238. Limiting Beliefs vs Capability

Have you ever told yourself "I can't do this" based solely on past failures? That moment when your mind convinces you something is impossible despite how much stronger, smarter, or more capable you've become?

During a recent Strive Elite workout, I witnessed a member reach her breaking point while attempting an exercise she believed was beyond her capabilities. Tears welled up as she repeatedly told herself she couldn't do it. What followed was a powerful lesson about how our limiting beliefs—often based on outdated experiences—can create artificial barriers to our potential.

The breakthrough came from a simple pattern interrupt: standing up, taking a breath, and listening with fresh perspective. After resetting her mindset, this member not only completed the exercise but performed three full sets. The limitation existed solely in her mind, not her physical capabilities.

Sometimes we need to borrow belief from others who see potential in us that we don't yet recognize. As a coach, I frequently tell my clients: "I'm not going to ask you to do anything I don't believe you can do." This external confidence can bridge the gap between self-doubt and self-belief until you prove it to yourself through action.

This principle applies universally. My entrepreneurial journey includes what I call my "graveyard of businesses"—failed ventures that could have reinforced the belief that success wasn't possible. Instead, I maintained that success was inevitable; it wasn't a question of if, but when. Strive 11 emerged after five years of ups and downs, demonstrating that persistence eventually overcomes temporary failure.

Whatever goal you're pursuing, remember that your past performance is not your permanent truth. Set mini-milestones, celebrate small wins, and be willing to step back up to the plate and swing again. Your breakthrough is waiting on the other side of that limiting belief.

Have you been holding yourself back based on outdated beliefs about your capabilities? Share your experience or ask questions in the comments—I read every one!

Chapters

• 0:00 The Elite Workout Breakthrough Moment
• 4:45 Borrowing Belief From Others
• 7:10 Lessons From Business Failures
• 10:15 Setting Mini Milestones For Success
• 13:20 Past Performance Is Not Permanent Truth

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:16

Yeah, it's mindset cafe. Today's give me another solo episode. I want to talk about something that happened this past weekend During one of our our strive elite workouts. Right, the elite workouts are for members that are doing the elite challenge. It's a level week challenge, but Something happened.

Speaker 1: 0:42

It made me realize that, you know, this is more common than not in my experience as a personal trainer, and it was something I felt that was important, because we all go through this at some point right, in one shape form or another, and that is the fact that just because you couldn't do something at a certain point doesn't mean you can't do it now. Right, you're working at things, you're getting better, you're getting stronger, right, and so your next attempt at it, you have that limiting belief from your previous experience with it that may hold you back, right? So this all stemmed from a conversation I had with a member. She was doing an exercise and she was getting really frustrated with herself because she was telling herself that she can't do it Right. I told her to do an exercise and I saw a tear starting to come up and I was like you can do it, you know. Push through, let's go. And she gave it one more attempt, you know, not even a full, really attempt to kind of just put her feet on the thing and, you know, just let her knees hit the ground and she already was defeated in her own mind. Right, she was going to do everything that she could to make it a, to make it true that she couldn't do it, because that's what she believed. And so I told her to stand up, right, and if you guys don't know from, you know these podcast episodes, I'm not a super rah, rah, you know, cuddly kind of you know person or trainer, or motivator, leader or anything like that. And so I told her to stand up and I was like, look, at the end of the day, I'm not going to make you do anything that you I don't believe you can do, right, because that does no good for anyone. Right, the things I'm going to have you do, I believe you can do them. Right, with my whole heart. Right, whether you're able to do it or not, it really dictates your effort put towards it.

Speaker 1: 2:48

And she was like I can't do this. And I was like, yes, you can, right, I just saw you do a few reps of it. You're telling yourself cause you can't do it, because you weren't able to do in the past. But how long ago was that Right? Just because we couldn't do something at a certain point doesn't mean you can't do it now. Like, think about how much stronger you've gotten, think about how much you put in and how much your body has changed. You're not the same person that attempted it back then, but you're telling yourself you can't do it because you weren't able to do it then. Right, I was like, just because you can't go at the same speed or finish as fast, as you know, the next person that doesn't matter, it is you versus you. Always in life. Right, yes, competition is good and and so forth. Like, don't be wrong, different topic but in the terms of personal growth and personal development, like it is you versus you. So the past event of you not achieving it is holding you back from achieving it now. Right, you can. You can tear up, you can cry or whatever. You're going to do this exercise. I know you can do it. I'm going to push you Right, and that's what I want to kind of talk about today is, you know, sometimes we have to have that breakthrough moment, right, and for this event that I'm referring to, the breakthrough moment was almost her standing up, right, that it gets her out of the current physical position that she's in and it takes her away from the situation for a second, which allows me to get the same message I was, you know, conveying to her while she was down in the plank and trying to do the the ab exercise.

Speaker 1: 4:40

So she stood up. Basically it's almost like a reset and then having her take a breath and listen to what I'm saying, right, allows it to sink in. So sometimes we need that breakthrough moment which is just stepping away for a second right. Go for a little walk, right, you know, change tasks for a second right. Get your mind off for a split second. Then you can start to break down that limiting belief and come back to it Right.

Speaker 1: 5:08

The other thing is, sometimes you have a coach, you have a mentor, you have a family member, a spouse, whatever the case may be who believes in you more than you believe in yourself. Right, and I can say that's even true for me in business. Right, fitness, the whole thing. Right, sometimes you have to borrow their belief in you until you prove to yourself that you can do it, and then you have your own self-belief right when someone else is telling you that they believe you can do it, they might see something that you don't see, and you're letting emotions become data, and that's not how it works. Emotions are emotions right. Facts are facts. That's not how it works. Emotions are emotions right, facts are facts. So the fact of the matter is your body has changed. Your emotion is telling you that I can't do it because I wasn't able to do it once.

Speaker 1: 6:04

Okay, well, let's take that thought process. You know and go. You know, to the extreme. As a baby, you weren't able to walk until you were right, and then you weren't able to run until you were right. Now, think about you know, growing up, you didn't know how to drive until you did. It's a skill that you built right. So that same thing applies to anything in life. Though, just because you couldn't lift a certain weight today doesn't mean in a year, after training for a year, that you won't be able to lift that same weight. No-transcript. So I think that it's just a huge thing that you know.

Speaker 1: 7:10

A lot of us experience, you know, even for myself. You know I'll shift gears from fitness right from business. I have a graveyard of businesses that didn't work right. That's just the name of the game of an entrepreneur, of being an entrepreneur, right, you, you try something. It doesn't work. And you know they say you can't fail if you don't give up. Well, sometimes it's not giving up, it's pivoting, right.

Speaker 1: 7:27

And some things, some events, even before Strive 11 was built, happened right With failed business partners, with, you know, failed investors and so forth. Each of those events could have stopped me, and let me set in my own mind and be like wow, this, you know it's not going to work. Like the next person is going to say the same thing, like it's. This is not for me. I can't do this. Or you just try again. Right, you can't hit a home run If you don't step back up to the plate. You strike out the first time, but it doesn't mean you're going to strike out every time you step up to the plate and you swing. You don't give it a half ass, swing and be like I'm going to strike out anyways, and just kind of half-ass. Well then, you're aligning yourself to strike out. Right, If you've already told yourself you're going to strike out, you're going to try to prove to yourself that that's what's going to happen, right?

Speaker 1: 8:26

How many times have we done that or have you done that right? You tell yourself you know something's not going to work and then, looking back on it, there was things you probably could have done, or you know you did that made it so that it didn't work, when, if you would have changed something or had a conversation with someone, it probably would have had a different outcome. Cause I know I'm guilty of that as well. Whether it's you're frustrated with something, whether you're just skeptical about it, whatever the case may be, we start to prove to ourselves that we're right in whatever we say. If you believe you can achieve something, then you can. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will happen.

Speaker 1: 9:12

That's why one of my favorite sayings is it's not a matter of if, it's just a matter of when. I always knew I was going to open a gym and always knew I was going to open a business. It wasn't a matter of if it was just a matter of when. I mean, strive 11, before it was built, was five years of ups and downs.

Speaker 1: 9:33

If you are dead set on achieving a goal, like I talked in the last episode, regardless of how you feel, you do it anyways right. You have to put in so much work and try so many times that it is undeniable it is inevitable for you to achieve success on whatever you're trying to achieve. That's just how life works. Very rare, it's very rare when something works first time. Does it happen? Yeah, but it's trial and error with everything in life. It's trial and error with everything in life.

Speaker 1: 10:15

So, if you have tried to accomplish a goal, whether it's this, even we're almost done with the year right, did you accomplish your new year's resolution this year? Think about that. January came around I know the time this year has flown by, for me at least. January came. You had new year's resolutions. Did you accomplish them? Were your new year's resolutions the same as last year? What are your New Year's resolutions going to be next year? Are they going to be the same as this year?

Speaker 1: 10:43

Just because you didn't accomplish it last year doesn't mean you can't accomplish it this year, right? And if it was something that is already you know you were supposed to do something for the year long, well, it doesn't mean you can't accomplish it next year. But you have to have that mindset of I am going to accomplish this right and that is, without a doubt, the number one reframe that you need to have. Your past performance is not a permanent truth. Your past performance is that past. It's in the rear view mirror, it's your past performance, it's not your current performance. You can always change what's happening. Right, this second right. So realize that.

Speaker 1: 11:22

You know you may not be able to do it as well as someone else or as fast as someone else or as good as someone else, but it takes time and through the repetitions of whether it's lifting, whether it's business, whether it's whatever the case may be, it takes time to build that skill. It takes time to build that strength. It takes discipline for you to do what you need to do so that you get to the level you want to get to. And I mean, I think that even with those with that point, you need to almost set mini milestones within it. Like you couldn't for example, this member couldn't do an exercise. Then her achieving one rep of it is a mini milestone. Then achieving more than one rep let's say five reps that's a mini milestones, right. So those mini milestones were skipped with her and she went from not being able to do it to being able to do three sets of 20, right.

Speaker 1: 12:24

Once we got that mindset kind of reset. It was three sets of 20. Oh, my goodness, I could do it. Was it easy? No, did you struggle? Yes, but did she do it? Yes, right.

Speaker 1: 12:36

So it's those mini milestones and those micro wins that allow you to start building that self-confidence so you can try again and improve your, your past performance. So I hope that helps you know with with something that you may have going on in your life, whether it's a goal, whether it's something that you've tried in the past and you're scared to try again. But realize that again, your past performance is not a permanent truth. You can turn something that you weren't able to achieve in the past into something that is a notch on the belt of your successes. You just have to be willing to step back up to that plate and swing.

Speaker 1: 13:17

But with that being said, guys, I love you, guys, I appreciate you. Make sure you guys share this episode with a friend and leave a review. It really does help spread the word. But if you guys need anything, you can always message me, DM me on Instagram, the Mindset Cafe or even mine, devin Gonzalez. But with that, guys, I appreciate all you guys Love you all. See you on the next one. Can't be distracted. I stay on my mind no time to be slackin. I hustle harder. I go against the current cause. I know my mind is rich to be collected.