I Can’t Do This Anymore: 5 Simple, Courageous Steps to Take Right Now

Inside: Discover the real, surprising reason why you keep thinking, “I can’t do this anymore.” Plus 5 simple steps for what to do about it now. Don’t forget to grab the free guide to help clear your fog of confusion.

“I can’t do this anymore,” I whispered, staring out at the pouring rain.

I’d been there before, standing at my window. A solitary figure who seemed to be taking in the vista beyond. But my brain wasn’t registering what was in front of my eyes. I was locked in an internal struggle with myself, feeling defeated and lost, wondering what to do now.

My entire life felt like it had gone off the rails and I didn’t want to do this anymore.

Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, get this free printable download—The Essential Guide to Finding Clarity. It gives you 7 revealing questions to help break through your fog of confusion and decide what to do now.

God, I Can’t Do This Anymore, I Just Can’t

From the outside, my life looked idyllic: The high-ranking corporate job, the perfect-looking relationship, the huge house on the hill with my luxury car parked out front, and me in church every Sunday.

But it was all a lie. On the inside, my life was in shambles.

I hated my job but it paid well so I felt trapped in it. Mainly because I’d been trying for years to figure out what God wanted me to do with my life but I still had no clue.

Plus, my partner didn’t let an opportunity pass to make me feel unworthy of him, and I didn’t have the courage or self-awareness to choose better for myself. So I spent most of my time at home living in a state of constant tension, feeling not good enough for him every second of every day, trying—and failing—to be the woman he wished I would be.

Related: Hello, Victory & Courage: 3 Powerful Prayers For Fear

Through it all, I kept begging God to rescue me, to make my situation better, and to make me happy again. But He seemed silent and I felt unheard by Him. So I started thinking God didn’t love me.

I felt alone and abandoned—by the job I used to love, by the partner who used to love me, and by God who seemed not to love me anymore.

No wonder I kept thinking, “Lord, I can’t do this anymore.”

Great news though! Once I finally came through that awful time in my life when I drifted through most of my days thinking, “Lord, I can’t do this anymore,” I learned the one secret you need right now. It’s the real reason why you feel like this in the first place.

Once you know it, then you can fix it.

The Real Reason You Think You Can’t Do This Anymore

Maybe your job is weighing on you, as mine did on me. You may have loved it once but all you feel for it now is misery and dread. Worse, you feel stuck in it, maybe because of the money or position, or not knowing what else you’d do if you left.

So every morning you call on your ever-waning willpower to you drag yourself out of bed, drag yourself to work, and drag yourself—and your resentment—through the day.

Or maybe it’s the relationship you’ve poured the last several years of your life into. You may have looked like the perfect couple when you just started—maybe even still do—but it’s secretly draining the life out of you.

Or maybe it’s your relationship with God. Because in the middle of what feels like the train wreck of your life, when He should be rescuing you and making everything feel better, His silence is deafening.

You’ve begged Him to help you love your job, or at least be interested enough to do it well so you can keep it. You’ve pleaded with Him to soften your partner’s heart so he’ll love you as you are, not as he wants you to be. On your knees, you’ve sent up desperate prayers for Him to wipe away the space between you and Him.

My darling, you’ve begged God to solve the problems causing you no ends of grief. You’ve read all the encouraging quotes, affirmations, and Bible verses meant to make you feel better. Yet here you still are, struggling in your good-looking life.

Standing rigidly at your window with one thought playing over and over in your mind: “Lord, I can’t do this anymore. I just can’t.”

Here’s what’s actually going on:

You’re unhappy and exhausted from living the wrong life.

My darling, you’re putting all your energy into living the life you’ve been told you should want. You’re expending your emotional resource on trying to force yourself to become the woman other people think you should be.

And it’s all wrong because deep down in your heart, you know it’s not the life you want. You know it’s not what God wants or has for you.

The good news is when you get back on track and start living out His plan for you, “God, I can’t do this anymore!” becomes, “I can’t wait to do this!”

But how do you make the leap?

I Can’t Do This Anymore: 5 Steps to Fix It

Since you’ve been living the wrong life, it’s time to get back on track and start living the right one.

To do this, you need to reconnect with the dreams God gave you. You see, His purpose and plan for your life are lying dormant within those dreams, waiting for you to water them and bring them into the light of day.

Now, having lived someone else’s plans for you all this time, you may have forgotten your own God-given dreams. How do you bring them back now so you can release the joy waiting for you?

1. I Can’t Do This Anymore—Choose Only One Thing

First, choose one area of your life you want to change.

You can choose the area bothering you the most right now. Or you can choose the area you think will be the easiest to change, so you can score a quick win. It doesn’t matter which area you choose, so long as you choose only one.

If you don’t focus on only one area, you’ll end up feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of trying to change your whole life in one go. Then you’ll let overwhelm stop you in your tracks and paralyze you, and you’ll end up doing exactly nothing.

So again, choose only one area of your life.

Here are some areas you can choose from:

• Money—making, spending, or saving it
• Career—your purpose and fulfillment at work
• Relationships—with your partner, friends, or family
• Relationship with God—connecting with and growing in Him
• Lifestyle—how you choose to live your life
• Physical health—exercise and nutrition
• Emotional health—personal growth, self-love, and self-care
• Home—your physical surroundings

2. Dream a New Dream

Next, dream a new dream for the area of your life you’ve chosen.

Get with God and pray for Him to give you a fresh vision for your life in this one area. Then write down the vision.

The Lord answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.

Habakkuk 2:2 (CSB)

Not writing your vision will keep it a vague someday wish in your head. On the other hand, writing it out will help you get crystal clear about what you truly desire so you can get after it.

Besides, your brain needs to understand what your heart wants, and writing out your vision will imprint the message on your brain.

Now, as you write your vision, you’ll be tempted to think, “No way, I can’t do this! It’s impossible.”

But don’t censor yourself or kill your dream before it’s even had a chance to be born. If God gave you this dream, you can trust and believe He has a way of bringing it to life. Your job is to keep reminding yourself of who you serve.

For nothing will be impossible with God.

Luke 1:37 (CSB)

3. Do a Reality Check

Then it’s time to face the reality of your current situation.

You can’t fix what’s broken if you don’t pinpoint exactly what’s wrong. So write out the details of your current life in the one area you’ve chosen. Include everything that feels wrong or bothers you about it.

No one needs to see this raw account of your current life. Remember, this will stay between you and God. So be brutally honest with yourself and with Him.

If the area you’ve chosen is your relationship with God and you feel hurt or unloved by Him, tell Him so. He’s the God of the universe and He can take your hurt feelings.

Plus, He already knows all about it. But getting honest with Him will help clear the air between you so you can move forward with the next step.

4. Bridge the Gap

At this point, you have a new, clear vision for your life in this one area and you’ve faced the reality of your current situation. Now it’s time to make a plan.

Re-read your notes about what you want versus what you have, then make a note of the gaps. Once you see them, thank God for showing you these gaps because they’re the reason you’ve been thinking, “Lord, I can’t do this anymore.”

You see, my darling, those gaps are where your life is out of alignment. And since you can finally see them, you can finally do something about them.

Now, you need to prayerfully brainstorm and write down ideas for how to bridge each of these gaps. Then choose one of these steps—just one—and take it.

You’ll need courage for this part because you’ll be going against what’s expected of you. And since you’ve been falling in with others’ plans for you this whole time, the people in your life probably won’t understand or like your new choices.

But if you stick with God and draw courage from Him, you can take your single next best step and release unimaginable joy in your life.

Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, get this free printable download—The Essential Guide to Finding Clarity. It gives you 7 revealing questions to help break through your fog of confusion and decide what to do now.

5. God, I Can’t Do This Anymore—Uh…Yes, You Darn Well Can!

Keep your notes handy because once you’ve taken that first step, you’ll keep going back to them to choose your next step. Then the next one and the next one after that.

Before you know it, you’ll have transformed your life in this area. Before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to living the life God has for you, one simple, doable step at a time. My darling, before you know it, you’ll be looking back and thinking, “Wow, I thought it was impossible. I thought I couldn’t do this. But I did!”

When you find yourself at that point, go back to step 1 and choose the next area of your life you want to transform. And one step at a time, create a new life for yourself.

Get Your Free Guide to Finding Clarity (With 7 Revealing Questions!)

You don’t have to keep thinking, “God, I can’t do this anymore.” You don’t have to stay stuck and powerless. Instead, use this free guide to decide your next step.

1. Get the free guide. You’ll get the printable guide and join my weekly newsletter. Just click here to get it and subscribe.
2. Put the coaching-style questions to work. Use the 7 revealing questions to break through your fog of confusion and decide what to do now.
3. Act on your decision. Keep your eyes focused on what you’ve decided and go after it.

Here’s a sneak peek of your free printable clarity finder:

Your Action Plan for When You Think You Can’t Do This Anymore

I spent way too many hours staring blindly out my window, letting doubt and fear drag me down into a pit of despair. Giving away my power by thinking I couldn’t do this anymore. I’ve never been so glad to say I was wrong!

So are you, if you find yourself thinking over and over, “God, I can’t do this anymore. I just can’t!” Your real problem is, you’ve gone off-track from God’s amazing plan for you. And now, you can get yourself back on track.

Sometimes you’ll feel like the transformation is taking forever. But keep your vision front and center and don’t give up on it. By God’s grace and with the Holy Spirit’s help, you can totally do this.

Before you go, get your FREE printable download to help conquer your confusion—The Essential Guide to Finding Clarity.

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