Mojo Monday - Stop Playing Small With Carly Taylor

Are you shrinking yourself to stay safe? Staying in the shadow of someone? Holding back ideas, keeping quiet, or silencing your voice so you don’t rock the boat? That’s what playing small looks like — and it comes at a cost.

In this week’s Mojo Monday, Carly Taylor shares why staying in the comfort zone feels safe in the short term but creates a gap between who you are and who you’re capable of being. She reflects on her own experience of dipping in and out of “smallness,” and the choice to step into the unknown instead of retreating.

This isn’t about arrogance or ego — it’s about showing up as your full self, unapologetically, and being willing to take risks when it matters.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hi everyone, It's Culli Taylor here. Welcome back to this
week's Mojo Monday. So today I want to challenge you
with a simple thought, and that is to stop playing small.
So where in your life, whether it's at home or work,
or in your health or whatever domain of your life,
where do you find that you shrink or hide or

(00:31):
turn away from? So take it from me. And this
is the reason why I wanted to do this Mojo
Monday because I used to be the queen of playing small.
So staying in a comfort zone it feels safe, but
only for a while, and deep down you know that
you've got more to give. And this doesn't have to

(00:52):
be world changing. It could be simply be showing up
in your little corner of the world. But when fear
holds you back, so fear of being seen, fear of failing,
fear of being judged, you create this gap. And that
is the gap between who you are and who you

(01:12):
could be. So you don't want to let that potential
slide by. So I've lived in that zone and yes
I still dip back into it. I don't think this
is just about suddenly you're out of the comfort zone.
We're always sort of dipping in and out of it.
But more and more I'm choosing to step into discomfort

(01:34):
and that's usually the stuff that my mind automatically says
no to. So seriously, it's like, my mind is this
really annoying friend who's trying to protect me. But what
I'm better at, like this friend is just going no,
don't do it. It's too dangerous or it's too risky,
and giving me all those excuses as to why I
shouldn't do it. But what I'm better at now is

(01:57):
not taking my mind's advice when I know down that
I actually do want to do this thing. I want
to move forward. And this zone of risk and unknown
and uncertainty is scary and it's also exciting and it's
where growth actually happens. But you can't be in this

(02:18):
space without taking action in the presence of fear, because
every time you hold back your ideas and silence your
voice or shrink to fit in, you're playing small and
it costs you. You miss opportunities, you potentially rob the
world of your strengths, and over time, you start believing

(02:40):
that the smaller version of you is all that you've got.
But that is just a story that your mind is
telling you. Your mind is just constantly telling you stories,
but you don't actually have to believe it. And if
you can be aware of that, then you can start
writing your own story through action. And this is certainly

(03:01):
not about arrogance or ego or certainly not about hurting others.
Certainly not about being the loudest in the room either,
but it's about showing up as your full self and
being willing to take a risk. So this week, notice
when your mind tells you no when you really want

(03:22):
to say yes. So maybe it's in a meeting and
you've got ideas flowing through your head and you know
your ideas could be great, but you are holding yourself back,
So get those ideas out there. Or maybe you're dreaming
about starting a project or starting a business, or pitching
for a job or creating a workshop or a webinar

(03:44):
or whatever it is, just take that first step. So
here's your cue for this week's Mojo Monday. Stop playing small,
lean into it, lean into the fear, lean into the uncertainty,
take action and show up and then see what happens.

(04:05):
So thank you for joining me. I hope that has
been valuable and useful for you for this week, and
I will catch you next week. See ya.