Inner Blocks vs. Outer Blocks: Understanding What’s Holding You Back

Kara Glassman breaks down the complex experience of blocks into two categories: inner blocks and outer blocks, and understanding the difference is key to making progress as leaders.

Inner blocks are internal mental and emotional barriers — limiting beliefs, assumptions, and inner critics — that often stem from deep-rooted experiences or past conditioning. Kara talks about these as a combination of thoughts, feelings, and self-talk that can limit how we see ourselves and what we think we’re capable of. For example, women are statistically more likely to internalize failure as a reflection of their ability rather than external factors, making inner blocks like fear of not being good enough or perfectionism more common.

You might notice inner blocks when you find yourself replaying the same story or challenge across different settings or teams. If the issue follows you despite changes to your environment, it’s a strong signal that the block is internal, not external. Inner blocks often show up as fear, anxiety, or patterns like people-pleasing, difficulty saying no, or self-doubt.

Outer blocks, in contrast, are the external constraints around us — things like organizational policies, unclear communication, economic downturns, or team dysfunctions. These are easier to identify because they tend to be factual and shared by others in your environment. For instance, if many people on your team experience roadblocks due to lack of resources or collaboration, that’s an outer block.

However, Kara emphasizes these blocks often interact and amplify each other. For example, an outer block like complex organizational structure might trigger inner blocks such as self-doubt or frustration, which shape your response or behavior.

One way Kara suggests distinguishing between the two is by asking:

• Is this a Capital-T True fact? (e.g., “Our company is in an economic downturn.”)
  
  
• Or is this a lowercase-t true belief? (e.g., “I’m not qualified for this role.”)
  

Recognizing that some thoughts are beliefs rather than objective truths can open the door to reframing and growth.

Kara shares a coaching approach called Breakthrough Laser Coaching that helps with this reframing process by tracking:

1. The original thought (often the inner block)
   
   
2. The emotion it triggers
   
   
3. The behavior or action it leads to

Once aware, you can consciously create new, empowering thoughts, feelings, and actions. Kara acknowledges this takes effort and time — it’s normal to slip back into old patterns, and sometimes new actions don’t immediately follow new thoughts.

She also highlights important reflection questions to deepen awareness, such as:

• How is this belief or block serving me?
  
  
• What’s it costing me to hold onto it?
  
  
• What do I gain by not changing?
  
  
• How is it keeping me safe?
  

These questions help uncover the protective role our unconscious mind plays,  even if it doesn’t always feel helpful.

Finally, Kara reminds us that while we might not control outer blocks, we always have some control over our inner blocks and changing our mindset is a powerful way to reduce the impact of external challenges.

Interested in exploring more about your blocks and strategies to reframe them? Book a discovery call with Kara here.