It’s so predictable it’s amusing.

You start setting goals (from the inside out, of course) and you put a couple of lifelong wishes in action (your novel, your business) and what happens? You fire up the wrath of your inner critic, right? The limiting beliefs. The harpies. You finally manage to put in motion the the fabulous business idea you’ve been snarking about for months, and those pesky harpies jump up on your shoulder and tell you whatta snerdling you are. The voices, the reasons, the excuses. Same same.

The size of the limiting belief always seems to correspond to the size of the goal.

Funny thing is, it’s hard-wired, evolutionary stuff, but the only place limiting beliefs are true is in your head.  I did some poking around to get some definitions for the fun of it, and discovered something wonderfully ironic in support of that theory. First the definitions:

Harpy: [from Greek mythology] a rapacious monster described as having a woman’s head and body and a bird’s wings and claws, or depicted as a bird of prey with a woman’s head.

Gremlin: [probably from Goblin, originated around WWII] an imaginary or mischievous sprite regarded as responsible for an unexplained problem or fault, esp. machinery, computers and the like.

Saboteur: [from lotsa places] Personification of an imaginary thing that deliberately destroys, damages and obstructs everything you ever wanted to accomplish.

Notice that none of the definitions point to reality. A time in our history doesn’t exist where gremlins, goblins, sprites, harpies and the like roamed the planet in search of, well, you. It’s all myth. Story. Fairytales. Folklore. We were just putting a face, a character, to our fears.

In truth, we sculpt our limiting beliefs from past threats, wounds, unmet needs and expectations, etc., to protect ourselves from stepping into harm’s way again. And yet, past wounds are, well, in the past. They aren’t happening today, but the harpies would have you think otherwise.

So—how the heck do you deal with limiting beliefs?

Listen to them. Limiting beliefs tell you where to look, where your next right action is. And when you set a goal like “double consulting income by December 2009,” the voice on your shoulder is wired to say, “You’ll never do it…it’s the economy, stupid…get a real job.”

My spin? Since the voice on your shoulder tells you where to look, and you can pretty much guarantee that one of your best choices is to do the EXACT opposite. You have to train the beast to behave, and the more you train, the more you’ll accomplish, and the more joy and balance you will find. Otherwise, the harpy on your shoulder will turn into a chip on your shoulder.

(To read about how the brain will work in your favor, if you let it, take a look at Robyn McMaster’s Post over at Brain Based Biz: “Can Do Default to Kickstart Brainpower.”)