October 8, 2009

One of the greatest quotes I have ever seen is by Donald Trump.  He says:  “I like thinking big. I always have,” says Trump. “If you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.”

Trump considers his ability to think in larger than life terms one of his greatest strengths and a major reason for his significant success. “Most people think small because most people are afraid of success, afraid of making decisions, afraid of winning,” he says. “And that gives people like me a great advantage.” Trump is not afraid to go after what he wants, nor is he afraid of the consequences of his decisions.

He is not the only leader who believes this.  If you read any book on success or achievement, the leaders credit their ability to think big, make decisions quickly and take strategic action as the primary reason for their success.

Thinking That Big Takes Courage

The reason it is so scary to people is because it is about risking your ‘identity’ – your sense of who you are and who those around you think you are. Being prepared to change the received ‘definition’ of who you are and what you are capable of, overcoming the fear of “what if I fall on my face.” You need courage in a very real sense to take such a leap.

And where do you get courage to carry you through?

Well, it’s like everything else in life. You practice.

Successful People Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway
Eleanor Roosevelt had this to say about it: We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face… we must do that which we think we cannot. (Emphasis added)

And that brave lady (she’s the one who also said: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent) stands in a long line which stretches all the way back to the Greek philosophers. Aristotle himself said: Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts. (Emphasis added)

I have personally faced this challenge.  But this year, I had a good friend of mine say to me…”How much longer are you going to play small?”  And when she said that, my stomach landed in my throat.   Now for many of you out there who have followed my career, you might be thinking “Kelly doesn’t play small”.  Well, it is all relative.

And she reminded me of the famous quote by Marianne Williamson

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I had a profound shift of consciousness in that moment because I realized something.  With the world in the state that it is in and our economy in the place that it is in…”Who am I to deny people my light?”

My playing small doesn’t just affect my life and my bank account, my playing small affects every entrepreneur out there and every one of their families.  Because I have a gift to share and if I don’t do everything in my power to share that gift, I am not being of service in the way it was intended.

It no longer mattered how afraid I was.  It no longer mattered what the little gremlins in my head said “Who do you think you are?  What if you fail?  What if you embarrass yourself?  What will your family think?’

I made a decision at that point that the only thing worse than stepping out in a big way and risking failing was not attempting to step out at all.

Do you have a gift to share?  Are you playing smaller that you could be?

Now is your time to shine your light on the world.

Thanks and let us know your thoughts. I encourage you to leave your comments or questions below.

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Article by Kelly K. O’Neil, Million Dollar Marketing to the Affluent Coach and Creator of the Marketing to Millionaires™ Programs