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August 25, 2025 8 mins

You didn’t say it out loud.
You didn’t write it down.
But somewhere along the way…
 you made an agreement with smallness.

To stay likable.
To stay safe.
To stay out of the spotlight just enough to avoid judgment.

In this episode of The Awakening Series, we’re uncovering the invisible contracts that have been quietly running the show — and keeping powerful women stuck in a life they’ve outgrown.

You don’t need more permission.
You need to tear up the rules you never agreed to.

This is the contract-burning, soul-freeing moment you’ve been waiting for.

If you're not in the free August Awakening click here to join.

Thoughts on this episode? Send me a message

If this episode helped you I would be so grateful if you would leave a 5 star review. If you do leave a review please send me a message at Jen@jengaines.com and we will send you a special thank you gift.

Make sure to connect with me on IG: @fiercemomboss

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, beautiful, welcome back to the she's on
Fire podcast, the women'sbusiness empowerment podcast.
I'm your host, jen Gaines.
Today we are talking about thesilent contract that you signed
and is now running your life.
This isn't the kind you signedwith ink, but the kind you

(00:22):
signed with conditioning, withsilence, with fear and with
survival.
Today we're going to name it,we're going to face it and we're
going to break the contract younever realized you signed.
I remember the first time Irealized I'd made a silent
agreement to stay small, notbecause someone told me to, but

(00:47):
because somewhere along the wayI decided that was safer.
Safer to not be too much.
Safer to stay humble.
Safer to let people otherpeople take the spotlight, other
people take the spotlight.
Safer to do the work quietly.
And what really hit me, whatbroke me wide open, was when I

(01:12):
realized that agreement didn'tcome from the truth.
It came from fear.
It came from old wiring.
It came from a younger versionof me that just wanted to be
accepted and survive.
But the thing is, is thatcontract all of them outdated

(01:39):
and it was really costing me sovery much?
And it's probably costing you alot too.
Here's the thing about thesequote, unquote contracts.
You probably never said themout loud like, okay, I'm making
this contract with myself tostay small?

(02:00):
Of course not, but they stillrule your decisions.
And they sound more like Idon't want to be too salesy, I
don't need to go viral, I'm nothere for attention, I just want
to help people and that's enough.
I'll put myself out there onceI figured everything out.
I'll start selling once mywebsite is redone and perfect.

(02:23):
All those things I hear themall the time and I know what
they mean because I've beenthere.
Those sentences they seeminnocent, they even seem noble
in some ways, but underneaththey're written in the ink of

(02:43):
don't see me too much, don'tjudge me too much, don't judge
me too much, don't abandon me,don't make me feel unsafe.
And the longer you keep thosecontracts in place, the longer
you'll live below your power,not because you aren't capable,
but because you're honoring anold agreement that's expired now

(03:07):
.
This is why I'm doing thisawakening series.
So let me ask you this honestlyI want you to really think about
it when are you still honoringa version of you that made
herself small just to beaccepted?
Where are you followinginvisible rules that were really

(03:33):
never yours to begin with.
Because the thing is, is thelife you're craving?
The next level, the visibility,the magnetism, maybe even the
leadership?
It's not just about what you do, it's about what you stop
agreeing to do.

(03:53):
So I want to do a littleactivation.
We want to break thesecontracts.
So, right here, right now, Iwant you to say it out loud with
me and I want you to write thisdown so you can say it later on
too.
Get a pen and paper and getready, push, pause if you need

(04:21):
to.
Here we go.
I want you to look in themirror at yourself.
I want you to say out loud Ibreak the contract to stay small
.
I release the belief that it'ssafer to hide.

(04:45):
I revoke the rules I neveragreed to.
I will not shrink to beaccepted.
I will rise to be who Iactually am.
I'm going to say it again Ibreak the contract to stay small

(05:08):
.
I release the belief that it'ssafer to hide.
I revoke the rules I neveragreed to.
I will not shrink to beaccepted.
I will rise to be who Iactually am.

(05:30):
Because here's the thing youcan't sign a new destiny with
hands still holding your oldagreements.
It won't work.
It is time you step into thatnew destiny.
It is time you step into thatnew identity.

(05:51):
I'm sure you feel it when yousay those things.
I'm sure you feel it.
That rush in your chest, thatbreath you just took deeper than
before.
That's what it feels like tostart to get your power back

(06:17):
Right now.
This can be your awakening, ifyou allow it, if you take the
steps.
This is your rewrite.
Give yourself permission.
You don't need to wait untilthe new year.
You don't need to wait to makea new year's resolution.
You can do this right now.

(06:48):
This is really the part whereyou stop living by rules someone
else handed to you.
Whether it was the girl thatmade fun of you in high school,
the boy that made fun of you,your mother who told you to be
quieter, whoever it is, someoneelse handed you those rules.

(07:10):
So this is the part where youstop and the part where you
start rising from the firethat's inside of you.
Instead, it's time to tear upthe contract.
It's time to build something somuch greater in its place, and

(07:34):
you can do that.
If you see other women doing it, you can do it too.
You are no different, and Iwant you to remember that If
you're not a part of theawakening, click the link in the
show notes and get into it.
You'll get all of theseaffirmations in there.

(07:57):
Whatever you do, remember youare worth it.
You are no different than theothers doing what you want to do
.
The only difference is is theytook action and they kept going,
and I know that you are morethan capable of doing that too,
so let's freaking go.
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