Playing it safe, or seizing the opportunity

As the question goes “if you knew you wouldn’t and couldn’t fail, what would you do”?  This is a great question to unearth our innate purpose or passion, but we often stop there.  The fact is that we don’t know if we’d fail or succeed so we’re paralysed in the moment and never follow our dream.  If you feel you have a bigger purpose than you’re currently fulfilling then hear me out…

What is the cost to yourself, to those you influence, to your clients and to your friends and family, of playing small?  Do you subscribe more to ‘getting’ or ‘giving’?  You see I believe most people want to be better ‘givers’ than ‘getters’.  Playing small is safe, comfortable and familiar, but adds little.  “If you knew you couldn’t fail….”  Play with this for a moment.  Whatever your blank is, start to think about the impact you could have – what would it mean to those people that you’d serve?  What level of transformation would you bring?  Who would benefit?  What does the ‘size of the prize’ look like?  Here’s 3 simple strategies to get you started:

1                    Put your personality in park.  What I mean here is that we all have some self-limiting beliefs.  Notice I called them ‘beliefs’, not ‘truths’.  To some extent we all have past baggage that we lug around that weighs us down.  It’s a huge topic and not one to cover here.  But the important point is to identify what the belief is (sometimes sounds like an excuse), and put that to one side while considering your options

2                    ‘Phone a friend’ – not necessarily literally, but invest in the opinion of others.  Those that don’t subscribe to your self-limiting beliefs are the best ones to talk to– the ‘truth-tellers’.  Unpack your dream and passion with them, and ask for an honest opinion – does this crazy idea have any merit?  Does this fit with who I am or have I lost my marbles?

3                    Measure the gap – there’s always a gap between our current reality and our dream – if the gap feels small, then the idea was not worthwhile anyway.  It needs to feel a real stretch, it does require you to function outside of your limiting beliefs, and it does need real solid affirmation from your ‘truth-tellers’.  If you have all of this, then the only question left is “are you going to be courageous”?

For deep insights, or a ‘truth-teller’ conversation, send me a message.  

John Robertson

Principal Coach