In this motivational short, the speaker identifies two primary forces that hold women back in their careers: fear in the early stages and fatigue later on. Early‑career fear stems from uncertainty about skills, readiness, and how others will react to a woman’s full power. After decades of fighting for advancement, many women experience fatigue and feel too tired to keep pushing. The speaker argues that while women can see the glass ceiling, they often think breaking through requires the same massive effort they already invested. In reality, only a small, focused push—like moving an elbow or shoulder—can crack it. When fatigue sets in, taking short rest periods is encouraged, emphasizing that a brief break does not derail progress and can restore energy for continued advancement.
Chapters
There are two things that I say hold all women back: fear and fatigue. Fear and fatigue. Fear and fatigue. And in the early stages of your life, it is fear. You're not sure what's coming next. You're not sure whether or not you have all the skills. You're not sure whether or not you're ready. You're not sure that if you show up in all your power, is that going to be okay, or is somebody not going to be comfortable with that? Fear, fear, fear. Now, as you get more senior, you've gotten over all of those milestones. Now it's fatigue because in many cases, especially if you were building your career in the '80s, '90s, 2000s, 2010s, you were fighting every day. Every day you were fighting your way up the ladder. So now you are 20 years in, you're 30 years in, and you're saying, I'm just tired. I won't do this anymore. I, I'm tired. I, I just don't wanna do it. And you know what I find that's so ironic about that? So many women talk about the glass ceiling. And they're right there. They can see through the ceiling. But the reason they don't want to punch through is that they perceive that all of that effort that it took to get there, the 20, 25, or 30 years, that they're going to have to do that all over again to push through that ceiling. And here's the deal. What it takes to push through that ceiling is a fraction, a fraction, a small fraction of what you have already done. Just push the elbow, push the shoulder, even put your head up against it. It's going to crack, right? And it doesn't take all of that effort. And if you're feeling fatigued, take the rest. And here's what I said to myself and what I've said to other women: you take 2 days off, the world's not coming to an end. You decide you're not going to do the rest of that to-do list this afternoon, it's going to be all right, cuz you get to pick it up tomorrow when you've had a little rest and you're feeling really powerful and very energetic.
