Rewrite Your Story: 3 Ways to Transform Limiting Beliefs into Empowering Narratives

You are the narrator of your own story.

*THE FEELS: Press play while reading; (Unfold - Alina Baraz ft Galimatias)*

[img source: cosmos]

The Power of Our Mind & Body: The Storytellers

What if the life you’ve always desired was actually never out of reach?

What if the stories you’ve been telling yourself—the narratives you’ve been whispering about who you are, what you’re capable of—are the very thing standing between you and your audacious visions?

We all carry these stories trailing along in our bloodline. We walk around in shoes that were passed down for us. We grow up with hate in our bones we didn’t even get the chance to know yet.

We doubt ourselves before we ever open the door, and try. Shadows casting down on dreams where light should’ve lived.

Some of these are inherited, mailed to us from older generations with faces we will never see. Hands we will never touch. Voices we will never hear.

Some, we’ve written with forced, trembling hands, as if the words hurt to pen because somewhere in our tissues we know, this isn’t us.

Some we’ve written to make sense out of what we’ve been through.

Some we’ve written because others told us to write it down and to never forget it.

But does that make it ours?

Is it ours because we penned it in our diary tucked away under our arm? Because we’ve held it this long, close, tight, with the weight of all the lives we missed out on because someone else tried to tell us what that should look like?

Are we, holding on, with bated breath waiting for someone, something, to come in and tell us differently so we can throw away the pages? So we can open the diary and cast a new vision, one from someone that sees us, deeper, closer than the others?

Are we waiting for someone to cast the lies aside rather than ripping out the pages and burning them ourselves? Throwing it to the fire and saying, no more.

You hold the pen.

You decide what words cover the pages. You decide how long they get to live there.

This is how to up-root those stories that keep you small into ones that set you free. We’ll thread a line through three simple ways to shift the limiting beliefs you hold and create new, body-rattling narratives that aligned with the bold, expansive being you’re embodying.

Recognize the Old Story: Becoming Aware of Your Limiting Beliefs

I remember how I thought I wasn’t good enough for this guy I was dealing with (I can laugh now, as it’s funny because of what was revealed in due time) but at that moment, it felt very real. A hallucination of what I thought was love.

Why?

Because all I associated with love was proving and earning. Somehow I thought it had something to do with me, but it never did. It was never on me to convince myself I was “worthy” and “enough.” Inherently, I already was.

But there were things that kept trying to prove this voice in my head differently. But why couldn’t it just have been him? (Spoiler: It was. Cheater. Narcissist. But that’s another story)

I quickly realized he had projected his own insecurities onto me because he actually didn’t love himself. This, was even confessed long after the tears dried on my cheeks.

Here I was, drawing up narratives, casting stories while trying to fall asleep, living on the edge of doubt because this person, could not show up for themselves.

I told myself it was destined to be this way. From there, it spiraled into other situations that no longer have true meaning.

I began to play small. I began to try to go unnoticed. The same things they loved me for, they criticized me for later.

Why did I like doing my makeup? Who was I trying to look pretty for? Sorry, should I not look pretty? I thought you liked pretty?

There was no support for my writing, no support for the spaces that held the most weight. I remember an older lover said that he didn’t congratulate me on things because I had enough of that. It’s wild to even revisit that memory and call it true.

Because at 18, 19, 21, 24, silence just feels like a dagger driven through your stomach.

This caused me to play small, to not take myself seriously, to not go after what I truly wanted due to a fear of taking up too much space.

Girl, be quieter. Girl, be less. Okay, I will. I will. Please love me if I do.

These stories had their roots in the past: from family, society as a woman (and a black woman at that), relationships, to the way I was taught to dim my light to make others comfortable.

From the moment I entered the world, society handed me stories to wear like a second skin. Like something I could rip off in the comfort of my own home, but couldn’t dare be caught without it walking down the street.

As a Black woman, I was told:

• “Smile, you need to always be on. If you don’t, you’re just mean.”

• “Stand up for yourself, but when you do, it might be labeled aggressive.”

• “Be strong and resilient, but also not too vulnerable.”

• “You can’t be tired, you’re just lazy.”

• “You can’t point out the micro-aggressions at work, or it will only get worse.”

Then, as a woman, I was handed a different set of rules:

• “You’re not enough unless you’re perfect.”

• “Don’t take up too much space or make too much noise.”

• “Put others first, and if you focus on your own needs, you’re selfish.”

• “Prove your worth by earning love and success.”

• “Working yourself to exhaustion, then go take care of everyone else.”

• “You couldn’t possibly know what you’re talking about.”

In relationships, the narrative was more subtle, yet still cold, firm, harsh:

• “You’re good enough today, but maybe not tomorrow.”

• “Shrink yourself so I can shine brighter.”

• “Do less, so I can feel like I’m doing more.”

• “Maybe I’ll just drag you down and show you that you’re not worthy.”

There were too many lines, too many pages, too many stories to name. This only grazed the opening chapter.

There was too much outside noise. These stories weren’t of my own making.

I had to let it get quiet, real quiet. To see what voice was actually speaking. To see if it was ever really mine. To return to who I was before I was taught to be anything else. I had to uncover these stories. I had to become aware.

The Task:

The first step in rewriting your story is awareness. Take a moment to reflect on the limiting beliefs you carry about yourself. What have you been telling yourself for years? Are they rooted in fear or past pain? Are they still true, or have they simply become a part of your identity because you’ve allowed them to?

• Journal Prompt:

  • What stories do you tell yourself when you’re called to expand? What stories do you tell yourself when you have a deep push to want more? When you’re called to go somewhere else? Write them down, without judgment. Is there a recurring theme in your beliefs?

Challenge the Old Story: Question Its Validity

From all of these stories birthed from wombs that were not my own, I was convinced to play small.

I convinced myself that I had to wait for permission, for validation, before I could take up space.

But then I realized—what if that belief wasn’t the truth? What if the real truth was that I was meant to be brighter, to create, to flow, to live without apology?

What if I didn’t have to apologize for my existence?

What if, instead of all of these years wanting to escape, it was me just wanting to return?

Maybe it was me calling from another dimension to give me some loving words or maybe she was telling me to wake up and remember who tf I am.

Either way, I started to play with these beliefs. I needed them to prove themselves to me.

Once I became aware, I had to question. I had draw a line around them. I had to pick at them, rotten and decaying, but somehow still alive.

And then, I had to burn them.

As the ashes rose and disappeared into nothing, I had to ask… Is this who I am? Is there something deeper here? Was I something more, expansive, before?

I answered myself, I hope.

The Task:
After recognizing the story, it’s time to question it. It’s time to sit down with you, and only you, and ask yourself: Where is the evidence that this belief is true? Ask if it to show itself. Who told me this story, and what if they were wrong? Where did this voice come from? What would happen if I allowed myself to move beyond this belief?

• Journal Prompt:

  • Write down your limiting belief. Then, write down evidence that contradicts it. Is there a time you’ve already proved this belief false?

  • What’s the worst-case scenario if you let go of this story? What’s the best-case scenario if you embrace a new, empowering narrative?

Let the layers unravel in themselves. Let the answers find you.

Let your voice be the one who finally reveals itself to you.

Rewrite the Story: Crafting a New, Empowering Narrative

When I finally stepped back into my power, I stopped waiting for permission.

I stopped asking if I was enough. And starting knowing that I was. I had been a long time ago. I was just in a space that wanted me to be less. I stopped swallowing all of my words and started to speak.

It was a quiet revolution. One that ended with liberation.

One that started and ended with me.

But it was there. Little fires curling up in my stomach. My inner child warm now. She was no longer starving, cold, and trapped. I was able to let her run free, be all the things I told myself I couldn’t be.

I started taking up space. I started to accept my gifts instead of shaming them. Instead of betraying their existence. Instead of treating it as something I wanted to disown.

I began to tell a new story—the story of a woman who was fully capable of creating the life she desired, and deserved, who wasn’t afraid to step into her audacious brilliance.

The Task:
Now, it’s time to rewrite your story. This is the most powerful part of the path—taking control of your narrative and stepping into the powerful being you are. Imagine the story you want to tell about yourself. What does it look like? What do they do? What do they believe? And, most importantly, how do they show up?

• Journal Prompt:

  • Write a new version of your story—one that is a world away from the old. What does your ideal life look like? What beliefs support your growth? What new, empowering beliefs will you adopt moving forward?

Embrace Your New Narrative

Your new story isn’t something that will settle in your bones immediately. The stories are sticky, they want to stay.

But, you can begin the path to reclaim your own story by actively choosing. Although there is a toll and it comes at a cost.

Your old life, for your new.

Maybe you will stand there at the edge of change and ball your fists up. Maybe you will grip your story so tightly because it’s what held you for so long. It’s what your body thought it needed to keep you safe. The truth?

It doesn’t. It’s keeping you from you.

The decision starts now. It starts with you deciding that the past no longer has a grasp on your future.

It starts with you choosing to step into your power, to reclaim your voice, to rewrite the story you were actually meant to live.

Remember who you are. Even if you don’t know them yet.

Remember the most audacious thing you can do is live a life true to you. Every time you rewrite your story, you’re creating the life you deserve.

You’re creating a life of devotion, joy, pleasure, embodiment, liberation, audacity.

It’s time to let go of the limitations and embrace the expansiveness that’s been waiting for you all along.

P.S. I’d love to hear your new story. What beliefs are you ready to release, and what empowering narrative are you stepping into? If you’re open to sharing, leave a comment below, or feel free to message me—I’m here for support.

---