February 2020

Breaking Through Limitations to Live An Outstanding Life

The goal seemed overwhelming at the start, but you threw yourself into it anyway. It might have even gone well for a while.

But now things have skidded to a halt, and you’re not entirely sure what happened. 

You’re in over your head, and you’re not sure what to do. Now you have a choice. 

Quit here and never know the sweet victory that is so tantalisingly out of reach or bust through your limitations to live an outstanding life.

Sound familiar?

We’ve all had these moments. 

The key lies in knowing what to do next. 

And before I reveal these four tips to get you back on the road to success, I want to share with you how to recognise your self-imposed limitations. This is important so you can push past them.

When you’ve been trying and failing too often, you need to determine if you are as limited as you think you are, or is there something else going on?

It could be that you’ve limited yourself. Most limitations are, in fact, self-imposed, for one reason or another. 

So how can you tell when a limitation is real or something else entirely?

Breaking Through Limitations to Live An Outstanding Life

Look for the word “they.” 

Anytime you make a ‘they’ statement what you’re talking about is your self-doubt. You may feel like ‘they’ are keeping you in the same tedious job or from becoming financially independent. Still, in truth, it’s your fear holding you back.

 

Have you checked your motivation? 

It could be that you’ve lost sight of why you want what you want. When your goal becomes muddled and unclear, it can look and feel like a limitation. 

 

Are you feeling vulnerable? 

When you’re worried about how you’re going to look to other people, it’s easy to put limitations on your actions.

Let’s face it; no one likes to be the subject of other peoples laughter.

The question is, is anyone paying any attention?

Most of the time when we’re worried about how we’re going to be perceived, there’s no one even paying close attention. 

 

Do you lack confidence? 

If you’ve started doubting your ability to reach your goal, it’s easy to formulate limitations to keep you from having to go further.

If this is the case, then it’s time to look back at your history. Where have you succeeded before? What does that tell you about your ability to handle this situation?

 

Have you tried asking for help? 

Are you stalled out due to lack of knowledge or because you’ve gone as far as you can on your own? It might be time to enlist the help and support of a mentor or partner to help you push past this particular limitation.

Breaking Through Limitations

Where are you emotionally? 

Is depression or worry, keeping you down and inventing excuses to stall out? Address the emotional issues that are making you feel like you can’t get past this point.

 

Do you need a mental health day? 

If you’ve been plugging along for a while without seeing much success, it’s easy to get burned out and then perceive that as a limitation.

Try taking a day off so you can get your head back in the game tomorrow.

Recognising when you’re at the root of these self-imposed limitations is a good thing because that means you also have the tools to get past this point.

Close self-examination will help you determine what you need to do to move past this point, and so find the success that is waiting for you. 

With your greater awareness of your limitations, these four tips will get you back on the road to success. 

 

Stop and listen to yourself. 

What’s going on in your head right now?

Frequenting stalling out happens because you’ve either decided that the task is impossible, or you’ve talked yourself out of thinking you can do it. 

It’s at this point that you need to shut down that negative self-talk and focus on the positive.

Yes, the goal is possible.

Yes, you are perfectly capable. 

If you need proof, find examples of times you have succeeded.

Look to other people who have been where you are and who have made it through. Let these things guide you instead of a lot of self-induced negativity.

Limitations to Live An Outstanding Life

Break out of the comfort zone. 

A lot of times we stall out because we’re not comfortable with going forward. These kinds of limitations arise because we fear the unknown. 

By being bold and trying something new, you’re bound to surprise yourself in some good ways.

 

Address your weaknesses. 

It’s hard to admit when you don’t have all the answers.

But when a lack of knowledge is limiting you, the solution is relatively easy. 

In today’s online world, you have the option of searching for answers on the Internet.

Also, if you need something more in-depth to move you forward, there is a wealth of online courses available. 

Accept this limitation as being temporary, and then set about correcting it using whatever means necessary.

 

Make use of your support system. 

Many limitations are the result of just being burned out. Here’s where it’s good to have mentors and friends to help pull you up when you’re feeling down. 

Reach out to someone you trust and talk the problem through with them. Who knows, maybe they can even help you to brainstorm a solution.

Busting through your limitations is just a matter of paying attention to where and when they happen.

An outstanding life is so close to you. Aren’t you ready to reach out and grab it?

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5 No-Nonsense Ways To Have A Better Work-Life Balance

More and more people are struggling with their work-life balance.

Achieving work-life balance can seem like an impossible feat. Technology makes workers accessible around the clock.

Fears of job loss encourage longer working hours.

A large percentage of the workforce feel their job demands that they should be available 24/7.

With the advent of smartphone technology, they can check in from anywhere.

 

50 Hour Weeks

A massive 94% of working professionals reported working more than 50 hours per week in a Harvard Business School survey.

And nearly 50% said they worked more than 65 hours each week.

This constant availability can take a heavy toll on both a person’s physical and mental health. We need to relax, socialise, and care for ourselves to stay happy and healthy. 

And the experts agree. Compounding stress from those never-ending workdays damages us.

Work-Life Balance

It hurts our health, relationships, and happiness.

The term work-life balance means something different to each one of us, but here are five simple ways to improve your work-life balance:

 

Let Go Of Perfect

When you hear “work-life balance,” you probably picture having a productive day at work and then leaving work early to spend the other half of the day with friends and family.

This may seem ideal, but it is not always possible. 

Don’t strive for the perfect schedule.

Aim for a realistic one.

There are some days when you focus more on work, while other days you might have more time and energy to spend time with your loved ones or pursue your hobbies.

Think that a work-life balance is achieved over time, not each day. 

Remain fluid and continually assess where you are versus your goals and priorities.

There will be times when your children may need you and other times, when you may need to travel for work.

Letting go of perfect and allowing yourself to assess your needs on any day and then redirecting is the key to finding work-life balance.

Work-Life Balance image

Accept that there is no ‘perfect’ work-life balance.

We develop our perfectionist tendencies at a young age when demands on our time are limited to school and hobbies.

It’s easy to maintain our perfectionist habit as a child, but as we grow up, life gets more complicated. 

Your responsibilities mushroom as you climb the corporate ladder and as your family grows.

Perfection becomes out of reach, and if that habit is left unchecked, it can become destructive.

The key to avoiding burn out is to let go of perfectionism. As life expands, it’s very hard, both neurologically and psychologically, to sustain that habit of perfection. The healthier option is to strive for excellence, not for perfection.

 

Unplug

It is so much easier said than done, as everyone knows, but avoid checking your phone for work matters after working hours.

This constant checking of your messages and emails may have become a habit you wish you’d never started. 

If you are honest, practically all work-related issues can wait until the next day.

It’s vital when you get home each evening and on the weekends to unplug from work.

Let your colleagues know you won’t be returning calls, emails, or texts about work after hours so that they can be prepared for this change. 

 

Constant Accessibility

Technology has helped our lives in countless ways. But it has also created expectations of constant accessibility.

The working day never seems to end. 

Could you shut your phone off and enjoy the moment?

The constant pinging of notifications interrupts your off time and injects an undercurrent of stress.

So don’t text while waiting for your children at school and don’t send work emails while watching a movie with the family.

Make quality time true quality time. 

You will develop a stronger habit of resilience when you do not react to every update from work.

Resilient people feel a greater sense of control over their lives. Reactive people feel they have less control and are more prone to stress.

Work-Life Balance

Work Smarter

You are not alone if you can’t seem to get all of your work done within the allotted 4work week.

As stated earlier, an alarming number of people work more than 50 hours a week, each and every week.

Please take a close look at how you are spending your time before going to your line manager to ask them to reduce your workload.

Keep track to see what’s causing you to stay late each night and come in early each morning. 

The secret to working smarter is controlling your habits.

You will be surprised by the many ways you can change or eliminate distractions and other time-wasters.

A good rule of thumb is to force yourself to commit to affirmative action every day.

Don’t let your day control you. Instead, you take control by maintaining habits that improve time management and communication skills.

 

Take A Stay-Cation

Another essential way to get your work-life balance in order is to make use of all of your vacation days.

A large number of workers lose crucial time with their family or with themselves because they don’t take all of their vacation days.

Or in extreme cases, don’t have any vacation days at all. 

If you feel uncomfortable about using all your holiday in one long vacation, schedule the occasional day off here and there to enjoy “stay-cations.”

When you break up your holiday like this, it will give you the mental health days you need while ensuring you don’t come back to an overwhelming pile of work.

 

Train Your People

Many of us grew up being told, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

The problem is this gets ingrained to the point where we feel we can’t delegate any tasks for fear they end up back in our laps in a worse state than before. 

If you have team members you manage or freelancers you outsource to, it pays dividends to take the time to train them well.

Make sure they know exactly what you expect from them and how to do things. 

Of course, this will take an investment of your time upfront.

But, once they understand your expectations and requirements thoroughly, you’ll be able to hand off more work and give yourself some slack.

It is easy to have work take precedence over everything else in our lives.

Our quest to succeed can leave us, forgetting about our own health and well-being.

Creating a work-life balance is critical to improving not just our emotional, mental, and physical health but also our career health.

 

Harmonious Work-Life Balance

Having a harmonious work-life balance has loads os positive effects, including minimising stress and burnout and promoting well-being. 

To create a work-life balance that works for you, take time to assess your own needs.

Everyone’s work-life balance will not look the same, and there is probably not one person who divides their work and personal life perfectly in half. 

A good work-life balance is less about neatly splitting the hours in your day between work and personal commitments and more about creating the flexibility to get things done in your professional life while still having the energy and time to enjoy your personal life fully.

Creating this flexibility means that some times you might have to work longer hours.

If that happens, create time later in the week to enjoy some other activities. 

Regardless of how you choose to organise your time, it would be ideal if you placed greater importance on creating a work-life balance to be successful at work and in your personal life.

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Test Your Limits to Reach Your Potential

Do you know your limits? Chances are you think you have a pretty good idea of your capabilities.

For example, if you’re into running, you probably have a fair idea of how fast you can run a mile. 

You might define that number as being your limit, and if asked, you’re probably going to answer with that number. 

But is that your limit?

The truth is, you don’t know your limits until you’ve pushed them. 

That time for running a mile might not be a limit so much as what you can run reasonably comfortably with only a little bit of pushing.

But in an emergency, you’d probably discover that you can run much faster than that.

When it comes to goal setting, you likewise define limits for yourself.

But are they your limits?

And how do you know if they are? 

The time has come to test them. 

 

Passion knows no bounds.

When you’re excited about something, you should automatically be trying to see how far you can take it.

Testing your limits then starts first with measuring your excitement level. 

The desire to throw yourself into a project means you’re already testing your limits in it.

limits exceed

Break it down. 

When you want to explore your passion but feel limited, then break down the steps needed to go further, concentrating only on the next step.

Why does this work? 

In the example involving running, say you run an 11-minute mile, but want to run an 8-minute mile.

If you try to push yourself that hard, that fast, you’re only going to hurt yourself. 

Instead, look only at the next goal, which might be 10 minutes and 45 seconds.

When you’ve attained that goal, you go for the next one, and so on, pushing your limits in small increments. 

 

Push daily. 

Take these small changes where you’re pushing yourself and make a point to do them daily.

This regularity gives incremental growth over time until it becomes a habit to push yourself that little bit each day. 

 

Always seek the next challenge. 

Once you’ve reached a goal, don’t assume that you’re at the end of the process.

Any mountain climber will tell you that reaching the summit is fantastic, but there’s always another peak to conquer. 

What is the next summit that you can tackle?

Keep looking ahead. Imagine a life of constant growth and no actual limits at all.

Testing your limits is an integral part of reaching your full potential. 

By continually pushing, you will continue to prove to yourself, and the world around you, your capabilities.

You’ll be amazed at what you learn in the process!

Many times, to achieve your goals, you will need to push beyond your limits.

You might know what I am referring to, but let me present a scenario for you.

Have you ever looked at a dream and thought to yourself that it was too far out of reach?

You probably thought it was too hard to get there. 

Maybe you felt like you didn’t have the resources, either physical or mental, to be up to the challenge.

Or it could be the task was just too big and too daunting even to consider.

What if those impossible dreams were not so impossible, after all?

There is nothing so challenging or so satisfying as pushing past your limitations to achieve your goals.

Believe it or not, it’s not as hard as you think.

limits and mistakes

Change your way of thinking. 

You’re never going to succeed if you’ve already decided that you’re going to fail.

Tell yourself that you can accomplish this dream.

Find proof of that.

Are there others who have achieved this goal?

Make those people your role models.

 

Find a mentor. 

Trying to go it alone always makes things harder.

By finding someone who can act as an encourager, you’ll double your chances of success.

But a mentor is more than just a cheerleader.

They’re there to give advice, and at times, kick your butt when you want to quit. 

 

Use creative visualisation. 

See the success in your mind.

Quite often, just taking the time to hold that thought will help you to see that your goal is not only possible but also how to get there.

Visualisation is a lot more powerful than you think.

 

Create a game plan. 

It’s impossible to get anywhere without a solid plan in mind.

Look critically at your goal. What are the steps that you need to take to get there?

How can you break those steps down into even smaller daily tasks? 

Schedule milestones and then set yourself in motion. 

Keep in mind that you might not have everything you need to achieve your goal yet.

If you lack in any way, what do you need to add to that game plan?

Make room for continuing education if you need to, and then add that onto your schedule as well.

 

Take a leap of faith. 

Push yourself to do the things that are bigger than you think you’re capable of achieving.

You’re guaranteed to fail if you never try. 

When you have the rest of your tools in place, then it’s time to throw yourself out there and see what happens. 

You’ll never know what you’re capable of if you stay in the same old rut doing the same old things.

You’re meant to realise dreams. 

Pushing yourself to the limits to see your capabilities is one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do.

Sure it’s hard work, but by getting out there and trying, you might surprise yourself.

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