Don’t Think Small When It Comes To Your Life
Last month I met a woman who told me she regrets not taking bigger risks in her life and career. When I asked her why she held back, she said “in my family, there’s an understanding that you don’t outshine anyone else.” Essentially, the lowest common denominator becomes the default expectation for the next generation in her family. This broke my heart, and it was obvious that it had broken hers as well.
My message for you is the message she wished she’d heard 10-15 years ago:
Please don’t let anyone convince you there are benefits to thinking small when it comes to YOUR life and to YOUR career.
The way I see it, thinking small and living small are two very different things, and it’s important to know the difference.
Living a smaller, more familiar life suits many people. When it’s an intentional choice, it can be a wonderful thing. Often, this is a choice people make after they’ve experienced life, personal and/or professional, in a big way. They’re ready for a slower, more peaceful existence.
Thinking small is different. It’s insidious, it slowly creeps its way into your conscious and subconscious awareness, and it never serves YOU.
Thinking small serves those who are afraid of what you might do, say, or be if you thought of yourself differently. But it never serves YOU. Thinking small serves those who are afraid of where they’d stand if you knew how capable you really are. But it never serves YOU. Thinking small will make you believe you’ve made a choice for yourself, when, in reality, the choice was made for you by someone else – family, friends, society, etc.
Thinking small will keep you on the sidelines of your own life, career, and personal fulfillment.
You can think big and live small, but I’m a firm believer that it doesn’t work the other way around.
You deserve to think big.