Are You Playing Small?

I’ve been playing small since adolescence. I played small in my early career in the corporate world. I played small in the 38 years I ran my own business. 

I didn’t realize the high price I paid for playing small my entire career until I turned 65. 

I was, for all intents and purposes, retired. I hadn’t planned to retire at 64. (I didn’t plan to ever retire.) But when I lost my one remaining client at the end of 2018, I decided to throw in the towel and close my business.

I felt a wave of regret wash over me on my 65th birthday. 

I felt such regret. 

... Regret over all the sales calls I didn’t make because I was afraid. 

... Regret over all the deadlines I missed because I procrastinated too long and ran out of time. 

... Regret over the blog posts I didn’t write because I didn’t think I had anything worthwhile or valuable to say. 

... Regret over all the times when I didn’t pick up the phone to make a sales call because I was convinced that I sucked at sales. 

... Regret over all the projects I didn’t take on because I didn’t think I could do them perfectly. 

... Regret that I never achieved what I wanted to achieve in my life.

I remember thinking, “I failed as a businesswoman. I ran my business into the ground. I will never have the business success that I had always dreamed of. I will never make the kind of money I wanted to make. And now it’s too late. It’s too late.”

Then, I had an epiphany. ...

"It’s not too late. I’m only 65. God willing, I still have a couple of decades of life ahead of me.”

At that moment, I realized that I still had time to achieve what I want to achieve in my life IF I stopped playing small.

What do I mean by playing small? 

🛑 Playing small means that you avoid taking risks and actions that might cause problems or make you feel uncomfortable or might cause others to judge or criticize or even reject you. 

🛑 Playing small means your actions are motivated by your fears, insecurities, and low self-worth. 

🛑 Playing small means you allow problems, obstacles, criticism, discomfort, and unpleasant feelings to stop you from achieving what you want to achieve.

🛑 Playing small indicates that your Inner Critic is running your life instead of you running your life.

How do you know if you are playing small? 

🔎 Look at your results. If you aren’t getting the results you want, it’s because you are playing small. 

In the next blog post, I'll go into more detail on how to recognize if you are playing small, including The 14 Sure Signs That You Are Playing Small. 

In the meantime... here are a few tips on how to get started on your own journey into your greatness. 

👉 Read two books: Playing Big by Tara Mohr and Worthy by Jamie Kern Lima

👉 Take my Inner Critic Assessment. In less than 5 minutes, you will find out how your Inner Critic is sabotaging you, holding you back, keeping you stuck and playing small.