Breaking Through the Upper Limit: Living Into Your Potential

If you’ve ever had a moment when everything seemed to be going right — your work is thriving, your relationships are healthy, maybe your finances are finally stable — only to suddenly procrastinate, pick a fight, or even getting sick… you’re not alone.

Gay Hendricks, in The Big Leap, calls this the Upper Limit Problem — the invisible ceiling that determines how much love, joy, and success we allow ourselves to experience. When we reach that ceiling, our unconscious mind finds ways to bring us back down to “normal.”

But what if that ceiling wasn’t real?

The Four Hidden Barriers

Hendricks identifies four barriers that keep us from fully stepping into our potential. Understanding them is the first step toward freedom.

Barrier #1: Feeling Fundamentally Flawed

This belief often shouts, or maybe a dull whisper, “There’s something wrong with me.”

Moses battled this in Exodus 3 when God called him to confront Pharaoh. His first response was, “Who am I that I should go?” He lists his flaws: he can’t speak well, he’s not qualified. Who do I say sent me? I don’t have the credentials.

But God doesn’t argue with Moses’ flaws — He simply promises: “I will be with you.”

• Takeaway: Your worth is not determined by your performance. God’s presence qualifies you.

Barrier #2: Disloyalty and Abandonment

This barrier says, “If I grow, I’ll leave others behind.”

You might fear that success means betraying your family, your community, or your faith tradition.

The disciples faced this when Jesus called them — they left nets, boats, and even family to follow Him (Luke 5). Growth can feel like betrayal, but it’s often the call to a bigger life.

Oprah Winfrey has shared how she struggled with this very fear, worrying that her success meant abandoning the community she came from. She reframed it — using her platform to lift others up.

• Takeaway: You can honor where you came from and step into where you’re going.

Barrier #3: Believing More Success Brings a Burden

This belief says, “If I succeed, life will get harder.”

You might think more money will mean more stress, or more recognition will mean less freedom.

But Jesus reminds us in Matthew 11: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Success doesn’t have to crush you — if you build healthy rhythms and boundaries now.

• Takeaway: Don’t let fear of future burdens keep you from saying yes to growth. Prepare now to carry success well.

Barrier #4: The Crime of Outshining

This belief screams, “If I shine too brightly, others will feel bad.”

Many of us learned this as kids — when praise or recognition created tension with siblings or friends. So we dimmed our light. We stopped pushing and seeking growth.

But Jesus said: “No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket.” (Matthew 5:15) Your light is meant to illuminate, not be hidden.

Think of artists like Beyoncé or Michael Jordan — their brilliance took nothing away from us; it inspired us.

• Takeaway: Your gifts are not meant to be hidden. Let them shine in ways that elevate others.

When We Self-Sabotage

Hendricks even suggests that sometimes we unconsciously create illness or accidents to bring ourselves back down to a “safe” level of happiness.

Sound strange? Consider how stress manifests physically — headaches, insomnia, even chronic illness. Jonah is a biblical example: his resistance to God’s call leads to chaos, storms, and near death until he finally surrenders.

• Reflection Question: Do you notice patterns where you get sick, procrastinate, or pick fights right when you’re close to a breakthrough?

How to Break Through?

Breaking the Upper Limit isn’t about pushing harder — it’s about expanding your capacity for joy and success. It’s noticing the ways we sabotage consciously and subconsciously the success and opportunities in our path.

Here’s how to start:

1. Notice and Name It: When you catch yourself self-sabotaging, pause and ask: “Am I hitting my Upper Limit?”

2. Expand Your Joy Tolerance: Practice micro-moments of gratitude: notice beauty, savor a compliment, celebrate small wins.

3. Renew Your Mind: Romans 12:2 reminds us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Replace limiting beliefs with God’s truth.

4. Take Aligned Action: Don’t wait until fear disappears. Ship the project, make the call, step into the opportunity.

Living Fully Alive

The goal isn’t just to earn more or check off more achievements. It’s living what Jesus called “life to the full” (John 10:10).

That requires courage. It means stepping out from under old scripts and into a bigger story.

What might God do with a life fully yielded to Him and fully unleashed? What could happen if you stopped sabotaging yourself and started living wide open?

👣 Next Step

If this resonated with you, I write weekly about stepping into the next chapter of creativity, leadership, and business, The Art of Paying Attention — short dispatches designed to help you live fully awake. Subscribe today and start raising your ceiling.

-Ryan