The first trick an elephant trainer teaches an elephant is not to escape.

When the elephant is still but a baby, the trainer chains the infant’s leg to a huge log, so when/if the elephant tries to escape, the log proves stronger and he gives up. Eventually the elephant becomes so used to its captivity, that even when it has grown huge and strong, all the trainer has to do is merely tie a rope around the elephant’s leg to anything – even a peg and the elephant won’t even try to escape. It has become a prisoner of its past.

“The Elephant Rope” is a story about limiting beliefs. The elephants were conditioned from a young age to believe that they could not break free from the rope. As a result, the elephants never tried to gain freedom again, even when they were fully grown and capable of doing so.

Moral of the story: Limiting beliefs can hold us back from reaching our full potential. We may have been conditioned by our past experiences or beliefs to believe that we cannot achieve something, but in reality, we may be more capable than we think. By breaking free from our limiting beliefs and challenging ourselves, we can achieve great things.

Source:  https://www.notsalmon.com/2015/04/29/limiting-beliefs/