The Role of Beliefs in Personal Growth
- Apr 29
- 6 min read
“Your beliefs become your thoughts,Your thoughts become your words,Your words become your actions,Your actions become your habits,Your habits become your values,Your values become your destiny.”— Gandhi
Beliefs shape our lives in ways we often don’t fully realize. They influence our thoughts, emotions, and actions, playing a central role in personal growth. When I set out to become the person I aspired to be, I tackled many areas: meditation, forgiveness, self-love, intention setting, and aligning my actions with my core values. But one of the most profound shifts came when I started identifying and releasing beliefs that no longer served me.
Why Should We Care About Beliefs?
Beliefs—both conscious and unconscious—have a far stronger impact on our lives than we might acknowledge. Negative beliefs, in particular, can be deeply ingrained and uncompromising. If you believe something is impossible, you are unlikely to even attempt it. Dr. Bruce Lipton, a renowned cell biologist, suggests that our beliefs influence not just our thoughts and actions but even our biology. He argues that our genes are not solely in control of our destiny—our beliefs can shape our physical reality.
Neuroscience estimates that our conscious mind is in control only about 5% of the time, while the subconscious mind governs the remaining 95%. That means the beliefs we hold at a subconscious level—many of which were formed in childhood—are constantly shaping our experiences, often without us realizing it.
If your subconscious belief contradicts your conscious desire, which do you think will win? You can repeat affirmations like I am lovable or I am financially abundant, but if your subconscious mind holds onto beliefs of unworthiness or scarcity, those old patterns will continue to direct your life.
Where do these deep-seated beliefs come from? Lipton suggests that they originate in childhood, shaped by our environment and the messages we absorb from caregivers, teachers, and society. But they may also stem from inherited family patterns, past-life experiences, or even the essence of our soul’s journey. Regardless of their origins, the key is recognizing and releasing the beliefs that are holding us back.
The Power of Beliefs Over the Body and Mind
To understand how beliefs influence our reality, consider how cells function. When single-celled organisms communicate, they release signals into their environment to coordinate behavior. In the same way, when cells come together to form a multi-cellular organism, they must receive guidance from a central command.
In humans, that command center is the mind. Initially, cells respond to their immediate environment or area of the body. But if the mind—driven by deeply rooted beliefs—sends contradictory messages, the body will follow the mind’s lead, akin to being over-ruled by upper management. This explains why stress, fear, and limiting beliefs can have a tangible impact on our health and well-being.
Positive vs. Negative Beliefs: How Do They Serve Us?
Not all beliefs need to be changed. Positive beliefs support us and reinforce confidence, resilience, and success. It’s easy to see how beliefs about hard work and resilience inherited from our ancestors have contributed to our survival. Since they work in our favor, we rarely need to analyze them. However, when a belief leads to an adverse impact, it’s worth examining how it has been serving us. In some cases, positive or negative remains a subjective label and the real quest is to discover how a belief might be holding us back from those things our conscious mind claims to want, such as love, financial security and connection with others.
Even limiting beliefs have a purpose. Beneath the conscious veneer there is usually an undercurrent of solving a problem, or righting a wrong. Perhaps this belief once protected us from rejection, failure, or disappointment. Understanding their historic role allows us to acknowledge them, bring them from the subconscious to the conscious, and begin the process of letting them go. This can be accomplished by thinking hard about the answers to some simple questions. The goal is not to judge our beliefs but to become aware of them and decide whether they align with who we want to be.
How to Identify Beliefs That No Longer Serve You
If you are new to belief work, you might be surprised by how powerful these hidden scripts are. The first step is awareness. Pay attention to recurring patterns in your life and the internal dialogue that accompanies them. We may fear abandonment, pain or injury and the subconscious believes it is protecting us from those results. Notice especially those times when a conversation or confrontation triggers you out of proportion to what the situation actually requires. You will have some glaring clues to an underlying belief, something that might be keeping you stuck in a survival mode. Try to remain as detached as possible.
Once you identify a limiting belief, ask yourself:
How has this belief been serving me?
Is it still protecting me, or is it holding me back?
What would my life look like if I no longer believed this?
Techniques for Shifting Conscious Beliefs
Some beliefs can be shifted through simple mindset work. Affirmations, visualization, and intentionally exposing yourself to new evidence that contradicts an old belief can be highly effective. If you’ve always believed you’re bad with money, for example, start keeping track of the ways you are financially responsible. Even small wins can begin rewriting the story in your subconscious mind.
Another technique is reframing. Instead of saying, I always fail at relationships, shift the narrative to I have learned valuable lessons that are helping me build healthier connections. This subtle change can have an impact on your self-perception. Bringing them to the attention of the conscious mind is the first step.
When Beliefs Don’t Easily Shift
Some beliefs are deeply ingrained and don’t change with simple affirmations. For me, shifting beliefs around money and worthiness took far longer than expected. I would think I had transformed a belief, only for it to show up again in a different situation. It became clear that the belief wasn’t just on the surface—it was rooted deep in my subconscious.
For these stubborn beliefs, more advanced methods may be necessary. Hypnosis, whether guided by a practitioner or through self-hypnosis, can help access the subconscious mind and rewire limiting beliefs. Theta Healing, a powerful energy healing technique, is another method that helps replace outdated subconscious programming with beliefs that support growth and empowerment.
The Importance of Choosing Your Beliefs
Beliefs are often reinforced by the people around us. Others’ opinions can shape how we see ourselves—sometimes in ways we don’t even notice.
For example, years ago, my husband casually mentioned that I wasn’t good with plants. It wasn’t something I had ever considered, but from that moment on, I avoided caring for plants, convinced I would fail. After we separated, I started questioning many of the beliefs I had adopted about myself. Was I actually bad with plants, or had I simply absorbed someone else’s perspective? I decided to challenge that belief. I bought several plants, named them, and learned how to care for them. To my surprise, they thrived—and so did my confidence in my ability to nurture them.
The takeaway? Be mindful of how others define you, and don’t internalize their labels as your truth. You can start to choose what you believe about yourself.
Curiosity: A Tool for Releasing Judgment
One of the most powerful ways to shift beliefs is to approach them with curiosity instead of judgment.
Rather than criticizing yourself for holding a limiting belief, get curious about it:
Where did this belief come from?
How has it shaped my experiences?
What might be possible if I let it go?
Curiosity creates openness. When you replace judgment with inquiry, you invite transformation. Instead of seeing beliefs as obstacles, view them as opportunities for growth.
Final Thoughts
Beliefs are not just one aspect of personal growth—they are the foundation. They shape our reality in ways both subtle and profound. Recognizing, questioning, and transforming our beliefs is one of the most empowering things we can do.
If you’re on a journey of self-discovery, start paying attention to the beliefs that guide your life. The ones that lift you up? Nurture them. The ones that hold you back? Challenge them.
Your mind is powerful. Your beliefs create your reality. Choose wisely.
When you are ready to let go of the beliefs that are not serving you and replace them with empowering ones, sign up for a free 30-min session with me to brainstorm your journey to becoming your best self!
Bibliography:
“The Biology of Belief”, by Bruce Lipton, MD
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