Break through or break down? It can be hard to tell at times.

Many times I hear and see common themes arise in my clients' lives, regardless of geography, age, gender or current coaching topic.

This past week, I held space for a seemingly increased amount of heightened emotional states as these individuals courageously moved deeper and deeper into the terrain of who they are becoming. With their emotional lives heating up to a rolling boil, relationship triggers seemed to bubble to the surface with increased frequency.

It's important to note that this naturally occurring phenomena can definitely increase right before a huge breakthrough. I've come to trust this process in my own growth as well as in my clients, yet it still is a bitch to deal with while it's happening to you.

I share this in case it is currently happening to you and you might be willing to consider the possibility that you're actually on the edge of a breakthrough instead of the breakdown - and that you're not alone.

Here are the FIVE tell-tale signs you may be cooking under the pressure of a immanent breakthrough. And this is assuming [IMPORTANT] that you have reached the level of emotional maturity to take 100% responsibility for your part in relationship to others.

If you're on the way to a breakthrough, you may:

1. Believe (falsely) that you are losing ground or sliding backwards in your personal development;

2. Feel incredibly misunderstood in your current closest relationships;

3. Be experiencing a newfound clarity about potential blind spots in your persona, that up until now, have eluded you;

4. You may notice that you no longer "fit" in your current home, clothes, friendships, partnership, sport, tribe, schedule.

5. Want to scrap it all and just start over with one or more key areas of your life.

May there be comfort in numbers if you find yourself in this place and feel alone. You are not alone. You are evolving. Stay the course and don't be too proud to reach out for support. Focus on who you are and where you're headed. And finally, please remember that you are infinite, and beautifully human.