The Part of You That Built Everything Isn’t the One Who’ll Take You to the Next Level

Many years ago, I read that once a company gets to £100k, that the strategies you used to get there aren’t suitable to push you up further. There’s a ceiling of skills. It’s a tough pill to swallow. All the great stuff I did, won’t work anymore!  So, you know that part of you that got sh*t done? The version of you that could take anything life threw at them, the pressure, the deadlines, the chaos, and just get on with it? Well, it does have a ceiling, unfortunately.   

It's time to level yourself up. In the same way that when you first started thinking about building a company you picked all the cheapest suppliers and saw the cheapest trainee coach you could – (if at all, most people very wrongly don’t prioritise themselves at the beginning). Now you are at a different level in your company, you likely have found better suppliers more honed to your brand. It’s time to apply that to yourself.   

I want to say something gently, and I want you to hear it from a place of deep respect for the journey you have been on. That version of you is exhausted with holding it all together and they are starting to struggle to get you personally to the next level.  That version of you is not meant to lead this next chapter in your story. You want to do more than put your head down and survive, you want to build a bigger, better version of yourself.  

For so many leaders I work with, that moment sneaks up quietly, rather than them being aware that they should be pre-empting it. Success doesn’t feel how they thought it would. They feel like they are dragging the business behind them instead of being energised by it. When everything is still “working” but there’s this uncomfortable whisper inside going: “This isn’t fun anymore“.   

If you’re just starting to feel like this, think of it like an invitation to step into building yourself for a while. When I used to suddenly notice that I felt drained by my business, or the relentlessness of life. I’d think, hmm I missed that cue. I’m sure it had appeared, but I probably missed it because I was so busy. I used to feel this every 6 week. I genuinely believed that my brain had so synced with term times from having kids most of my life, that I needed a week’s break every 6 weeks! Now I realise that I just hadn’t stopped to work on myself to get to the next level, so I would tire easily. Having now done so much work on myself, this happens rarely, maybe every 2 years.   

I now stay fully focused on developing myself above all else. The business comes second because unless I’m in a good place, there is no business.   

What takes you forward from here is not more pushing, or proving, it’s a strong, safe, gentle presence. It’s a version of you who leads from clarity, not pressure. A version of you who trusts themselves deeply, who leads from what’s true, not just what looks good from the outside.  

So, if you’re feeling stretched thin or disconnected or just… done with it all lately, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It just means the old part of you, the part that carried so much for so long, is asking to rest, recuperate and reset. If you leave it until it feels like this it always takes longer to reset, so try to predict this and avoid getting to this late stage.   

This time, book in reset points, reflection times and momentum points. These will help stop you getting pulled back each time and help you build the leader you really want to be.