The Four Gaps Keeping You Stuck and How to Close Them Before 2026 | 152

Have you ever worked hard all year and still felt like you did not move forward in the ways that matter most? In this episode of The Worthy Woman Podcast, I walk you through four specific gaps that keep even strong, faith-fueled women feeling stuck and drained at the end of the year.

You will learn:

• The 4 gaps that quietly block your progress
• Why you feel busy but not truly productive
• How misalignment with your real priorities creates burnout
• How old identity patterns keep you from living like the woman God already says you are
• Why your goals keep stalling without a real plan and simple systems

We cover:

1. Alignment with what matters most
2. Mindset that matches your God-given identity
3. A real plan that fits your actual life
4. Consistency and evaluation so you keep momentum

If you want 2026 to look and feel different, start by closing these four gaps.

Mentioned in this episode:

Worthy Woman Activation Intensive: Join me for a live 3-hour workshop where we build your 90-day plan for 2026 and walk through my T.R.U.E. framework. Save your seat: amyramsey.com/activation

 Grab my FREE guide, The High-Performance Edge, and learn the six habits that create clarity, consistency, and momentum in your daily life. Download at amyramsey.com/edge

The Worthy Woman Summit is a transformational experience for purpose driven women who are ready to elevate their life, leadership, and impact. Join us March 19th-21st in Ridgeland, Mississippi for faith fueled teaching, practical high- performance tools, and powerful connection with women who are building lives of purpose and legacy. Grab your ticket, invite a friend, and join us in the room. Tickets available at WorthyWomanSummit.com

Let’s Stay Connected
Website: www.amyramsey.com
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Instagram: @amyramsey_
YouTube: Amy Ramsey

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Transcript

Why Hard Work Isn’t Enough

Amy Ramsey 0:46

Have you ever wondered how you can work hard all year long and still feel like you didn't make the progress you know you are capable of? Oh my gosh, that's the worst ever, is it not? Hey friends, welcome to the podcast. Again, this is freshly rebranded, the Worthy Woman Podcast with Amy Ramsey. And the mission of this podcast is to equip faith-fueled women just like you with the mindsets, the habits, the strategies that create real transformation in their life, in your life, in your leadership, in your purpose. I wanted to create this specific episode because I want to help you close the gap that keeps you stuck so you can move into 2026 with focus and momentum. You know what? So you can get to the end of next year, 2026, and say, you know what? I actually broke through. I actually feel like I hit my capacity is expanding and that I'm actually making massive progress. All right, let me ask you this question. I want you to think right now, what is keeping you stuck? And how can you close the gaps so you can step into 2026 with clarity and confidence? Now, when you know the real reason that you felt stuck, you'll be able to close the gap and actually build momentum. When I first started my business, my online business, I was unbelievably stretched thin. I was so busy. I was doing all the right things. I was doing all the things, but not all the right things. Okay. I was stretched thin. I was driven by pressure. I was driven by um looking for external validation instead of moving in purpose. Uh, I was not, I didn't, I still had remnants of unworthiness. And I kept thinking, okay, once I hit this success and that success, and I had a lot of successes, but I was gonna feel more a better sense of worthiness. And I didn't. I would just climb higher and higher. And um, I could not see the needle move because I had misplaced my worth and I was operating in old patterns. And you know what it led to? It led to a clinical burnout. And so I'm really passionate about I became very passionate at that point about learning how do we create success, number one, based on our inherent worth, and because we're operating in God's will for our lives and obedience to Him, and we're really focusing on things that matter most. And also how do we break the old identity, the broken, the still the broken remnants in us? It became my mission, it became my passion to figure this out. And and real quickly, I want to tell you something here is that I want you to move forward in 2026. I want this to be the year that you finally move forward with clarity, with confidence, and actual momentum. And I created, I took this passion that I have of honestly the mistakes that I made and how to fix them, how to, I'm I'm a high capacity woman. I'm a high performer. How do I actually move forward? How do I move forward in the things that God wants me to do, walk worthy of my calling, and still not burn out, still value the things that matter most. And so I began to create, um I began to study the faith-fueled high performance habits. I'm going to tell you a little bit about that here. But also before that, I dug deep into God's word and I saw so many women that were stuck in the same patterns that I was. I want, I want you to know that there's a better way. And now that's what I teach. I teach high-performing women, high capacity women, how to do this with there's an absolute strategy and there's science behind this. And I'm actually going to teach my first ever, I'm calling this a worthy woman activation intensive. I'm so intentional, I'm so passionate about helping you like step into a new year. It's such a big deal to step into a new year, says all the type A's. Can I get a hallelujah? So I'm going to be teaching a three-hour live workshop. It's start it's in December. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to walk you through the exact framework that will help give you the clarity to operate from your true identity of who you already are. You will learn how to create a 90-day plan that will work for your real life. And I'm going to teach you how to elevate your mindset. Listen, with one powerful tool that will change your life, it will change how you lead yourself and how you stay consistent so that you never lose momentum again. So if you're feeling really tired and just of being uh like out of alignment, pulled in every direction, this is a workshop you do not want to miss. If you're unable to attend it live, no worries, there'll be a replay. So if you're ready to step into your next level, this is where preparation begins. You can check the link in the show notes, or you can go to amyramsey.com/slash activation, grab your ticket. There's a massive special for the first 25 that joined. So you don't want to miss that at all. Okay, let's jump right into the heart of today's episode. I want to teach you something that's changed my life, and it has changed the life of every woman, women, woman that I have the privilege of getting to coach. There are four gaps that keep even the strongest, most gifted, most driven women stuck. And here's the deal: once you understand these gaps, you can finally close them. And when you close them, you'll step into a life that feels aligned. It will be more focused, purpose-filled, peace-filled, and productive. Okay. So you'll actually not just be in an action, but you're going to be in aligned action. I want you to imagine your life like a house. God designed it with strength and beauty on purpose. But if your foundation has gaps, that house cannot hold the weight of the assignment that God's placed on your life. So these four gaps are the cracks in the foundation. I want you to just be listening. And would you listen with an open mind and an open heart? They're subtle but powerful. And once you understand this, you can start to close that gap. All right. So gap number one is this is that you're not fully aligned with what matters most. Oh my gosh. I can tell you that when I was in the throes of building success, I was working so hard. I just kept thinking, if I do more, a little bit more, there's this deceit in the little bit more, the little bit more, the little bit more. Family is first for me. And so I would just start getting up earlier and earlier and earlier and earlier. And I did not at all honor rhythms of rest and root uh rhythms of rest and restoration in my life. I just pushed harder, harder, harder. And I tried to do it in pockets where it was, you know, not interfering with the family. But I remember one night specifically, we were we were with our family. And if you have adult children, grown adult children, you know that that time you get to spend with your children is precious. I will never forget we were all together one night, had gone out to dinner, and we were um actually in New Orleans, Louisiana, and sitting at my um my bonus daughter's apartment there. All of us, you know, we had had a lovely dinner, and I legit was sitting with them and I couldn't keep my eyes open. Like I was so tired. And it was a wake-up call. It wasn't the biggest one that I needed. I had to have, unfortunately, I can be hard-headed, I had to have more. But now looking back, it was a, I call it a godrail. We need guardrails in our life. But when you're not aligned with what matters most, even if you say you are, is your time aligned with that? So your days may be full, but they're not always full of the right things. We as we as women, we carry so many different roles roles, right? We lead in our homes, we lead businesses, we lead in our churches, communities, and we're constantly pouring out. But when you look at your schedule, you might not see a lot of the activity that's in alignment with where God has you right now, with what your assignment is. You're busy, but you're not always moving toward what actually matters. Getting really clear on what is the of your values is crucial. This is why at the end of a week you can feel exhausted, yeah, but feel like you didn't move forward. So here's the thing: this gap often shows up when your priorities don't match your daily choices, when you spend more time reacting than creating. And when you're distracted by the urgent instead of focused on the priorities, the important. And here's another telltale sign is that you feel scattered or stretched then. Here's the thing alignment brings peace, alignment with your true self and how God created you. Alignment brings momentum also. Alignment roots your days in purpose instead of pressure. And so if you're feeling all of that pressure, um, I just want you to check yourself, right? We have a God who loves us that we get to surrender and submit to Him and say, okay, Daddy, what do you want me to do about this? How do you, you are the the boss of this business. I am the CEO. You are the owner of this business. How do you want me to order my days and my steps? So in this activation intensive that I told you about earlier, I'm gonna help you identify your real priorities for 2026. It is crucial. It is crucial that you build structure and systems that align your life to what matters most. Because let me tell you, the you already know it. These days are going quick. Can you believe we're already sitting at the end of 2025? Like, what the what? All right, let's move forward. Gap number two, your mindset is not elevated to match your identity. I shared earlier with you that I was operating from places of unworthiness. I didn't even know it. I kept needing, I wanted that success, that next level of success. If I do this, if I do this, then I'll feel better. I felt like I would feel, I think in my mind, I would feel successful if it looked like success to others. When let me tell you something, the world doesn't get to tell me when I'm successful. Nobody gets to tell me that I go to God for that now. I'm so grateful that I learned that lesson. It was a hard lesson for me to learn, but I know so many, um, and maybe even you are operating from places of unworthiness. Let me tell you, nothing can ever fill that void but God Himself. So here's the thing though. When you're when this is out, this gap, and and you're not operating from your true identity, you're gonna think your problem is you don't have enough time, or you don't have enough energy, or you're just not disciplined enough, or you're just not good enough. But the real problem here is that old identity. And God has already grown you, He stretched you, and He'll transform you, but your thoughts may be limiting what He wants to do in you because that's no longer who you are. This gap, this identity gap can sound like I'm not enough, I'm not ready, this is too much. What if I fail? What if I can't keep up? This gap is crucial. And so every one of those thoughts will steal your momentum. But here's the truth you are called. Come on now, walking worthy is a calling, right? And you are equipped, you are designed with purpose, you're not behind, you're becoming. But how we close this gap matters. One of the faith-fueled high-performance habits that I teach is a spirit of excellence. I want you to be able to look at the end of next year and go, you know what? I started to close the gap here. I started to step it up, be on my A game. I worked on my identity, I worked on my mindset. And this is such a powerful way. It's it's powerful. It's what do they say? It's uh simple but not easy. You have to do it. You have to do this work. All right, gap number three. You do not have a plan that works for your real life. Okay, this I'm gonna speak to a couple of different places. I would be curious to know which one is you. Most women don't really think through their goals, and they actually have a wish, a wish list. They even make vision boards. And I'm if you've listened, if you're listening to this, you're probably one of you you probably make a vision board. You write out your intentions. But here's the problem: most women never build a science-based structure that supports the goals that they set. So for most people, by honestly, it's in January. The goals are already diminished and they're gone. The momentum's gone. Maybe you muscle it out in your February or March. And here's the problem: the real plan, a real plan, a good plan, a solid plan is practical and realistic. I don't know about you, but I actually had to learn how to. This was a work in progress for me to figure this out. And this is what I teach my clients inside the Walkworthy Mentorship, also in my Accelerate Her program, is what is a solid good plan? When I have the privilege of working with my clients one-on-one, I get into the minutiae and the nitty-gritty of their plans and can help them back them down. Because a lot of high capacity women will overcommit and their plans are too much, and they will either struggle to achieve it and they'll burn out on the way, or they'll just, you know, be in hustle mode and grind mode, or they will they really want the goals, but it was too ambitious. It was, it wasn't, um, they didn't count the cost, they didn't really do the work to make a good plan. And then they feel frustrated and oftentimes overwhelmed, and then they don't make forward movement. So a real a real plan helps you to start to cut through your distractions. A real plan, now listen, prior you have to prioritize what matters most. You have to break the goal into doable steps and track your progress. How do you how do you know if you're getting there? And if you don't have intentionality around this, you just forget. I don't want you to forget. I want you to, I want you to move forward and then build confidence through small wins. So here's the deal. When you start to develop a really good plan, and I want to help you develop one that is so I have worked so hard on this, I'm telling you. And what I want to help you with is to write out your 2020 2026 plans, but that first quarter. And I'm gonna be doing that. This is exactly what we're gonna walk through in the worthy woman activation intensive. You will come out with a worksheet that is so gold for you, you're gonna be like, I know exactly what to do. And so here's the thing I want to speak straight to the woman that's listening. And inside you, you know you're called for more. You want your life to matter. You want to steward your time well. You want to work, you want to walk worthy of your calling. So if you feel that pool, this is for you. I created this intensive because so many women start step into the new year, they're unclear, they're overwhelmed, and they're unsure of how to bring their God-given dreams and vision actually to life. And I refuse to let that be your story in 2026. Now, in this workshop, this live workshop, oh my gosh, let me just tell you, it is so fire. I'm working right now on exactly what we're gonna walk through. And it's a three-hour intensive, it is meant where you can ask questions. I can help you hands-on, but you're gonna walk away with such clarity and you might be thinking, three hours. Let me tell you something. If you've never been to one of my workshops, that three hours will fly by like nobody's business. I'm I am gonna tell you it will be very motivational, it will be very inspirational. However, we ain't building no vision board up in there. No, we will talk about your vision, but that's not what this time is about. This is, I'm going to help you create your very specific plan for you to move forward in 2026. I'm gonna walk you through my true framework. So, true is think and believe bigger with God, root in identity and truth, unleash the plan, and then the E is execute and evaluate. I'm going to walk you very specifically through, um, I'm gonna coach you through how to create a plan that makes sense. It is preparation for the woman you're becoming. And I listen, I've got the the seats will fill up. You're gonna want to grab, you can go to the link in the show notes or go to amyramsey.com/slash activation. Save your seat today. It is a ridiculously low price. You'll walk away with not just a plan, but also a framework. And once you learn this framework, it will, I'm telling you, it'll change your life. Okay, gap number four. You do not have a system to stay consistent and evaluate your progress. If I'm being super honest and super transparent with you right now, I one of my goals this last quarter was to stay on top of my numbers and my business and to spend, I have my whole plan with it. And if I'm being super honest with you, I have dropped the ball on that plan. I have, I haven't given it attention. I haven't been looking at my that that goal specifically. And so what I've done, and maybe you can relate with this, I don't know. Sometimes when I'm not hitting my goals and I've like just, you know, kind of drop the ball, like on this one, I stick my head in the sand. I don't want to know nothing. I don't want to, I don't, I just don't even want to, I don't want to even think about it. And I think a lot of us do that. Health and wellness. We say we're gonna do XYZ, but then we don't. So then we don't think about it at all and like screw it. So it's that like all or nothing mindset that let me tell you that that is if we can overcome the all or nothing mindset, it will shift everything for us. I want you to know that I recognized that I was having that pattern of avoidance again. I've been super busy, I've had so much going on, but I made myself go in and catch up on my QuickBooks and catch up on my numbers and make some decisions based around that. So I am, I am making progress as we all are. We're a work in progress. So here's the thing: consistency is the key. It really isn't about perfection. That's why I wanted to share that like in real-time story with you. Consistency is about leadership. And when you learn how to lead yourself well, you can rebuild your momentum anytime you need it. So when you don't have a framework for evaluation, you don't even, oftentimes we just forget. And and then we don't even think about it again until honestly, January 1st, making super loose goals. So here's the deal: when you have a system for consistency, it will anchor you, it will anchor your daily routine. It's um, you'll have a simple method for adjusting your plan, which is exactly what happened for me. I was like, oh, I'm letting that one go. I better get to it. And you'll have permission to pivot without spiraling. When you even, I would say for for there, there's gaps, all of these are really important, but this is one that I find that women oftentimes don't even have a framework to get to that next level of themselves. So let me let me just review those four gaps again. I really want you to sit in these gaps. I want you to think about these gaps and tell me which one, which one for you, if you close this gap, it would it would help you in 2026. Number one, not being fully aligned with what matters most. Number two, your mindset is not elevated to match that beautiful identity that Jesus has given you. Number three, you don't have a plan that works with your real life. And number four, number four is you um hang on. Number four, I've lost my notes. You don't have a system to stay consistent and evaluate your progress. Okay, those gaps, I want you to sit in those gaps. And I again, I've got that workshop. I want to would love for you to come. You can check the show notes and or go to amiramsey.com slash activation. And then before we wrap up, I also have a free gift I created for you. And I have a it's called the High Performance Edge. And in this, I walk through the six high performance habits. It'll give you more clarity, more consistency, and more momentum in your action in your daily life. And it is, you can go to amyramsey.com slash edge, or you can just like check the show notes too. It's an absolute free gift for you. It'll help you renew your mindset with truth, strengthen your emotional regulation and resilience, help you to create habits that stick, break old patterns, replace them with purpose, and build consistency. And this will also help you to live with clarity and intention. So I'd love for you to go grab that free gift. All right, my friend. I want to say thank you for being here. And as we wrap up today, I just want to remind you of the mission behind this entire space that is uh Ephesians 4 1. And that says to walk worthy of the calling for which you have been called. That is the heartbeat of my personal mission is to equip the called. It is to use my voice. And if you know anything about my story, I hid from my story, I hid from my voice for so many years. I didn't think I had anything to offer or any value. And um I lived from such a place of deep insecurity and deep unworthiness into the Lord, praise God, healed me and transformed me. I couldn't find the tools and the resources that I needed to make the scripture match. I knew it in my head because I'm a I'm a Jesus girl. I was serving, had this beautiful red smile on my face, um, with you know, perfect lipstick. And I'm fine. How you doing? I'm fine. That's what we say here in the South. How you doing? Oh, I'm fine. How are you? But my soul was so broken on the inside. And then I God spoke to me, and this was the mission that he gave me about a decade ago. You'll know you're healed when you can share your story without shame. I didn't know what that meant. All I knew is I could be healed. And so I began on my own path then, and I started to learn about my identity. And then I started to learn that there was a lot of potential inside of me, and I wanted to steward that well. But on that whole track, I there were tools and resources that were not available for women to move forward in identity, forward in calling, how to build the science of high performance. This became my mission. And so I I want you to rise into the identity that God's placed for you. Honor the assignment that He has entrusted with you and live as the woman he's created you to be. Let me tell you right now, you are necessary and you are needed, and your life is so valuable and it carries a ripple that only you can. I need you to hear this. Lean into this. Only you can release this ripple. And so it is my prayer, my heart's desire that every episode helps you step forward with more clarity, with more courage and more confidence in who you already are, in whose you are. You are called to be a leader. You are called for impact. And I want to equip you to lead, to grow, and to walk worthy in every part of your life. So if this episode encouraged you, inspired you, or gave you something practical to work with, I would love for you to subscribe to the show and leave a rating and a review because that helps more women step into this community. And I want to give a special shout out to Miss Bonnie McDonald, who left a review on the podcast last week. Thank you so much, Bonnie. She's actually a one-on-one client of mine. I love her, and she's writing a book. So thank you for doing that. If you would do the same thing and go leave me a review, it would, it means the world to me. Um, all right. So thank you for spending this time with me today. I want you to know that I am cheering you on. You've got this. Let's go. Let's walk worthy of that calling inside of us. I believe in the woman you are becoming. And I will see you next week on the Worthy Woman Podcast. Thanks for being here. Bye for now.