A little over a year ago, I walked into NYC Lucky Chapter 62 for the first time. I connected with Conrad – the guy who, at that time, I only knew from the email that responded to my request to visit the Chapter. I had some breakfast, sat down, and made some small talk with a few members and guests.
And then Amy got up to start the meeting and I immediately noticed the way she powerfully held herself, and the room. And then one by one my now fellow luckys got up and delivered their commercials. The caliber of the people was so clear to me. I was immediately impressed. I believed that I could trust pretty much everyone who spoke. And that’s the key, isn’t it? We can only make referrals to those whom we trust.
There was greatness in this room then. And there IS greatness in this room now. You can feel it, right? And when we look around we can see it too.
I just came off of a full weekend of training – training a team of coaches, and always continuing my education to be a better coach. During one of the morning sessions, one of the Senior leaders of my team asked us an interesting question.
“What do you do with your greatness?”
A powerful conversation followed as we all took a look for ourselves and shared what we saw.
Ultimately we all had variations of hiding or playing small. And these are incredible people – remarkable coaches and leaders.
My assertion is that if you’re willing, you can take a look and perhaps you’ll see where you might be playing small. Maybe it looks like deflecting a compliment – instead of fully owning it. Or maybe it’s declaring goals that are safe and unworthy of you. Maybe it’s stopping or checking out after a loss, or even a big win. Sometimes wins are more confronting than losses.
We all have flavors of it. So today, ask yourself, “Where am I playing small?”
And when you find it, don’t simply rush to fix it. Sit with it, get to know it. Be kind to yourself. Get present to what you really want to create. And simply take an action to move that part of life forward.
We all play small sometimes. It’s safe, less scary, and it’s inside our comfort zones.
But we don’t have to. We can create whatever we want.
We deserve it. We’re great. Really great. And if you look to your left and to your right, you’ll see that it’s not just within us, it’s all around us.
So pass a referral. Ask for one. Invite a guest.
Give and gain. See what you want to create, and create it.