for patterns: Are you constantly underpricing? Avoiding visibility? Resisting help? There’s likely a belief underneath each behavior.
Reframing and Releasing
Once you’ve identified a limiting belief, there’s two ways to work with it. Sometimes it requires nervous system regulation, sometimes it requires mindset shifts.
When it’s time to challenge it, mindset work may serve the best. When it’s time to resource yourself, somatic or embodiment work may help shift/change.
As a mindset practice, you can start with:
Questioning Its Truth: Is this belief objectively true? Or is it something you learned or assumed based on past experiences?
Finding Evidence Against It: Look for moments when the opposite was true. Did you not fail the last time you took a risk? Has someone on your team actually handled things really well?
Replacing It: Create a new, empowering belief that aligns with your goals. For example, change “I have to do it all myself” to “I’m building a strong team that can support our growth.”
Your Business Will Grow to the Extent That You Do
At the heart of it, business growth is deeply personal. You can’t grow a company past the limits of your own self-concept. The more you challenge your internal barriers, the more freedom, energy, and success you’ll find on the other side.
Start small. Pick one belief that’s holding you back and rework it today. Your business and your future self, will thank you.