Breakthrough your barriers

Do we still, after all these years, have to breakthrough the glass ceiling? Some of the women will recognise this…. the glass ceiling isn’t where we thought it was.

I found this great article on mistakes we make trying to break the glass ceiling.  You want to read it…. follow this link.

With all the mistakes we make and prejudice we are facing, from ourselves and from the people around us, I find that we still believe the glass ceiling is there to stop us from fulfilling our potential. The funny thing is, when we start believing in our potential and see ourselves in attracting the good things in live.. there is no longer a glass ceiling. It might be a concept developped by man (is it? )… but we are the onces believing in it!

Just food for thought: there is a glass ceiling, a glass cellar and a glass cliff… Great metaphores! But… how to deal with it?

I have a few tips already for you. Are you up for it, to look at them and see if it makes you break through your glass ceiling?.…. We’ll see.

First of all, I believe it helps if we understand ourselves. When we know what we’re worth… life becomes far more easier. But how do we value our self-worth? I quess the central theme here is”Who am I”? How much do I appreciate myself for being the unique me, regardless of my roles in life (as a daughter/ mother/ partner/ colleague/friend…), the tasks I set to fulfill and my ambitions? How well do I know my strengths and weaknessess? Do I feel I am in balance with my surroudings? Or… on a spiritual level… Am I connected with my core?

It will result in the way we think about ourselves. Self-awarness, self-acceptation and self-knowledge are the key issues here. It will give us some sense about our authenticity.

Secondly, you will probably wonder how much the people around you influence you. Is it a lot? Or… maybe not? Just look at some incidents in your life. When you are asked about your opinion… will you speak up for yourself? Will you communicate your deepest you? Or will you use your internal radar, trying to pick up the non-verbal and verbal signs from the people around you… trying to estimate what they want to hear… and then say it? ( a social appreciated answer… maybe it has something to do with how you really feal, may be not) Nothing wrong with that…. for many people it is a great way to survive in a hectic world. But… honestly… what would you have said if you would speak from your hart? No matter what?

Thirdly… what about your beliefs? Which one of your beliefs, on how you see the world, can you really commit to? And… which ones not? Are they supporting you or not? If you go back in time… can you recall the start of these beliefs? What was the situation , at that time? Sometimes, when we focus on our beliefs, and go back to our earlies memories, we can actually see/ hear the person who is the original source of that belief. Do you know where your beliefs are coming from? Do you feel they are supporting you, or not? And if so… why?

I know I am taking you a giant step forwards now. But there is something I want to explain to you. Once we know how we are programmed, there is a way of fine-tuning some of our findings. Once we start thinking positive about ourselves, it will change how we feel about ourselves. And, as a result… our reality will change as well. You want an example? Just go back to the first time you fell in love with someone. Didn’t you feel like you were on top of the world? Didn’t the world look even more beautifull then before? The sun even looked brighter, the flowers were prettier… the people around you more friendly? Even thought your were a winner, the sky was the limit? Well, I guess, this is wat I meant with your thoughts create your feelings and results in your reality.

How does the above add up to our construction of our glass ceiling? Beacause that is what it is… it is our construction. It’s the construction of other people, struggling with the same issues. We believe the glass ceiling is something outside of us… but in reality it isn’t. Of course, there are plenty of examples of discrimination of any kind in the workingspace. But… maybe the challenge here is to work our way around it, keeping our focus on what we want to achieve. It could mean we have to leave the company an find an other way of reaching for our highest potential… but will that stop us? Is there a way of breaking through the glass ceiling?

Once we realise who we are and what we are worth… from our own point of view, things will shift. The four above points of gaining insights are a rough framework of getting to know ourselves.  It might be you have experienced in real life the glass ceiling yourself…. that you can mention many examples where the glass ceiling was placed. I really would like to hear your own experiences with it.  Did you manage to breakthrough the glass ceiling? And … how did it work out for you in the end?

Let us know!