You've done the work,
You've reflected,
You've dreamed,
You've planned.
And now,
As you step forward,
I want to introduce you to something that might feel counterintuitive.
Gay Hendrix calls it the upper limit problem,
And it's the invisible ceiling that keeps high achievers from actually staying in the success that they create.
Here's how it works.
You expand,
You grow,
You move toward something you want,
And then,
Whether you realize it or not,
You hit an invisible boundary.
Instead of continuing forward,
You unconsciously create a problem that brings you back down to your comfort zone.
It might look like more success is a bigger burden.
You start to succeed,
And you think,
Hmm,
If I expand into my full potential,
Life is going to demand more from me.
I'll have bigger responsibilities,
More people depending on me,
More pressure.
So you sabotage.
You procrastinate.
You create drama that distracts you from your success.
Or you may feel fundamentally flawed,
That there's a part of you that believes something is inherently wrong with you,
That you're not worthy of the success you're building.
That if people really knew you,
They wouldn't support you.
So you stay small to protect that secret belief.
Another form of upper limits would be disloyalty and abandonment.
You grew up watching people in your life,
And some of them didn't expand.
They stayed in survival mode.
On some level,
You made an agreement.
If I get too successful,
If I outshine them,
I'll betray them.
I'll leave them behind.
So you unconsciously dim your light to stay loyal to your roots.
And similarly,
There's people you care about.
A parent,
A friend,
A partner.
You may have the fear that if you become too successful,
You'll make them look bad.
You'll make them feel small.
So you hold yourself back,
Even when you're ready to go bigger.
Do any of these sound familiar?
Here's what's important.
These upper limits are not character flaws.
They are protective mechanisms.
They made sense at some point,
And they kept you safe.
But now,
They're keeping you from the life that you're building.
So here's the practice.
Notice when it happens.
Notice when you're on the edge of expansion and something pulls you back.
Notice the story.
Is it,
This is too much responsibility?
I'm not really qualified.
I'm being disloyal.
I'm outshining someone.
Just name it and bring it into the light.
When you see the upper limit,
You have a choice.
You can stay behind it,
Or you can choose to expand anyway.
You can feel the discomfort and move forward.
You can honor both things,
Your growth and your loyalty,
Your success and your humanity.
You don't have to stay small to be good.
You don't have to dim your light to be loved.
Take this space to reflect on where your upper limits might show up.
And as you move into this next chapter,
Watch for them.
They'll show up,
And that is not a sign to stop.
That's information.
That's the edge of your growth.
And you're ready for what's on the other side.
