In the infamous words of Marianne Williamson:
When you let your light shine, you unconsciously give others permission to do the same.
So, what happens when you dim your light? Well, for starters, you never reach your true potential and you seldom change the lives of others. More importantly, you don’t live out your purpose on earth. You really drift from one thing to the next, never really settling on what you should be doing to leave a legacy because you’ve decided that being who you were created to be isn’t really all that great, that somehow if you downplay who you are, you will help more people.
If I’m describing you, I have to ask you this: Why did you become an entrepreneur and start your own business if you weren’t going to shine? You see, entrepreneurship takes guts. Not just any guts, big fat guts. Guts to move when everyone else is saying stay. Guts to invest when others are holding on tightly to their wallets. Guts to lead when everyone else is falling into the crowd. You have to be willing to lose when others are winning in the name of your greatness.
So, why is it then that so many entrepreneurs play small? Doing just enough to get by instead of going big? It’s because they are fearful of what others will think of them when they win. Or, it’s for fear of what they will think of themselves.
I know you’re saying, “No, that’s not me,” but isn’t it? You hold back on your gifting and don’t figure out how to make it work by investing in yourself because the thought of winning, of succeeding, scares the bejesus out of you!
Then there are those of you who believe that you are playing big, doing everything you know to do so that you can grow your business yet it’s not happening. What’s your problem? It’s possible that you’re a victim of what I like to call the “Law of No Circulation”.
You see, abundance flows freely in situations and circumstances when we are transparent and open to receiving all the gifts that God and His abundant universe have for us. The Law of Circulation says, as I paraphrase, when you give and receive, you are in constant flow and there is no stagnation. But as soon as you upset the flow of giving and receiving, stagnation finds you and affects all areas of your life and you become a victim of the law of no circulation.
Want to know if you are a victim of no circulation? (Pay attention to the list to see where you are downplaying your Incredible Factor because every day play increases the amount of abundance not circulating on your behalf)
1. When someone gives you a compliment, you say, “Oh, that, that was nothing.” Instead of taking a bow and just saying thank you. How do I know? Because I use to do the same thing. The thought that someone wouldn’t like me if they knew how good I was at whatever it was made me want to appear less great. You do realize that it’s very easy to just say thank you. It makes the giver of the compliment feel good because they were able to give you something that was received.
2. Not charging what you’re worth or not charging at all. You don’t charge what you know you should for fear that they will not pay you and you have come to the conclusion that some income is better than none so you charge less and feel horrible about it. Whenever you don’t get paid what you’re worth, you are not able to give freely unto others. You perform the task they underpaid you for with disdain and that shows through.
3. Not investing in yourself or your business. When you don’t invest it’s for one of two reasons: one, you’re fearful about the financial commitment or two, you believe you know it all and don’t need help. We all need help. Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a self-made millionaire. We all need others to achieve our goals and dreams. As I love to say, ‘If you could do it by yourself, it would already be done.” I dare you to ask a millionaire if he became one all by himself. Ask one and I bet you he will name the countless people who aided in his journey.
4. Not accepting gifts. By not taking a gift that someone is giving you, you are bringing more strife into your life. The flow of abundance stagnates as soon as you don’t accept it. Remember giving and receiving are spiritual tenets.
5. Not accepting an opportunity. When given an opportunity based on something you’ve asked for but you don’t take it for fear of failure or success, you are downplaying your Incredible Factor which means that you really want to remain the way you’ve been. Change or growth is really not your desire, which means you are lying to yourself and more importantly to God.
6. Withholding. This is the big one. Examples of withholding include not tipping your waiter or waitress accordingly when out to eat or my favorite: not being your best at all times – a true downplay. Holding back who you are and what you are capable of because you fear that others will judge you.
So how do you stop downplaying your Incredible Factor and start experiencing true abundance?
Own your Incredible Factor. As they say, “ownership is 9/10ths of the law.” What that means in your case is that when you completely, fully own who you are and what you were created to do by taking personal responsibility, you get to enjoy the law of circulation and all of its fruits in your life consistently. Ownership is serious. In fact, it’s mandatory if you desire to play big and help others to experience transformation through you. Ownership is about developing, mastering and implementing the mindset shifts and beliefs that exhibit power in all areas of your life. When you develop the confidence and poise to trust what you’ve been given to share with the world, by saying an unequivocal yes, you start to experience the benefits of ownership. And I, for one, believe that ownership has its privileges.
Your assignment:
1. List all of the ways you have been downplaying your Incredible Factor.
2. Get clear on the reasons why you have chosen those self-sabotaging behaviors.
3. Ask yourself if there is any evidence to support why you have been behaving this way?
4. Now that you are aware of the ways you have been downplaying, create a plan of how you will stop downplaying immediately going forward.
5. When you are allowing abundance to flow into your life and business, what will your life and business look like? Describe what you want instead.
6. How does this vision make you feel?
©2012 by Darnyelle A. Jervey. All Rights Reserved. Darnyelle A. Jervey, MBA, The Incredible Factor Speaker, Executive Business Coach and Marketing Mentor, is the founder of Incredible One Enterprises.com and the Leverage Your Incredible Factor System® a proven step by step program for building a 6 figure business with more clients, more income and more leverage in record time. For more information and a FREE audio download “How to Use Your Incredible Factor to Attract MORE Ideal Clients” visit https://www.incredibleoneenterprises.com
