Upper limiting self-sabotaging has been floating around a lot in my world lately and it’s something I’ve been intentionally working through this past year.

This self-sabotage is something that happens after you start making those scary decisions that are outside of your comfort zone in your life or business – it’s what happens when you’ve aligned that future version of you and when you actually start to get those things that you have been dreaming about, working towards and becoming.

If you feel like you are coming up against this big new thing and you start to feel nervous that something terrible is going to happen or the other shoe is going to suddenly drop….or you’re just not feeling right because this new normal doesn’t yet feel normal, I’m here to tell you that this is just another way that our bodies and our minds start to sabotage us in different ways.

This is totally normal by the way! And there ways you can overcome it, like by being super intentional about realizing when you start to actually hit those limiting beliefs in your life or your business.

Another thing that I have seen happen, especially when  I’ve been working with students in the Aligned Business Academy, is that they will start to dream about the future business that they’re going to have and then they start to think “oh my gosh, this thing is really going to happen, I’m going to have too much work, I’m going to have to hire a team, I don’t know how to do that” and they start to believe that they should play it safe and they end up holding themselves back.

I know I am guilty of doing this too – when things start to get too good or even when you’re just starting to envision things getting good and you find yourself starting to imagine all of the problems that will come along with this, that, and other, those limiting beliefs and upper limit problems start to creep in.

The good news is that there are things you can do to overcome these limiting beliefs. I’ve been doing some things to smash them myself and step into more abundance in my life, so keep reading to find out what they are 😉

Surround yourself with support

When you’re dreaming about the future and you’re limiting yourself before you even begin what you’re really doing is not doing the work to get there because you’re afraid of what’s going to happen when you do. This is really where getting yourself some support around you can be really valuable. 

Find people who have been there before and have done what you are doing and wanting to do because this can help you to see what’s possible – and it can pave the path for where you’re heading!

I did this myself when I started my agency and it was amazing. When I really intentionally wanted to begin an agency, I found a mentor who was running an agency herself, and she was hugely beneficial in my journey because she had been through the same things that I was going through – the mindblocks of bringing on a team, managing them, growing and scaling in a sustainable way, all of the things that run through your mind when you’re scared to take that next step.

Her mentorship was so helpful because I was literally in tears for those first several months starting the agency. It was super hard for me and I was hitting so many of those upper limiting beliefs. Would I have eventually figured a way out? Yes, probably, but I felt more secure to have that support there to help guide me along and tell me what was normal so I knew I wasn’t completely crazy.

Simplify as you scale

This is a big one, and one I’m still learning! 

When you have those upper limiting beliefs and find yourself starting to feel unstable, or anxious, or even ill, it’s because it’s something that is new to your body….and you might just start to self-sabotage without even consciously realizing. 

Whenever we’re stepping into these next big levels it can feel really uncomfortable to be in that space because it’s all brand new. I’ve been hitting this in a couple different ways this entire year, but I’ve been trying to be really intentional about realizing when I’m self-sabotaging and intentionally choosing to not do that – which is hard because my habits and my neural pathways are so used to doing a certain something that it’s really hard to go against that.

What you did to get to where you are now is not what you need to do to get to the next level. 

You need to be changing things up in order to get to that next place!

Case in point: when I was first hustling I would often take on side projects – random little things that were outside of the scope of my agency but work that would still add to the bottom line of the business…. which is always a good thing, right?

Well, I learned my lesson recently when I took on a side project that ended up being A LOT more work than I thought it was going to be, and I basically shot myself in the foot because doing this job took away from things that would move the needle forward in my business. 

For the first time in my business, taking on one of these thousand-ish dollar projects and putting it outside the scope of my agency actually held me back from doing what I actually need to do in my business. The thing is, I’ve been so used to taking on these extra projects and having them benefit the business, but now when my business is scaling those little side projects actually take my focus away from what really matters to my bottom line.

By taking my energy for the week and putting it towards something outside of the business it actually sabotaged the growth of my business. There are internal things and bigger visioning things that my company needs my time and energy on that are going to sustain growth.

When we’re too busy, when we’re stressed, when we’re not feeling ourselves, we can’t vision, and when we can’t vision we can’t take it the next level.

I’m learning that you have to actually retrain your brain and start to say no to the things that you used to say yes to, and turn into the business owner who is adamant about boundaries and taking time to do what is helping the business grow.

If you’re at this place where you’re hustling, and taking all the work on, and you’re so busy that you barely have time to breathe let alone actually vision what your business could be, stop! I want you think about what could be possible if you did create more white space in your business? What decisions are you making that you are intentionally choosing that are holding you back from that future version of you, from leading the business that you truly want to have? Start there, get intentional, simplify, and know that you deserve to become that future version of yourself!