How to Break Limits Without Breaking Yourself
Not All Limits Are Meant to Be Broken
Breaking limits is the act of going beyond what you previously thought was possible. This happens often when we confront our fears, push our boundaries, and overcome intense resistance. It’s when you decide to fight your bully for the first time - win or lose. Speaking in public after years of suffering from anxiety or deciding to start a business despite multiple failures. Breaking limits is usually anchored with exertion and the act of doing; it requires effort and discomfort.
Breaking limits is easier said than done sometimes, especially in terms of physical limitations. How will you ever know you’ve broken into your limits anyway, how did you know that you were not capable of something before–after you just did, maybe you had it in you all along.
Limiting beliefs are a little different; they have nothing to do with the act of doing. These are all in your mind, the mental block you hold about yourself, or the restrictions your environment has imposed on you. It’s when you tell yourself: I’m not good enough, I’ll never be able to, someone like me is not capable of that.
This usually stems from previous failures, which fuel doubt and fear, amplified by external forces like people who have a suboptimal mindset, those who choose to remain in comfort, or do not challenge themselves and avoid taking risks and growth.
In essence, limiting beliefs are your mental cages; shattering that cage and stepping into the unknown is you, breaking those limits. You must first identify those limits and confront what built them before you can break them.
You will fail sooner or later; that part is easy to understand, but hard to swallow. Especially if all you ever knew was win.
That’s what makes things interesting.
By failing, you will be able to identify the limit of your capabilities, and you will know where to set the bar for next time. By continuously evolving and consistently working on yourself, you not only break limiting beliefs but also start to break your limitations, because you are now starting from where you were stopped. It’s really that simple. If you try your hardest the first time, you don’t have to start from the beginning, unless, of course, you decide to destroy your old self, in a positive way.
On the other hand, knowing your limits is just as important as releasing your limiting beliefs and pushing beyond your boundaries. See, these two ideas are not necessarily opposites, but rather complements to each other.
Knowing your limits is self-awareness; this means understanding your mental, physical, emotional, and moral boundaries. This enables you to manage your effort wisely. Knowing your limits involves recognizing when to slow down, rest, gently step back when you’ve been pushing too hard, or when you're about to break. The goal is to prevent injury or burnout. Making strategic decisions to build a resilient body and mind that last over time is also a form of discipline.
A good athlete trains hard often; a great athlete trains hard and rests well daily.
A talented artist crafts amazing pieces frequently, and a disciplined artist does it consistently.
A good writer challenges his creativity and style, but a great writer knows when a style does not suit him.
Being self-aware is knowing yourself better than you previously would, and you will never break the limits of something if you are not aware of it.
Before I wrap this up, there’s one more thing to think about:
When we stop measuring ourselves against other people, it becomes a lot easier to accept our limitations. Becoming better shouldn’t be driven by someone else’s achievements or opinions. That’s where a lot of us get it wrong; it should be about becoming who we are meant to be.
Sometimes we lose sight of what it really means to break our limits. That’s why it always feels like we’re not enough.
An alpha wolf’s duty is to feed the pack. If he fails to catch prey, he doesn’t sit around criticizing himself; he just moves on and hunts again. A male lion doesn’t feel validated when he mates, and he doesn’t fall apart when he fails. They don’t care about what it means. They just live. They do their part. They don’t overthink it. They don’t try to “break limits.”
But we do—because we have egos. We compare ourselves to people who barely even notice we exist. We turn growth into performance.
The decision to break our limits and go beyond our capabilities should not come from external motivation – that is not transcendence, that’s vanity. So, the next time you decide to be “more” than your current self, be sure to be doing it for good reasons.