How to Break Free from Limiting Beliefs—Even the Ones Hiding Beneath the Surface

What if the biggest thing holding you back isn’t the world around you—but the beliefs inside you? The ones that whisper you’re not ready, not smart enough, not strong enough, or simply not meant for the life you imagine? The tricky part? Many of these beliefs don’t scream. They hide. They live under the surface of your thoughts, quietly shaping what you dare to try and what you silently abandon. In her eye-opening book Success in 7 Steps, Dierdre Wolownick not only calls out these limiting beliefs—she shows us how to tear them down and replace them with something stronger: possibility.

Dierdre’s story is the perfect proof that beliefs are not fixed—they are learned, and they can be replaced. She didn’t grow up an athlete, wasn’t raised in an environment that pushed her to take bold risks, and certainly didn’t think she’d become the oldest woman to climb El Capitan at the age of 66. But she did. Not because she suddenly discovered new strengths—but because she stopped letting old beliefs define what she could or couldn’t do. In the book, she shares how most people unknowingly carry around stories that sound like facts: “I’m too old to start now,” “I don’t have the right background,” “People like me don’t do things like that.” These are the silent walls that keep us small. And the scariest part is that many of us don’t even realize we’ve built them. That’s why step one to real change is awareness. You have to start noticing the words you use when you talk to yourself. Dierdre urges readers to listen for phrases like “That’s just not me” or “I could never pull that off.” These aren’t harmless thoughts. They’re stories we’ve told ourselves so often, they start to feel like truth.

But once you shine a light on these thoughts, you can challenge them. You can ask, “Where did this belief come from? Is it based on evidence, or is it just something I accepted without question?” Dierdre reminds us that beliefs are not destiny. They are reflections of what we’ve absorbed from family, school, culture, or past failures. And they can be rewritten. In her own life, Dierdre shattered countless limiting beliefs. She didn’t believe she was athletic—until she became a climber. She didn’t believe she was cut out for public speaking—until she spoke to audiences across the country. She didn’t believe she could publish her own work—until she created her own press. None of these transformations happened by accident. They happened because she challenged the stories in her head.

But awareness is only the first step. What truly changes your beliefs is action. You don’t have to wait until you feel confident to start. In fact, confidence usually comes after you begin, not before. That’s why one of Dierdre’s most powerful messages is this: “You become the person you want to be by acting like them first.” If your belief says you can’t, but your action proves you can—that belief loses its grip. This is where her 7-step method becomes life-changing. Instead of waiting for inspiration or clarity to strike, she gives you a structure to move forward—starting with learning, gathering tools, and then doing. When you follow this process, you build a new kind of proof. One that says, “I am capable.” Not because of hype or self-talk, but because you’ve seen yourself take the steps.

And here’s the magic: the more you act, the more your beliefs shift. You start to replace “I could never” with “Maybe I can,” and eventually “I just did.” That transformation doesn’t require massive leaps. It happens through small, consistent actions that realign your identity. Dierdre also explains that these limiting beliefs often show up strongest right before a breakthrough. That’s when they start to scream: You’re not ready. You’ll fail. Everyone will see you’re a fraud. These voices don’t mean you’re unqualified—they mean you’re growing. They’re the brain’s way of protecting you from change, even when that change is exactly what you need. She encourages readers not to wait until the fear disappears. Instead, move forward alongside it. Say yes before you feel prepared. Let experience reshape your mindset. That’s how she climbed El Capitan—not by erasing doubt, but by moving forward despite it.

Another powerful knowledge from the book is how society reinforces limiting beliefs without meaning to. We’re constantly told who we should be, what’s appropriate for our age, background, or gender. But Dierdre’s story reminds us that those rules are not real. They are expectations—nothing more. And they crumble the moment you stop obeying them. She writes, “There’s a kind of freedom that comes when you realize most rules aren’t real—they’re just habits in disguise.” That freedom is the beginning of reinvention.