One of the best things that have ever happened to me in my life happened a few months ago, in January of 2021, I was introduced to an incredible book called The Big Leap, written by Gay Hendricks. If you’re wondering how a book could be one of the best things that have happened to me, well you haven’t read the book yet! The Big Leap had a profound impact on me because it shifted how I viewed life, this journey, the world. It really was the book that I needed in January of 2021, a period in my life that was incredibly tough for me, and proved to be the awakening I needed in order to see how I was restricting my own abundance.
Let me ask you a question: Have you ever attained higher levels of success in one part of your life to only then be confronted with lower levels of unhappiness that prevent you from enjoying your enhanced success? Sounds familiar right, well just so you know there is a name to this phenomena and Gay terms it the “Upper Limit Problem”. For those who have never heard of the “Upper Limit Problem”, let me school you! Gay Hendricks writes that each of us have an internal thermometer for how much success, wealth, happiness, love and intimacy, we will allow ourselves to experience, kind of like a success comfort zone, our upper limit setting. When we exceed our internal thermostat setting, we UNCONSCIOUSLY do things to sabotage ourselves, so we can revert back to an old, familiar place where we can feel like we are in control, but where we are actually rejecting the overflow of abundance that the Universe/God has for us. This Upper Limit Problem is our universal human tendency to sabotage ourselves when we have exceeded the artificial upper limit we have placed on ourselves.
And you may say, nah, I don’t have that issue, but think about it, before we get to how we Upper Limit ourselves, you should know that there are many reasons WHY we subconsciously “Upper Limit” ourselves, Gay identifies four hidden barriers: (1) we feel that we are fundamentally flawed in some way and so are not deserving or cannot expand in the areas of abundance and success; (2) we are afraid that by expanding our abundance, we will alienate others and cause us to be disloyal to our roots (family and friends), leaving others behind which will result in us being alone; (3) we believe that bigger success will mean bigger burdens (“the mo money, mo problems belief”); and (4) lastly, this belief that if we outshined others, then we would make others look bad which is a “crime”, so we lessen our flame to be more at the level of others so we can be with the pack/fit in with the team. I definitely resonated with all of these barriers and have even found logical rational reasons or ways to talk myself into believing that these barriers exist for a sound reason.
Now some of the ways that we “Upper Limit” ourselves, cramp our positive energy as Gay says, is by (1) worrying, (2) deflecting, (3) getting sick, getting hurt, (4) picking arguments with others, and other ways. I’ve again done it all! I’ve been the worrier, you ever worried so much about what was going to happen that you took a simple dilemma and turned it into a catastrophe, your thoughts just magnified a quite normal situation. I am at a beautiful dinner with great company, but I can’t enjoy because I realized I left a candle on at home and I am imagining the entire house burning down despite the fact the kind of candle I have simply burns down. I’ve also been the one that had an incredible keynote presentation I was excited about and then come to the keynote totally sick, like my body just absorbed my fear and belief upper limiting what I am capable of. Or that time when everything is going perfectly right, so I have to pick an argument to mess it all up because life is just going too well in the moment. Or when someone tries to compliment me, and say you’re amazing girl, and I am like no girl I am out here struggling, doing the best I can – YEP THAT RIGHT THERE is deflecting at its finest! Well turns out we all subconsciously upper limit ourselves, at a time when the universe truly wants to take our lives to another trajectory. The key is to recognize in the moment when we are doing it, put a stop to it, and allow abundance to come into your life. Until we can solve our Upper Limit Problem, we will keep finding ways to bring ourselves back down when we’ve blown past our old setting.
Since reading this book, I have grown tremendously, I immediately can sense when I am Upper Limiting myself and it liberates a new energy inside of me, which I can then draw on to propel me to new heights of abundance, love, and creativity. As soon as I realize I am Upper Limiting myself, I can then shift my energy to break free of the Upper Limit and feel positive flow of energy again. It’s about expanding my consciousness and allowing myself to receive the abundance, success, and love that I am meant to receive. Importantly, it also allows me to live my life in the “Zone of Genius” a place where I am operating at my highest vibrations, doing the things I love, and expending time on the energies that only will fuel positivity and positive energies in my life.
The Big Leap really has been an absolute game changer, it has helped me to truly cherish every moment, every minute – and importantly has helped me to receive more blessings in my life by allowing myself to receive what the Universe has for me, and not rejecting or inhibiting my own success. There are some other incredible theories in the Book as well, like living on Einstein Team, doing only what you are called to do and what’s in your Zone of Genius, and vibrating high enough for love to enter your life. It truly is a game changer in every step of the way. My life from here on out will be defined as: “Life Before I read The Big Leap” and “Life After I read the Big Leap”…I am so excited about what’s in store!
So cheers to leaping out of the pond and into the ocean, because greatness is on its way!
