How to Overcome Inner Blocks by Consciously Directing Your Thoughts.
Our thinking is often shaped by firm beliefs that can either empower or limit us. One of the most restrictive beliefs is “I can’t do it.” This thought pattern is a self-imposed limitation that hinders us from taking on challenges, making new experiences, and fully realizing our potential. But how exactly does this belief impact our actions, and what psychological mechanisms are at play?
The Origin of “I Can’t Do It”
The belief “I can’t do it” often stems from early experiences or repeated setbacks. Many people grow up with the sense that certain tasks are beyond their reach, or they receive little support when trying to overcome challenges. These experiences can make people internalize the belief as a general truth. This belief often reinforces itself, as people focus on failures or attribute their successes to external factors rather than their abilities.
A common example of this belief is, “I can’t live healthily.” This goal often feels unachievable because “living healthily” is a vague, abstract notion that doesn’t have any concrete meaning on its own. Without a clear structure, such a goal feels overwhelming and impossible to achieve. This can create a vicious cycle: the sense of overwhelm leads to demotivation, the demotivation reinforces the belief “I can’t do it,” and the willingness to try again diminishes. Breaking this cycle requires a strategy to break down the goal into concrete, manageable steps.
The Role of Executive Intelligence
Executive intelligence refers to the ability to plan abstract tasks, break them down into actionable steps, and carry them out efficiently. It includes skills like self-control, problem-solving, flexibility, and goal-setting. People with strong executive intelligence can tackle complex and seemingly daunting tasks because they can break them down into achievable steps.
When we feel overwhelmed, we often lose perspective and perceive the task as unsolvable. The belief “I can’t do it” then amplifies this feeling of overwhelm and leads to demotivation, as we feel powerless to respond to the situation with purposeful actions. Executive intelligence can help alleviate this feeling of overwhelm by enabling us to break down an abstract notion like “living healthily” into small, actionable steps, boosting motivation one step at a time. Each small accomplishment restores a sense of control and success, sustaining motivation.
Strategies to Overcome Overwhelm and Demotivation through Executive Intelligence
Both executive intelligence and operative intelligence are essential for productivity. Operative intelligence supports us by weighing each decision to determine which actions bring us closest to our goal. Together, these intelligences form a strong foundation for tackling abstract and large goals. Here are some strategies for using these skills:
Break Goals into Small Steps: Instead of feeling intimidated by the entire task, break down the goal into concrete, manageable steps. For instance, if you feel “I can’t live healthily,” identify specific habits to work on, like “I’ll drink an extra glass of water each day” or “I’ll add fresh vegetables to my meals twice a week.” Breaking down an abstract task into smaller steps makes it more tangible, reducing the feeling of overwhelm and preventing demotivating thoughts. Each completed step becomes a success that reinforces belief in one’s own abilities.
An inspiring exercise to support breaking large goals into small, manageable steps is the Life Potential Coaching method “A Skyscraper Is Built with Many Small Stones.” This exercise illustrates how complex goals can be achieved through numerous small steps. You can find the exercise HERE, under “III. Meaning & Success: Life Potential Coaching”, Exercise 21: “Skyscraper”
Conclusion
The belief that “I can’t do it” often acts like a mental prison that holds back our personal growth. This mental prison is reinforced by overwhelm and quickly leads to demotivation, as we feel daunted by the size and abstract nature of the task. Executive intelligence provides the keys to unlocking this prison and breaking the cycle of demotivation. By learning to break down abstract tasks like “living healthily” into achievable steps, strengthening self-control, and thinking flexibly, we can leave negative beliefs behind and open up a path to new experiences and successes. Living healthily then no longer seems like an impossible ideal but becomes a series of reachable, concrete steps that we can incorporate into our daily lives – without feeling overwhelmed and discouraged.
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