I have to admit. I hope this blog post makes you feel a little uncomfortable. I also hope you don?t choose to stay there.

Over the past few months, I have had many, many conversations about playing small and playing big. That is exactly what is prompting this post.?I am playing bigger and bigger every day in my life and business and want to surround myself with women who are doing the same.

How do women play small?

1. We play small in the words we use:

• I’m too busy.
• I can’t afford it.
• I’m sorry.
• We minimize our efforts.
• When someone pays us a compliment, we blow it off
  what the heck is that about?
• We deflect.
  Someone says something nice to us and we immediately say something back, instead of just acknowledging the gift and saying thank you.
• We say yes, when we mean no.
  Or, when we say no, we add lots of other words to it. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. No additional words are needed.

2.?We play small in our businesses

• “I need to learn more.”
  Most of us likely know what we need to know to move forward in our businesses. If you are one of those rare examples of you really do need to know more focus on relationships.
• We sabotage ourselves.
  We start to see a little success, but then change our course or get otherwise sidetracked.
• We don’t celebrate our successes.
• Discounting our products and services.
• We don’t give ourselves the grace we freely give to others.
• We compete instead of looking for opportunities to collaborate.
• We hang out with others playing small.
  You never want to be the smartest person in the room. When that happens, find another room.

For a long time, I thought being bigger meant other people had to be small. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Playing big encourages others to do the same, which only pushes me to play bigger. It’s a wonderful cycle where everyone benefits.

I also thought growing my business bigger meant losing touch with the people and connections I care about. Also a lie I was telling myself.

What might you add to this list of how women play small? And, if you want to play along?

What is one playing small activity that you are going to stop immediately?

What is one way you are going to play bigger in your life and business?

If we want to be women who make a real impact and change the world, we will only doing that by playing big and playing together!

Cheers to your/our greatness!