The Quest to Break Through My Income Ceiling: Part 4

What If Doing It All Is Holding You Back?

As I've continued this journey to break my income ceiling, one lesson keeps showing up over and over again.

I've had to redefine what it means to be a strong, independent woman.

For most of my life, I believed being a strong, independent woman meant I didn't need anyone. I could do it all myself.

Looking back, I can see this was also a pattern I learned as a kid. Somewhere along the way, I stopped trusting other people to carry the load. So I became the one who handled everything.

Those patterns became my superpowers. They made me incredibly capable. I got things done. I didn't wait for someone else to solve the problem. If it needed to happen, I made it happen.

But every superpower has a shadow. What helped me get here isn't what's going to take me where I want to go next.

As I've been doing the work to break my income ceiling, I've found myself asking a different question:

What would the version of me making $500,000 a year do differently?

One answer kept coming up.

She wouldn't do everything herself. She would build a team.

One item had been sitting on my dream list for months: hire someone to do the yardwork.

Not because I hate gardening. I actually love working in my garden. But mowing the lawn, trimming everything, and keeping up with it every single week wasn't just taking an hour. It was taking up space in my brain.

Every week I'd catch myself wondering, "When am I going to find time to mow the lawn?"

I work school hours so I can be available for Bailey after school, which makes my work hours incredibly valuable. And on the weekends, I want to spend time with my family.

Then someone asked me two simple questions.

"How much would it cost to hire someone?"

About $200 a month.

Then they asked, "What do you charge for an hour of coaching?"

I realized I was asking the wrong question.

I wasn't asking, "Can I afford a gardener?"

I should have been asking, "Can I afford to keep spending my time and mental energy mowing the lawn?"

It wasn't just a financial decision.

It was an identity decision.

Now, before you think I've abandoned everything I teach, let me be clear.

I absolutely believe in using your budget to make intentional financial decisions. That's still the foundation.

But I also knew that breaking my income ceiling was going to require me to make different decisions than the version of me who created my current income.

The version of me who got me here isn't the version of me who's going to get me where I want to go next.

That version of me believed she had to do everything herself.

The next version of me builds a team.

So I hired the gardener.

Before my income increased.

Before I "could afford it."

Because I wasn't just investing in my yard.

I was investing in becoming the person capable of building the business I want.

And you know what?

The yard isn't perfect.

But I don't think about mowing the lawn anymore.

I don't spend mental energy trying to figure out when I'm going to fit it in.

That freedom has been worth every penny.

I'm realizing the next version of me doesn't get there by doing more.

She gets there by doing less of the things that someone else can do.

She protects her time.

She protects her energy.

She invests in support.

She understands that buying back time creates space to do the work only she can do.

If I want to build a $500,000 business, I can't keep operating like a one-person show trying to carry the weight of everything.

One of the biggest shifts in breaking my income ceiling has been learning to put things down instead of proving I can carry them.

So I'll leave you with this question:

Where in your life are you still believing that being strong means doing it all yourself?

What is one thing you could take off your calendar—or out of your mental load—to create more space for the life you're building?

I'd love to hear your answer.

Disclaimer: I am an educator, not your personal financial advisor. Please make sure to do your own research before moving forward with any actions discussed in this blog post. 

Know that all investments involve some form of risk and there is no guarantee that you will be successful in making, saving, or investing money; nor is there any guarantee that you won't experience any loss when investing. Always remember to make smart decisions and do your own research!