It was the year 1968 in Mexico City. Before the gun fired for the start of the 100 meters race, the jury was out-mankind had reached his biological and physiological limit. It was humanly impossible to run under 10 secs. The belief had swept throughout science and sports like a plague.

One man had other ideas. With 2 more heavy steps, an overworked heart and failing respiratory effort, Jim Hines crossed the finished line. He had done the unthinkable! He finished the race under 10 secs(9.95)-a then world record. An overjoyed Hines said:

The enchanting story of Jim Hines post dates several milestones in history where absolute beliefs about science, religion and culture have been shattered and had their narratives rewritten. Think of the Orville and Wilbur Wright story. No one for once believed mankind could fly. If you had told people 100 years ago, they could be FaceTiming or doing group video calls- they probably would have said you were nuts. While these may sound abstract and unrelated to your personal life- I ask the question:

WHAT THE HELL ARE LIMITING BELIEFS?

Holy Mary daughter of Apple-eating Eve! The sun rose from the West again! Yikes! I’m going to have a terrible day again. And with that, I just created a personalized shitty belief! What are beliefs anyway?

• Beliefs are deeply rooted opinions or ideas created through experiences accepted as truths or real without factual basis.

Believe it or not, our beliefs shape our lives(identity) and can alter our course of actions. In the famous Biblical verse in Proverbs 4: 23, the power of beliefs is spelt out in unflinching detail.

²³ Be careful what you think,
    because your thoughts run your life.

Proverbs 4:23 New Century Version (NCV)

If beliefs have so much power, what kind of beliefs then, are limiting beliefs?

THE ORIGIN OF OUR BELIEFS

By the end of our teenage years, many of our deeply ingrained beliefs have been formed. They may come from our own personal experiences and also from people who have the capacity to exert influence on us. Psychiatrist Eric Berne- the pioneer of the famous Transactional Analysis argued by age 12, our key beliefs are formed and we live them for the rest of our lives deliberately or unaware. How old are you now reading this? You will bear with me liberation from a lifetime of certain beliefs is no easy feat. However…

PHAJAAN: A CLASSIC TALE OF LIMITING BELIEFS

Not all action heroes ride a limited edition of an Aston Martin like in the 007 franchise. Some ride on elephants and they are one hell of jaw-breaking vigilantes! The classic Thailand film Ong Bak starring Tony Jaa has so much to it than meets the eye. Wild elephants aren’t as friendly as you see in the movies.

They go through a domestication process called Phajaan in Thailand where their “spirits” are broken at their baby stage. In the much-maligned act, baby elephants are caged and held by chains which restrict their movement and are often subjected to torture. In the beginning, the baby elephants persist so hard to break free. They eventually give up after several failed attempts as they realize trying to escape is a painful and unrewarding process. They stop trying and spend the rest of their lives restricted and restrained.

Sadly, baby elephants never realize as they grow older and stronger, if they tried to break the chain again they could escape, but the elephant never tries again. Why? Because it doesn’t believe it can anymore!

Unchallenged limiting beliefs can “Phajaan” you in the same place. Although something may have been true for you as a child, it may not be true for you as an adult.

Here are 5 of 10 limiting beliefs I truly believe you need to break free from. Starting with:

1. A BIG PENIS EQUALS GOOD SEX

Looks like not all of us snapped out of the high school nonsense: where the guy with the biggest schlong was more popular than the most brilliant guy. Coincidentally that’s about the same time, our hormones are most wild. Pornography enters the fray and most guys are compared unfavourably to these freaks of nature porn actors who set an outrageous benchmark for what a normal penis should look like. Priapus!

Does size matter? Let’s save that conversation for another day. But then, unless you have a congenital abnormality like a micropenis, you are good bro! Trust me on this, good sex doesn’t equal hitting the cervix. The Grafenberg spot or G-spot is 2-3 inches inside the va jay jay! Get on board!!!! Good sex is beyond jackhammering!

2. MONEY CAN’T BUY HAPPINESS

Let’s pretend you just discovered my amazeballs blog and wondering: Can money buy happiness? My reply:

Have you read my controversial post: MythBuster Ep10 #: Money can’t buy happiness? Well, let’s throw this limiting belief under the stinking pile of generational horseshit. Truth is money can buy happiness! If you think it doesn’t then you are the problem or being modest, you are fucked! The thing is your idea of what happiness is, is wrong and defiled.

Money can buy happiness however, focusing on using money to gain choices and solving problems is where I believe the potential exists for happiness to flourish.

DRc: A CURIOUS CASE OF UN-HAPPINESS

I give you a royal invite to rewrite the script on what true happiness is. Be sure to reserve your holy-shit-popcorns-I-wish-I-knew-this-earlier scream in the comment section. I love to read them.

Read this post: A Curious Case of Unhappiness: Why You Aren’t Happy Despite All You Have

3. FAILURE IS THE END

You failed so what? I know you might think, “Ah, you are a doctor and must be very brilliant. You don’t fail exams!” You won’t believe I laughed so hard typing this! I have failed an incredible number of exams in my life. I still remember going to my dad and telling him, “Dad I don’t think I can finish medical school, I am not good enough”. Coming from a background of being an excellent straight As a student, I was broken mentally and emotionally. My dad looked me in the eye, and said, “Failure isn’t the end. Try again son”. This was the Eureka holy-shit moment that spun my life in a different direction.

My dad taught me failure was just feedback that meant something didn’t go right. He taught me to ask myself the right questions instead. What can I learn from this? Did I have the necessary insight to have passed the exams? Did I study enough? My answer to the last two questions was fat No-s! So it wasn’t that the exam was too hard nor was it that I didn’t have the IQ to ace it. I just didn’t have the required knowledge to ace the exam period!

Failure should be seen as feedback! Did you start a business that failed? A failed marriage? Bad relationship? You must be gutted, but hold on a second! Go back to the drawing board. Do you have the required insight and skill to make it better now? If no, work on that. That is success in progress and it requires failure!

4. YOU NEED TO BE EDUCATED ENOUGH TO BE SUCCESSFUL

I am not going to tell you getting a masters degree or a PHD is wrong! No! That is total bullshit. What I am about to tell you is, having the world’s best degrees and certificates don’t always equal financial success! Look at some of the world’s billionaires and you realize it isn’t their certificates or plaques on their walls that make them money. It is a combination of their skills, knowledge, attitude and ability to recognize opportunities. Being educated is a plus. You are sure to have a better start but success takes more than that.

I’ll be damned if this guy-Mr “Eventuarry” doesn’t make twice the money I make in a month. The man with the incredibly hilarious iconic laughter who is actually a taxi driver became an internet meme sensation, skyrocketing to fame. A clothing line deal followed, then advertisement deals all over and raaaaar!!!! He’s rich and he probably doesn’t have a secondary school education nor tertiary level certificate and oh, not-too-good English to begin with! What did you say about formal education again? “Eventuarry for the vanishing!!!”

5. THE GOOD DIE YOUNG

The death of young people is often tragic and saddening. I have been there- haven witnessed the death of a young child in my first clinical year and the death of my dorm mate; a very good friend. He was one of the most brilliant students of Mfantsipim in my year group and so God-fearing, I looked up to him. Then he died 2 weeks after entering Medical school. In my mind, I started to question God, why, why, why?

Then I realized something- people die regardless of their morals, status or wealth. Yes, you and I will die one day. All our decisions, life choices and things beyond our control will push us there eventually. But between now and then, we have a life to live! You aren’t going to die because you do good. Keep doing good!

Read: The Denial Of Death: An Uncle Ebo Whyte Story

THE END

Hello, amazing reader! Glad you made it to the end of this post. This is part 1 of 2 on this series. Be sure to subscribe to the blog to get part 2 of this series delivered right into your email. Be sure to tell your friends about my blog, like this post and share your thoughts(comments). Turn on notification to get a notice when I reply to your comments.

till then… Cheers, DrC