Is This Keeping Your Life From Working Out The Way You Want It To?

What if you could have it all? 

What if everything could be working out for you all of the time? 

What if, in this moment, you could have all of what your heart desires? 

A lot of my writing has come from my experiences being a woman in the workplace. A common metaphor in my world is breaking through glass ceilings. But recently I was introduced to a different kind of ceiling - one of which we all experience. A ceiling that keeps us from seeing unlimited possibilities for ourselves, believing that our lives can go well all of the time, and stops us from taking action towards creating what we want (in life).

Have you ever achieved something you never thought possible (like buying a property on the lake), only to end up sick and in tears? Or, bought the house of your dreams only to get into a fight with a family member? Or, received approval to take a break from work only to question your value and your worth? 

Although those might be personal examples, they demonstrate our ability to sabotage ourselves when life is working out for us. As soon as I had manifested what I wanted, I quickly took myself down, unable to believe that life could be this good, that life could go well for me over and over again. 

Think about it.

When was the last time you achieved success in life, love, or work, and what quickly followed didn’t lift you up, but rather brought you back down. Many of us find ourselves constantly butting up against what Gay Hendricks calls Upper Limit Problems:

“When you attain higher levels of success, you often create personal dramas in your life that cloud your world with unhappiness and prevent you from enjoying your enhanced success”. 

As soon as you hear yourself saying “I got what I wanted, so, now what?”, this is great news.

It’s time to take a step up the staircase, to raise yourself up to the next level, to identify that a spot just opened up on your goal sheet begging to be filled. The challenge is to keep yourself there without dimming your light and knocking yourself down. 

And what if you could continually spiral upwards?

To a higher energy, a higher frequency, to higher possibility and growth.

Every day you have the opportunity to expand your capacity for more abundance, success, and love in your life. 

“... having a willingness to feel good and have life go well all the time is a genuinely radical act.” - Gay Hendricks

And by making a commitment to yourself, you can move forward by being in the practice of building self awareness.

The next time you find yourself worrying, criticizing, or burying yourself in doubt, check-in: take a deep breath and create space for positive energy. Identify whether your reaction is in fact your creation as you approach your upper limit. 

Consciously taking a breath is a practice. 

Creating space is a practice. 

Building self awareness is a practice. 

I can identify when I’m getting close to my upper limit now: I feel surprised by my “luck”; I can physically feel my body pull back and say “Woah, too much Kirsten. You’re asking for too much”. I know I’m about to reach my upper limit when I notice myself shying away from sharing my success with my peers, my friends, and even on dates.

As soon as I hit the breaks, I’m putting myself in a position where I get to keep my limitations instead of expanding into what’s possible.

In my practice, I’ve learned to acknowledge the power of manifestation - to create a connection with less ego, and more soul. Less limitation, more possibility. 

Identifying your upper limit is a result of going deep, which allows you to move forward. After spending years mentoring people at various stages of their career, one thing has become clear to me: everyone is seeking balance and prosperity in their personal and professional lives but aren’t sure how to get there.

Building self awareness helps to close that gap; it’s the first step in rising to the occasion to up-level your career, business, and life.

It can lead you to reach your goals faster, with clarity, purpose, and fulfillment. To transform your life from monochrome into technicolour. 

Now that you’ve stepped past your upper limit, let me ask you this: 

What do you want? 

What will you create? 

What’s next for you?... 

Let me know in the comments!

Kirsten Schmidtke is a professional coach, creator, and lover of lake life. She works with leaders, creators, and entrepreneurs to help them up-level their careers, businesses, and lives. Are you ready to explore what’s possible for you? Contact Kirsten to start the conversation!