Victory Stretch #1: Daydream a BIG Dream
The great philosopher Disraeli once said, “Life is too short to be little.” Yet “little” is what most women are encouraged to be. Stretching into their fullest, biggest, greatest selves is given lip service, but little more.
Wonder if it’s true? Look at the ads and the pictures that accompany articles in magazines, even most women’s magazines. Notice how women are dressed or posed like sex machines or like a big version of little girls. Look at marketing that includes men and women and notice how a man is positioned looking forward, standing firm, facing the camera. Then notice how the woman is positioned sideways (and often hanging from his broad shoulders).
Once you notice, how are you going to say “enough” to society asking you to take up as little space as possible?
First stretch: stop playing yourself small. In the classic book, The Magic of Thinking Big, author David Schwartz tells you, Think Big and you’ll live big. You’ll live big in happiness. You’ll live big in accomplishment. Big in income. Big in friends. Big in respect…the size of your success is determined by the size of your belief.”
Wonder if it works? Ask Oprah. Or Beyonce, Angela Merkel, Sheryl Sandberg, Condolezza Rice and the many, many women who had the nerve (and the courage) to think themselves big.
You can decide to stop playing your life “under the wire” so nobody will notice if you make a mistake. You can choose instead to live out loud and in living color! Yes, it’s an emotional stretch, but what a victory!
Looking for a role model for your “big”? Check out this article: Forbes
