Are You Holding Yourself Back?

Do you feel that something is holding yourself back?

Have you ever gone out of your way to NOT look after yourself?

Or repeated the same patterns of behaviour over and over again and expected a different result?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, don’t worry you are not alone. Maybe you are not alone and could be holding yourself back without realising it!

What Does It Mean to Hold Back?

If you have a look at the meaning of hold back, you can see the following –

• “hesitate to act or speak.” ~ Google
• “If you hold back or if something holds you back, you hesitate before you do something because you are not sure whether it is the right thing to do.” and To hold someone or something back means to prevent someone from doing something, or to prevent something from happening.” ~ Collins English Dictionary
• “to stop someone or something from moving forwards” ~ MacMillan Dictionary
• “to not do something, often because of fear or because you do not want to make a bad situation worse” ~ Cambridge Dictionary

There are also similarities between holding back and restraining…

What Does Restrain Mean?

There are a few definitions I found when it came to restrain, including –

• “to prevent from doing, exhibiting, or expressing something” ~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary
• “prevent (someone or something) from doing something” ~ Google
• “to hold back from action; keep in check or under control; repress” ~ Dictionary.com
• “to control the actions or behaviour of someone by force, especially in order to stop them from doing something, or to limit the growth or force of something” ~ Cambridge Dictionary

What resonates with you – are you holding yourself back or restraining?

7 Quotes On Holding Yourself Back

Following are 7 quotes that also add to understanding what holding back means –

1. “You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.” ~ Barbara De Angelis
2. “No more holding back.
   Be reckless.
   Tell your Love to everybody.” ~ Rumi
3. “Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns…We may want to love other people without holding back, to feel authentic, to breathe in the beauty around us, to dance and sing. Yet each day we listen to inner voices that keep our life small.” ~ Tara Brach
4. “If you are waiting for anything in order to live and love without holding back, then you suffer.” ~ David Deida
5. “If I hold back, I’m no good. I’m no good. I’d rather be good sometimes, than holding back all the time.” ~ Janis Joplin
6. “Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we’re holding back.” ~ Pema Chödrön
7. “I don’t believe in sort of holding back, you know, life isn’t a dress rehearsal!” ~ Kate Winslet

How Do People Hold Themselves Back?

People can hold themselves back in many areas of their lives! Some examples of where people can be holding you back is in –

• their communication (i.e. by not speaking your truth or standing up for yourself in conversations as you don’t like conflict),
• their finances (i.e. overspending or underearning),
• their relationships (i.e. not sharing your truth for fear of rejection and/or disapproval),
• their community (i.e through not sharing your talents and sharing your knowledge within the community).
• their emotional health (i.e putting off looking after yourself or acknowledging your emotions),
• their career (i.e. not going for that job promotion you would like, sharing your knowledge or settling for less than what you really want in your life because you think you are not worth it),
• their business (i.e scared of expanding or creating a new business product),
• their physical health (i.e. letting your exercise and wellbeing needs fall of the radar).

Question for Reflection –

• What does holding back mean for you?
• Are there any areas in your life where you are holding back? If so, what is your next step, now you realise it?

If you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and opening your heart, why not join our Toolkit?

Please note – life is a personal journey and each day it’s changing. So it is important to continually look after yourself (i.e. make it a habit) and take time out to reflect on where you are in life and your overall health and wellbeing.