4 Ways You Can Get Unstuck & Break that Glass Ceiling

As a Christian counselor and coach for women, I have the advantage of hearing what's going on behind the scenes in many women's lives and see how women get stuck in the lies they believe which hold them back. In my experience, I have found there are four reasons that cause many women to get stuck and remain in a vicious cycle, causing them to not gain traction towards their goals in life. Most of the time, if these can be mastered, women can overcome what is going on and get unstuck!

First, I like to envision a glass ceiling as a metaphor for these 4 Reasons for Getting Stuck, not in terms of the business world, but in terms of our own lives. I think we often have our own glass ceilings where these four things get in the way. We don't even realize it because it's metaphorical "glass," and we can see through it. When these four things are addressed, we can shatter that glass ceiling. With God's help, we can keep going, and there's really no limit to how much good we can have in our lives! We have to intentionally cultivate a belief that is not limiting us.

Many of us go too BIG and believe if we can't do it all, then we're not doing anything. We may believe if we're not fully able to do something, we can't. In these cases where you can't  do it all at once, choose one thing that will have the biggest impact and make the biggest difference and repeat it until it's solid or a good habit. Incorporate it as part of your life where you can do it without thinking. If you don't just focus on that one thing, you won't make traction on anything because of the burden of carrying all the areas you want to change. You only have so much time and energy and the burden of trying to do something in all areas at once can feel like failure. So don't go too broad and don't go all in or nothing, but instead pick one thing to focus on improving, do it well until you feel solid in it, and then pick the next one thing. Chunking it is the best way to do it!

It has been said that from the time someone really starts to be aware of their mental health issues to getting help can be 12 years! That's over a decade of suffering that could be helped a lot sooner. We tend to make all kinds of excuses for not addressing the trauma. We may minimize it as not a big deal or think that we'll get over it. We may think if others can do it, so can I or it's not as bad as others so I can tough it out. This type of rationalization when you are hurting and stuck due to trauma doesn't help you heal from it. Trauma needs trauma healing with help from somebody who can address what has impacted your nervous system where the information is stored which is keeping you stuck. So, if you keep hitting against the same things over and over, you're going to notice patterns. If those patterns are rooted in fear or trauma, I encourage you to reach out to a professional who can help you!

It's often difficult to reach goals because of our mindset. Our mindset is what we believe we can do and what we don't believe we can do. We often think we have a realistic mindset because that's the lens through which we view the world and our brain is what we use to determine it. This is why we have to take our mindsets back to scripture on a daily basis because the renewing of our mind gives us more accurate lenses. For example, I'm currently struggling with some eyesight issues for which I need to go to the eye doctor. I am noticing how much my vision is clouded in one of my eyes making things harder to focus on, and I need it to be healed. I need to remove that cloudiness, distortion, or diffusion of light because I can't see with accuracy. Once I get that corrected, I will see clearly. With my eyes, I know I can see much more clearly out of one eye than the other. When I apply this example to our mindset, we don't even know what we have been tolerating for so long if we've been accepting it as truth. We decide this truth in our minds and if this is not lined up with scripture, we might not be seeing things as clearly as we think we are. Through scripture, we can have a mindset that challenges limited beliefs or that glass ceiling and speaks the truth where we can do all things through Christ. As women, we don't want to play small; we want to play for God who created everything from the stars in the sky to every hair on your head. 

A lack of confidence is something that may also leave you feeling stuck. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength...this is the confidence in which you can have a better life and not live in misery. This confidence is one in which you can do and achieve hard things. So, if you don't have the confidence in yourself right now, have the confidence in God because He says He will never leave you or forsake you. He is where we can put our confidence. God didn't make junk; He made you fearfully and wonderfully with many gifts, skills, and talents. He can do amazing things through your life, but you need to let Him by healing that which hasn't been healed through professional treatment if you need it and not trying to do everything at once by choosing one thing at a time. Don't tell yourself that it's not good and instead, keep working at it until you get good and then go to the next step. Have confidence in what He can do and check your mindset by returning it back to the truths of scripture and the immensity of who God is and all He created for you.

If you do these four things in your life, they are going to make a huge difference. You'll be amazed at what you and God achieve together because He can already do it and you can too, but you just need to know it!