When was the last time you considered new possibilities for yourself? When you did this, did you get stuck in the familiar thought of, “I can’t do that” or “That’s too hard, what’s easier?”

I’ve been there. I spent years in the same thoughts until I knew I had to make a change if I wanted a life that served the true me. To do this I made a conscious effort to identify what I value in life, created a vision, and tuned into my thoughts to uncover limiting beliefs.

Why do you need to know what you value? Your values align you with what lights you up in life. With the noise, constant distractions, and the long to-do lists, we can forget to stop to observe what we actually like in our lives.

Take two minutes – set a timer – and write down 10 things you value in your life today. To help, below are a list of values to get you started. If you think of something that isn’t on this list, write it down along with the ones that pop out to you on this list.

Now that you’ve identified your top 10 values, what does this mean? Your values act as guidance. For example, if you are considering a new career opportunity that has you traveling more than 20% of the time and one of your values is family, that opportunity may not be the best one for you unless there’s an option to bring your family with you while you travel.

What type of vision do you have for your life? Do you like to travel? Do you have kids and have things you want to provide for them? How do you want to give back to world? Is there a charitable cause you care about? What knowledge and experience do you have right now that you could share with someone to help them?

A vision doesn’t have rules. Journal it, draw it, cut pictures out of magazines, print pictures from the internet, or go fully digital and create your vision in an online doc or app like Pinterest. Your goal here is to get your vision out of your head and out to where you can see it – give it depth, texture, and tangibility.

At this stage, take a moment to celebrate your work – collecting your values and creating a vision. Reflect on how much you’ve done in your life. Thank you for being the one and only you.

When you look at your vision, did you hold back on adding things to it or are there things on there that scare you? Why? What beliefs do you hold about yourself today that aren’t serving you, your values, or your vision?

Years ago I went through this same exercise as I was changing careers. I wrote down what type of environment I wanted to work in, what I wanted to wear, who I wanted to work alongside, what type of things I’d be doing, what I wanted to feel, etc. One of the things I had identified was that I wanted a role where I could dress up some days and dress casually other days. I came up with this because I came from a role where there were restrictions on a casual dress code.

Recently I was getting ready for work and I really wanted to wear jeans. It is completely normal for people to wear jeans at the tech company I work for. However, it was the middle of the week and I kept telling myself I had to dress up. I caught myself and laughed! I had created a vision of what I wanted years ago and, over time, had created new beliefs of what I could and couldn’t do! I ditched the dress and heels for jeans and felt so much freedom in that moment. This is a very simple example of how we come up with beliefs that limit ourselves.

My question for you, as you’re considering your beliefs is – which ones serve you? Which ones align with your values and the vision you have for your life? Let go of the ones that don’t serve you.

How do you let go of limiting beliefs? Keep your focus on the beliefs that serve you. When the ones that don’t serve you pop up, notice them and work on changing your mind about them.

For example, if one of your values is to travel and you keep telling yourself you can’t possibly take a vacation, why are you telling yourself this? Start telling yourself that you are worthy of a vacation and it will happen. I recommend picking a date – right now, I’m not kidding. This is your life and you get to create how you design it.

To overcome your limiting beliefs, identify your values, create a vision, and tune into your thoughts. I can’t wait to see what your new beliefs about yourself are!

© Chelsea Behrens