Have you ever hit a roof? At work, in life or in a relationship? The first question he usually asks is, “how did I get to this ceiling?” In general, the next question that follows is, “how can I get past this?”
In this month’s newsletter, we’re going to deal with the first question.
First, what do I mean by “ceiling”?
Here are some examples:
An entrepreneur may say to himself: “I can no longer grow my business”; “I can’t get more customers” or “I can’t increase my profits.”
An individual at his workplace might wonder, “why can’t I get promoted?” or “Why can’t I find a different job?”
Someone in a relationship may feel that their partner “can’t seem to connect on a deeper level.”
What is?
In life, it’s not unusual to feel like you should be further along in your career or life goals than you are. Regardless of what your ceilings are, we all experience them at different times and for various reasons. One of the hardest things about ceilings is identifying exactly WHAT it is; meaning: what is causing you to hit this ceiling? If we all instinctively knew what makes us hit our ceiling, fewer of us would, right?
What is the Root?
Roofs are usually caused by a root problem. For example, if the problem at work is, “I can’t seem to get all my work done,” the person may first feel that there is simply too much work to do in the allotted time. However, upon careful reflection, you may discover that the real root of the problem is a lack of concentration. Lack of concentration at work can cause this particular person to be unable to finish all of their work during the day. Even if the individual is currently able to focus at work, there may be a lack of concentration at a particular time of the day resulting in decreased productivity. That said, an increase in concentration, whether it’s taking a break at a certain time of day or perhaps rearranging your workload, can make a world of difference.
Pretty easy, right?
Well, certainly if it were that easy, we wouldn’t be talking about it. Being able to identify the root or fundamental causes of your ceilings requires objective honesty and humility. It is very difficult to look in the mirror and discover the cancer that may be plaguing your life. Let’s together bring clarity to this process of identifying the fundamental cause(s) of your ceiling(s):
Four steps to help you identify your roofs:
Step 1. What are the things you know you need to improve about yourself? Make a list of 3-5 things you would most like to change.
Step 2. Ask your friends, family, spouse, co-workers, or a trusted manager to help you identify areas of opportunity. This is a tough question! You really need to be humble, listen and not be defensive. You can really learn a lot if you are open.
Step 3. Compare the two lists. Are they the same or similar in a particular area? Examine the lists for differences. Pay special attention to things that are on the second list that are not on your first list because you may be looking at a blind spot that needs to be addressed!
Step 4. Do an assessment to confirm/discover the things that are holding you back. There are several types of assessments that can help you identify things like a lack of direction or issues like time management and a lack of organization that are affecting you. There are a number of evaluations that are free and you can certainly find some that have a monetary cost for them. Some employment-related assessments that include a fee are Work Place Big 5; the Myers Briggses; Disc; and seeker of strength.
To get started, check out these free assessments, accessed at the links below:
funeducation.com/Tests/PersonalityTest/TakeTest.aspx
www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.aspx
Once you can identify the causes of your ceiling(s), half the battle is over. Most of the time it is more difficult to identify the actual causes of our roofs than it is to actually fix them! The reason for this is that the cause is usually not tangible. In fact, some of you will take this information, run with it, and break through your ceilings immediately, go for it! For those of you who feel like “what do I do now”, don’t worry, we’ll cover what to do in the next article, stay tuned.