Today, I am overcome with emotion.
November was an intense month. We broke all the rules and launched five new things. I pushed to have a big month because I wanted to exceed our financial goals for the year so that I could spend December loving on my clients, loving on my staff and planning/preparing for 2016 (plus take 2 weeks off!).
It worked.
Every launch was successful.
Some were wildly successful.
And I am totally overcome.
And, if I am being totally honest, a bit uncomfortable. Okay, more than a bit.
I am accustomed to things going so-so. I am totally comfortable with things not quite working out exactly how I had planned. Failure is familiar.
But joy? When all your dreams are coming true right before your eyes? That feeling of being able to provide the bigger house for your family (not just ‘cause it's big but because you have mad kids and love to host house guests and really could use the room!), being able to send your kids to the school you really wanted to send them to (instead of the so-so preschool down the block that made you bite your nails all day and wonder how your kids were doing — yeah, that sucked), having your customers be overjoyed with the services and products you offer AND their experience working with you? All of that goodness is hard as hell.
Upper limit problem, much?
Yes, exactly.
So today, I want to talk to you about getting comfortable with joy and about getting comfortable with your own success. Because if you want to wake up one day and realize that your dreams have come true, you have to raise your upper limit. If you don’t, that moment of truth? When you stop, look around and realize everything you ever wanted is happening right before your eyes in this very moment? It won’t come.
It will never happen if you are not in a mental space to receive it.
Instead, you will sabotage the fuck out of your coming successes and thereby ensure that they never happen. I speak from experience. I’ve been down this road. Let’s talk about how to keep you off of it.
Some people think that taking time away from working towards their goals to work on their upper limits and get in the right mental space is a complete waste of their time. They think personal development is something rich people do once they’ve made a bunch of money and have time to think about that crap. I used to think that too. And then I kept hitting the same wall over and over again and got tired of hitting that wall and realized that …
The only way to get past stagnation is to work on yourself, to invest in your own personal growth — mentally, emotionally and physically.
When you feel your self-sabotaging gremlin coming at you in full force to slow down the joy train so you can get back to a place of comfort, try these things to raise your upper limit:
Step 1: Constantly express gratitude. Like, meditate on that shit. In the quiet space when I first wake up, just before I fall asleep at night and at various quiet moments throughout the day, I take a moment to think about all of the wonderful things happening in my life and express gratitude to God for all of that amazingness. Regardless of your beliefs, I recommend expressing gratefulness for all that you have in life every day (preferably several times per day).
Step 2: Eradicate complaining. One of the ways we get back to a place of comfort when there is too much success in business is by going home and having an argument with anyone (or everyone) you love. Refuse to complain. Refuse to engage in arguments. Refuse to focus on the negative. Have a lovely, successful day at work and then go home plop on the couch with your loved ones and sit with that love snugglefest and remind yourself that you are worthy of such love, success and happiness.
Step 3: Sit with it. When you are uncomfortable with your level of success, take time to sit with it. When good things happen, stop and ponder exactly how good it is to have accomplished what you’ve accomplished. Think about where you started and how far you’ve come. Then acknowledge just how uncomfortable you are with the current level of success you are experiencing and remind yourself that it’s okay to feel that way. Its an opportunity for growth.
Step 4: Set new goals. Part of the reason Upper Limit Problems exist is because once we’ve arrived at the level of success we were trying to achieve, we have no idea what to do next. Just like when Wile E. Coyote catches the Roadrunner, we ask ourselves “what now?” The answer is set new goals. They don’t even have to be business goals. Setting a health or fitness goal is a great way to get your mind on a new achievement to work toward. Or work on learning a language, being a better listener, learning to play an instrument, or charitable giving. There are lots of worthy goals in life that have nothing at all to do with money.
When your Upper Limit is rearing its ugly head, tell God, the world or just yourself, how grateful you are for all that you have. Put a moratorium on complaining and negative thinking. Ponder exactly how good life is (and exactly how uncomfortable you are with that) and then set some new goals so you have something new and positive to focus on.
Where have you been sabotaging yourself? What action are you gonna take to blow past your Upper Limits? Comment below and let me know. I want to hear about it.
