Imagine you’re at your desk with a clear vision of the life you desire — starting a company, writing a book, or making a significant impact in your industry. You’ve visualized success, but when it’s time to act, something holds you back. This is emotional resistance, an invisible barrier that prevents us from pursuing personal dreams and achieving professional goals. Understanding and overcoming this resistance is essential for leadership and innovation.
Simon Sinek emphasizes starting with “Why,” tapping into your deeper purpose to drive action. To unlock your potential, you must understand limbic friction — the tension between your desires and the brain’s resistance to change. By confronting the limiting beliefs behind this resistance, you can unlock both personal and professional potential.
How emotional resistance hinders personal and professional dreams
At first glance, personal dreams and business goals might seem separate. However, pursuing personal dreams often fuels creativity, innovation, and fulfillment in business. Entrepreneurs and leaders who align their personal vision with business objectives become more authentic, motivated, and purpose-driven.
So how does emotional resistance manifest? Whether it’s avoiding a side project or hesitating to propose a bold strategy, limbic friction holds us back. This is the push-pull tension between the prefrontal cortex (responsible for decision-making) and the limbic system (our emotional center). The limbic system seeks safety and avoids uncertainty, which is why dreams — personal or business-related — often trigger fear and doubt.
To break through emotional resistance, we must uncover and challenge the limiting beliefs holding us back. These beliefs are often at the root of both personal and professional stagnation.
Understanding limiting beliefs: The key to overcoming emotional resistance
One effective approach to overcoming emotional resistance is a method taught by my mentor, Tim Hallbom. His five-step process helps uncover the core of limiting beliefs that keep us stuck:
- What’s the problem? (The Five Whys)
Start by identifying the problem you’re facing. Is it avoiding a key decision or procrastinating on a personal goal? Then ask yourself “Why?” five times to dig deeper into the layers of your emotional resistance and reach the core belief. - Now you’ve reached the core belief: “I’m not capable.” This limiting belief is at the heart of emotional resistance.
- How is this a problem?
Explore how this belief is affecting your life or business. How is it stopping you from taking action? If you believe you’re not capable, you might hesitate to take risks or avoid new challenges. This belief often manifests as procrastination, self-doubt, or playing it safe. - What’s presupposed in this belief?
Dig deeper into the assumptions behind the belief. What do you believe about yourself, the world, or others? The belief “I’m not capable” might presuppose that only people with perfect qualifications succeed or that failure defines you. These limiting assumptions fuel resistance. - What does this mean about me?
This is where emotional resistance becomes deeply tied to identity. If your limiting belief is “I’m not capable,” it often leads to identity-based thoughts like “I’m not good enough” or “I’m unworthy.” These beliefs attack the very core of who you think you are, making it hard to break free from resistance. - Is it identity-based thinking?
Recognize if this belief has become part of your identity. When limiting beliefs shape your sense of self, they’re much harder to change. If you think “I’m not good enough” defines you, it can feel impossible to take risks. This is where emotional resistance is strongest.
If you want to read more, check out the full article on Lighthouse!
About our guest author:
Amina Zamani
Amina Zamani is an executive coach, speaker, and advocate with a passion for neurolinguistics and peak performance coaching. With 16 years of experience, Amina uses neuroscience, biohacking, and an integrative approach that combines traditional coaching, neuro-linguistic programming, and mindfulness to help high-potential executives overcome limiting beliefs and enhance professional development. Her contributions include articles for Thrive magazine and a TEDx talk, working with leaders from SXSW, Meta, LEGO, Twitter, LinkedIn, Daimler, and more.
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