Things to Prepare For When You Are Leveling Up

We’ve all heard it, felt it, and lived it. When you “level up” things get tougher, not easier. I’m sure we’ve all found ourselves wondering why that is. I actually wanted to share some of my own reasons and ideas for why this happens as it’s been a topic of conversation this week between some of my clients and I. Hey, building a brand is hard work!

My thoughts boil down to this: when you are comfortable, you are complacent, and things are simpler. When you are leveling up, you inevitably will face challenges. After all, what’s that saying? “You can be comfortable or successful, but you can’t be both.” Here are some emotions I’m quite sure you are feeling, or have felt, on the road to leveling up. I know I did. Remember, you haven’t come this far to only come this far!

You may feel a lack of confidence.
Maybe you got a new job position or have an exciting new opportunity. Have you ever felt like you were for sure going to mess it up? UMMM… I’m raising my hand here! Listen, once we master one set of skills, principals, or areas of a business, we’re inherently going to have a lack of confidence moving forward. That’s why you are leveling up, you’re evolving.

You may feel like things are falling apart around you with friends.
This has been happening to me for the last 6 months. I’ll never forget when I was basically disinvited to someone’s birthday party. I was astonished and felt completely backstabbed. As my favorite pastor Joel Osteen says, “Eagles don’t fly with chickens.” Sometimes you will outgrow your crew and feel a sense of loss. It DOES NOT mean you are better than them, you just may have switched priorities and paths in life, and have different views on where you want to be short term and long term. I’ll admit, I don’t miss a lot of people and that tells me I am A-OK. It can get lonely at the top, but just surround yourself with quality-ass people over quantity.

You may start to question yourself and the path you chose.
Hopefully this won’t be the case, but if and when you do start feeling this (as I did), just remember who you are. It’s as simple as that. Self-sabotage is a real thing, and people tend to revert to what’s comfortable when things get difficult, but that will definitely keep you from becoming the person you are supposed to be. You may feel a bit foggy and wonder if this is all worth it, but I’ll tell you, it most definitely is. I started a business in my garage. I fought for it, and sacrificed everything for my companies, and look at me now. Stay true to the path and vision.

You will feel alone.
I didn’t choose to use “you may” in this sentence because this is something you’ll for sure face. There will be a short period of time where you are working a lot, and missing things, and you’ll be tired (oh yes you will be), but soon enough, you’ll hit that next level and have a sense of love and gratitude like never before. You will have people in your life who spark joy and share the same common goals — people to collaborate with and learn from (never stop learning).

Things will become mechanical, for a short time.
When you are diving in and leveling up you may feel like you’re just going through the motions. I used to say, “same shit, different day”, lol. You’ll lose a bit of interest in what you’re doing from time to time since you’ll feel a little bored. If you are in this state, get back to the whole reason you started and quickly. It won’t be like this forever!

No matter where you are on this list in your leveling up journey (I went through them all), the one thing you need to do is make sure you are constantly aware of how you’re feeling during the process. That’s key! We’re all human, and I’ve had my fair share of breakdowns, but the one thing I didn’t do is give up or go back to old habits (at least not for more than a week, lol). Just stay true, trust the process, and enjoy every single moment of the journey. If you asked me even a few years ago if I thought I would be where I am now, I would have laughed.

Keep Hustling. I attribute my success to this: “I never gave or took an excuse.” –Florence Nightingale

XOXO,
Heather