Book Review: The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level

The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level is one of those books that has been making the podcasting circuit. Dr. Gay Hendricks makes the case that there is an Upper Limit Problem, which prevents us from achieving our true potential. He noted that a lot of the upper limit problems originate from triggers we picked up when we were younger. Because a lot of people were recommending this book as a way to overcome these barriers, I thought it was important to take a look at it. I found it quite enlightening. It was one of the books I set up for my February 2018 Reading List.

My version of The Big Leap is a Kindle version but the printed version has 224 pages spread across seven chapters along with an appendix. In this book, Hendricks defined the upper limit problem, shared tips for identifying it in your daily life, and provided strategies for overcoming these barriers.

Throughout the book, Hendricks wrote about his struggle with the upper limit problem but also used other individuals who he worked with as supporting examples.

As I understand the upper limit problem, it is those opportunities when we are successful but we sabotage our self because we do not believe we are deserving to have that much success. It could be events earlier in life that set in motion these self-sabotaging actions. Hendricks provided examples of these different types of actions. As he described these different situations I could see how they play out in my own life. I recognize I followed many of my successes with something stupid that diminished my success. Two steps forward and one step back.

This book followed a similar theme to other books that I have recently read:

• The War of Art
• Outwitting the Devil
• Think and Grow Rich

These books point out your inner voice can hold you back from success. You have to change your mindset to generate success while at the same time, control your inner voice from self-sabotaging actions.

Hendricks provided strategies for identifying when self-sabotaging behavior is taking place. He also shared tactics for mitigating or eliminating the self-sabotaging actions.

He talked about four zones for our major activities:

• The Zone of Incompetence – we are not good at doing anything in this zone. We are wasting a lot of time, energy, and money in this zone.
• The Zone of Confidence – this is an area where we are good at a task but so is everyone else.
• The Zone of Excellence – this is an area where we can make a lot of money because we are good at it. But Hendricks suggested we move into the last Zone.
• The Zone of Genius – this is a Zone where we are at our best. We are uniquely qualified to do this activity.

In The Big Leap, Hendricks shared four barriers that are holding us back. These barriers resonated with me. The first barrier is feeling like we are flawed. That something is inherently wrong with us. The second barrier is disloyalty and abandonment. This is where you feel that you are being disloyal or abandoning your roots because you are trying to achieve something different or unique from that of your heritage. The third barrier is believing that success will end up being a greater burden. After reading this particular barrier and the specific example that Hendricks used, it resonated quite personally with me. The final barrier holding you back is that you may outshine others. I can see it my own personal life how each one of these barriers has held me back in one way or another. I have to come to terms with them and figure out how to move forward.

One example that happened recently is that before a trip to a conference I became sick. I noticed that I became sick before a lot of trips. Was I becoming sick because of the guilt I was feeling for relaxing and enjoying myself? Once I recognized this was occurring, I applied a strategy that Hendricks suggested. After I applied the strategy to get my head right, things started to improve rapidly. Now that makes me wonder how much of my illnesses associated with travel were a self-induced self-sabotaging mechanism. Just wondering.

I enjoyed reading The Big Leap. It made me think about a lot of things and brought into focus things that I may be doing to prevent myself from being as successful as I could be. The strategies Hendricks shared can help me be more successful. I would definitely recommend this book to others. I thought it was quite eye-opening as I looked at my own personal life in comparison to the examples provided.

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