If you are someone in the wellness space—or really in any other space as an entrepreneur—your role is to help others to heal and be well. What an important and powerful purpose! You have been planted here on earth right now for that purpose, and not putting yourself out there to serve means that others are not getting the help that they need. As soon as you can be liberated from your own fear, you will automatically liberate others just by virtue of your presence.
There is a serious need in the world today for people who are ready to make an impact. Getting out of your own way is vital to stop playing small!
Why You’re Playing Small
Our deepest fear is not that we are weak. 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?’ But, actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love
Many times, the reason for playing small is that your fear of starting a business is bigger than your passion for helping others. Maybe it feels confusing, overwhelming, or stressful to consider being an entrepreneur. And because that business piece feels so scary or foreign, you don’t do it; you continue to play small, stuck in your comfort zone.
What does it mean to be an Unstuck Entrepreneur?
An Unstuck Entrepreneur understands the mindset, energetic shift, and spirituality behind the workings of a successful business. They understand that it’s not all about gaining followers, setting up email lists, pricing services, etc. It’s SO MUCH MORE than that! It’s also about getting out of your own way by understanding your limiting beliefs and working through your fears. Taking a look at what’s underneath your inability to be successful thus far can show you exactly how to have the business of your dreams.
The Unstuck Entrepreneur also understands the impact that energy has on their success, their business, who their clients are, and more. The vibrational energy that you bring into your business plays a huge part in your success. Getting into alignment can change everything!
When you apply the tenets of becoming unstuck to the methods of starting a business, you open yourself up to building the business of your dreams and true success as an entrepreneur.
What Does Playing Small Look Like?
Let’s dig into the signs that you’re still playing small in your business.
Not living up to your potential.
You know when you’re not living up to your potential. You can feel it. When you recognize that you’re hiding, frozen, staying in your comfort zone, or not giving it all you’ve got, then you know you’re playing small.
Not realizing your dreams.
If you’re out there making a little money, but you’re not feeling the satisfaction of living your dream, then you’re playing small. If you’re not in your dream business, there’s more out there for you, and you’re playing small. There’s more that you desire that you’re not actively going after.
Not following your passions and purpose for this lifetime.
We all have passions and purposes in this world. If you’re not allowing yourself to express that in your business, then you will feel like a piece of your puzzle is missing. That feeling of “there is more out there” is a sign that you’re playing small.
Not working to grow and learn.
The purpose of being here is to always be evolving, growing, and trying new things. The universe is in a constant state of expansion, and so are we. If you are not expanding, you are playing small.
Not becoming a better version of yourself.
We are in a constant state of bettering ourselves; becoming the best version of ourselves. If you are not on a path to doing that, you are playing small. You are settling.
Not using your magical superpowers.
If you aren’t using the power of your intuition to grow your business, you are missing out on one of the best and most important parts of being an entrepreneur!
Just going through the motions.
We’ve talked a lot about going on auto-pilot mode. But you’ve got to get out of auto-pilot in order to have success! If you haven’t already, check out my 7-day course to help with that. It’s free!
Staying in your comfort zone.
I get it, where you are right now is comfortable. You’re not putting yourself out there; you’re not taking any risk. Getting out of your comfort zone may feel scary at first, but it will be worth it to move into your full potential.
You’re stuck.
If you’re playing small, it means that you are stuck.
What’s stopping you?
The one, simple explanation for why you’re playing small…FEAR.
There are tons of reasons for your fears, for what keeps you in our comfort zone, for what keeps you from growing and expanding. But in almost every case, the root cause is that you’re afraid.
So, ask yourself: what am I afraid of? Here are some examples…
- Fear of the unknown
- Fear that things won’t go well
- Fear of failure (this episode about failure is a must-listen!)
- Fear of judgment
- Fear of looking stupid
- Fear of looking like a fraud
- Fear of instability
- Fear of success (something to really consider!)
Fear is never helpful. It only keeps you from having the impact you want to make in the world. It keeps you distracted from trying to learn everything you can possibly learn about how to do every aspect of your business instead of just stepping out there and going for it! Learning things like how to create an online course, or how to manage social media, etc. can absolutely be helpful, but if you’re tied down by fear, your business simply can’t take off the way you’re hoping, not matter how much you learn.
The bottom line…
If you’re playing small, nothing you do to try to build your business will be effective. There are several ways that fear disguises itself in your business development, and those fears will keep you stuck.
Fear is coming directly from your ego. Your brain has taken in information throughout your lifetime, and not all of it is true (“I’m not capable,” “I’m not smart enough,” etc). But your ego voice is there to continue to support those statements. It wants to make sure that those statements are continuing to be proven right.
Your inner voice, however, will tell you the truth. It will tell you that you’re meant for more, that you’re capable, and that you can achieve your dreams. The problem is that it’s sometimes easier to listen to our ego voice than to our inner voice. Our intuition is always there to tell us the answers to the questions we have. The more we tune in to our inner voice, the less our fears will be able to sideline us. And the more we turn away from fear, the more successful we’ll be.
So how do you stop playing small?
It’s all about awareness. The awareness that you want more. That you’re done playing small. That you’re done getting in your own way. That you want to live up to your full potential.
This requires recognizing that your fears aren’t real, and that your passions, dreams, and potential are stronger than your fears. Fear can be paralyzing, but once you call it out and see it for what it really is, you are able to truly realize that your passions are stronger. You can choose differently. Building your awareness around your fears and then doing the work to go the other way will change everything.
A helpful tool…
When you feel a fearful statement coming to mind, turn it into a statement that is rooted in love, positivity, and success. For example, if you think “I don’t want to be judged,” change the statement to “by putting myself out there, I’m able to help more people.”
Making that shift won’t always feel natural, and you may not even believe your positive statement at first. But, with consistency, you will start creating holes in that ego voice, and letting the truth of your inner voice come in. You are programming your brain to believe the truth.
Homework:
If this is something you see happening in yourself, and if it’s something you need help practicing, become an Unstuck Entrepreneur!
READY FOR MORE?
Listen to this Unstuck Podcast episode, Why You’re Still Playing Small.
Take the Vibe Quiz to find out where you’re vibe-in’!
Get yourself out of autopilot-mode with this FREE 7-Day Challenge!
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