November 2, 2025 • 10 mins
I'm breaking down something I call "the playing small tax," and trust me, it's costing you way more than you think. We're talking about the hidden price of hiding your gifts: the opportunities you don't take, the ideas you keep to yourself, and the people who miss out when you stay quiet. I'll walk you through the four devastating ways this tax shows up in your life and career, plus I'm giving you a simple audit to help you see exactly what playing small has been costing you. It's time to stop treating your gifts like private possessions and start sharing them with the people who need them most.
https://www.ahyianaangel.com/
https://www.ahyianaangel.com/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What is hiding your light actually costing you? Not just
in missed opportunities or potential income, but in terms of
your impact, your influence, and the person you're supposed to become.
What if playing small isn't just limiting your success, What
if it's limiting your service as well. Welcome to seven
(00:29):
Minute Sunday on the switch Pivotal Quick Podcast. I am
your host, Ayana Angel, and we're gonna spend the next
seven minutes together getting you filled up with inspiration and
goodness to get your mind primed to achieve greatness as
you enter the week ahead. So this is the final
episode of our series on the psychology of playing small,
(00:52):
and today we're gonna talk about the playing small tax.
What it's going to cost you? What is really good
to cost you when you hide your gifts from the
world and sometimes even from yourself, seemingly the playing small tax.
It isn't just about what you don't get every time
(01:13):
you hide your light. You're not just limiting yourself. You're
limiting everyone who could have benefited from your gifts, from
your insights, from your perspectives, from your contributions. So I
want to share with you for ways that the playing
small tax shows up, and I'm gonna call them tax
(01:36):
number one, tax number two, tax number three, tax number four.
And so the first way that playing small, the tax
of it shows up is tax number one. The opportunity cost.
Every chance you don't take because you don't think you're ready,
qualified or experienced enough. Every application you don't submit, every
(01:58):
hand you don't raise, every conversation you don't take the
initiative to start. These aren't just missed opportunities. They're compounding losses.
Every opportunity builds on the last one. When you skip
the first, you miss the entire chain. Tax number two.
(02:22):
The impact costs. Your perspective matters full stop. Your experiences
at value, your ideas help to solve problems. When you
keep those thoughts, those solutions to yourself, you're not being humble.
(02:44):
You are being selfish. I know it's a harsh reality.
Someone needed to hear what you chose not to say.
Someone needed the solution you chose to keep to yourself,
so you can remember this the next time you feel
yourself stifling what is bubbling up for you. Tax number
(03:05):
three the growth cost. Playing small keeps you small. You're
not growing when you consistently choose your comfort over playing
into your courage. You stop developing the muscles you need
for those bigger challenges and opportunities. You stay qualified for
(03:26):
the level you've been operating at, instead of you growing qualified,
gaining skills for the level you actually want to reach.
And finally, number four, the legacy cost. Now where legacy
always feels like a big word, and so this is
(03:47):
a big one. Every time you model displaying small action mentality,
you're giving others permission to do the same. You're showing
them how to show up. Some of the people that
you mentored, some of the people that idolize you, quite frankly,
for reasons, maybe even unknown to you, they are taking
(04:10):
their cues from you. Your children, colleagues, friends, even they're
watching how you treat your own potential. When you hide
your light, you're teaching them to hide theirs. This became
really clear to me how much other people are watching
you and sometimes taking their cues from you. When I
(04:30):
quit my job, blew up my life and wrote my
book and went on a book tour, so many people
asked me this question of like, how did you do this?
How did you have the courage? How did you have
the strength. What was your knowledge based like before doing
all of this, and that let me know that people
were taking cues from me in terms of what was
(04:53):
possible for them, and unknowingly I was becoming an example.
And so that's why I switch Pivot or Quit and
everything that I pour into it, and everything around the
messaging and starting this podcast that has become a part
of my legacy, and I'm proud of it. I don't
always take all the chances that I should, but I
am aware of what it costs me and other people
(05:16):
when I don't, and so I try my best to
push myself. And with that being said, I want to
offer you just some insight into how you can better
maybe digest this and think about this, because your expertise
and your knowledge it isn't for you. It's for the
people who need what you know. Your perspective isn't for you.
(05:40):
It's for the conversations that need your voice contributing to them.
And your courage isn't for you. It's for the people
who need to see someone go first. Like I was
just talking about, when I made my switch, pivot or quit,
it wasn't the common thing to do. Nobody was doing
it the time. This was twenty fourteen, and people were
(06:02):
not quitting their jobs without plans and deciding to move
to other countries and taking a chance on themselves and
writing books and you know, just doing all the things
that I was doing. They weren't doing that. They were
sticking with what was normal for them. And so the
(06:23):
strategy I want to share with you that you can
utilize it is simple, but it's not easy. We're not
always looking for easy, right, So I want you to
start treating your gifts like they are public utilities instead
of private possessions. To think of them like electricity, where
everyone needs access to it. Your insights, your abilities, your perspective,
(06:48):
these aren't just for you to enjoy, even though a
lot of times it feels like it there for you
to share. Strategically, of course, and of course authentically. This
doesn't mean saying yes to every opportunity that comes in
front of you and sharing just on a whim all
the time. It means being thoughtful about where and how
(07:12):
you contribute your gifts instead of holding on to them
so tight and hoarding them out of fear of whatever.
It is my challenge to you, and this is our
final challenge of this series. It is the playing small audit.
(07:32):
It involves some list making three lists to be exact. First,
you're going to make an opportunities I didn't pursue list,
and this is the opportunities you didn't pursue because you
didn't think you were ready. Go wild with it, go
back as far as you want. This list is just
for you and your review. The second list is the
(07:56):
ideas that you kept to yourself because you didn't think
they were good enough. All the ideas that you can remember,
even ideas that you've now seen come to light executed
by other people, but you had a similar idea. You
just didn't share it, You didn't act upon it, you
didn't do anything with it. Write all those ideas down
(08:18):
in this list. And your third and final list is
going to consist of the moments that you stayed quiet
because you didn't want to stand out. You didn't want
anybody looking at you. You could have spoken up and
said the thing, but it felt too hard and uncomfortable
in the moment. I know you probably have a few
key memories of those moments, and I want you to
(08:42):
make a list including those. And these lists don't have
to be long and extensive. They can just be a
couple items. It's just to get you started in acknowledging
the times where you've knowingly or unknowingly held yourself back. Then,
I want you to ask, ask yourself, what would have
been different if I had taken those opportunities, if I
(09:07):
had shared those ideas, if I had spoken up in
those moments where I stayed quiet, not just for you,
but for the people around you, what would have been different?
This isn't an exercise about regret and beating yourself up.
It's about recognition, recognizing that playing small has a cost,
(09:33):
and that cost compounds over time. The world doesn't need
another person playing small. I can guarantee you that there's
too many of us that are already doing that. It
needs you amplified, bigger, bolder, better. Remember, your authentic self
is your competitive advantage in so many situations. Lean into it.
(09:59):
Thank you, Thank you so much for spending time with
me today, and as always, I'm wishing you a wonderful
week ahead, sending you big love and positive energy, and
until next time, be well,
What is hiding your light actually costing you? Not just
in missed opportunities or potential income, but in terms of
your impact, your influence, and the person you're supposed to become.
What if playing small isn't just limiting your success, What
if it's limiting your service as well. Welcome to seven
(00:29):
Minute Sunday on the switch Pivotal Quick Podcast. I am
your host, Ayana Angel, and we're gonna spend the next
seven minutes together getting you filled up with inspiration and
goodness to get your mind primed to achieve greatness as
you enter the week ahead. So this is the final
episode of our series on the psychology of playing small,
(00:52):
and today we're gonna talk about the playing small tax.
What it's going to cost you? What is really good
to cost you when you hide your gifts from the
world and sometimes even from yourself, seemingly the playing small tax.
It isn't just about what you don't get every time
(01:13):
you hide your light. You're not just limiting yourself. You're
limiting everyone who could have benefited from your gifts, from
your insights, from your perspectives, from your contributions. So I
want to share with you for ways that the playing
small tax shows up, and I'm gonna call them tax
(01:36):
number one, tax number two, tax number three, tax number four.
And so the first way that playing small, the tax
of it shows up is tax number one. The opportunity cost.
Every chance you don't take because you don't think you're ready,
qualified or experienced enough. Every application you don't submit, every
(01:58):
hand you don't raise, every conversation you don't take the
initiative to start. These aren't just missed opportunities. They're compounding losses.
Every opportunity builds on the last one. When you skip
the first, you miss the entire chain. Tax number two.
(02:22):
The impact costs. Your perspective matters full stop. Your experiences
at value, your ideas help to solve problems. When you
keep those thoughts, those solutions to yourself, you're not being humble.
(02:44):
You are being selfish. I know it's a harsh reality.
Someone needed to hear what you chose not to say.
Someone needed the solution you chose to keep to yourself,
so you can remember this the next time you feel
yourself stifling what is bubbling up for you. Tax number
(03:05):
three the growth cost. Playing small keeps you small. You're
not growing when you consistently choose your comfort over playing
into your courage. You stop developing the muscles you need
for those bigger challenges and opportunities. You stay qualified for
(03:26):
the level you've been operating at, instead of you growing qualified,
gaining skills for the level you actually want to reach.
And finally, number four, the legacy cost. Now where legacy
always feels like a big word, and so this is
(03:47):
a big one. Every time you model displaying small action mentality,
you're giving others permission to do the same. You're showing
them how to show up. Some of the people that
you mentored, some of the people that idolize you, quite frankly,
for reasons, maybe even unknown to you, they are taking
(04:10):
their cues from you. Your children, colleagues, friends, even they're
watching how you treat your own potential. When you hide
your light, you're teaching them to hide theirs. This became
really clear to me how much other people are watching
you and sometimes taking their cues from you. When I
(04:30):
quit my job, blew up my life and wrote my
book and went on a book tour, so many people
asked me this question of like, how did you do this?
How did you have the courage? How did you have
the strength. What was your knowledge based like before doing
all of this, and that let me know that people
were taking cues from me in terms of what was
(04:53):
possible for them, and unknowingly I was becoming an example.
And so that's why I switch Pivot or Quit and
everything that I pour into it, and everything around the
messaging and starting this podcast that has become a part
of my legacy, and I'm proud of it. I don't
always take all the chances that I should, but I
am aware of what it costs me and other people
(05:16):
when I don't, and so I try my best to
push myself. And with that being said, I want to
offer you just some insight into how you can better
maybe digest this and think about this, because your expertise
and your knowledge it isn't for you. It's for the
people who need what you know. Your perspective isn't for you.
(05:40):
It's for the conversations that need your voice contributing to them.
And your courage isn't for you. It's for the people
who need to see someone go first. Like I was
just talking about, when I made my switch, pivot or quit,
it wasn't the common thing to do. Nobody was doing
it the time. This was twenty fourteen, and people were
(06:02):
not quitting their jobs without plans and deciding to move
to other countries and taking a chance on themselves and
writing books and you know, just doing all the things
that I was doing. They weren't doing that. They were
sticking with what was normal for them. And so the
(06:23):
strategy I want to share with you that you can
utilize it is simple, but it's not easy. We're not
always looking for easy, right, So I want you to
start treating your gifts like they are public utilities instead
of private possessions. To think of them like electricity, where
everyone needs access to it. Your insights, your abilities, your perspective,
(06:48):
these aren't just for you to enjoy, even though a
lot of times it feels like it there for you
to share. Strategically, of course, and of course authentically. This
doesn't mean saying yes to every opportunity that comes in
front of you and sharing just on a whim all
the time. It means being thoughtful about where and how
(07:12):
you contribute your gifts instead of holding on to them
so tight and hoarding them out of fear of whatever.
It is my challenge to you, and this is our
final challenge of this series. It is the playing small audit.
(07:32):
It involves some list making three lists to be exact. First,
you're going to make an opportunities I didn't pursue list,
and this is the opportunities you didn't pursue because you
didn't think you were ready. Go wild with it, go
back as far as you want. This list is just
for you and your review. The second list is the
(07:56):
ideas that you kept to yourself because you didn't think
they were good enough. All the ideas that you can remember,
even ideas that you've now seen come to light executed
by other people, but you had a similar idea. You
just didn't share it, You didn't act upon it, you
didn't do anything with it. Write all those ideas down
(08:18):
in this list. And your third and final list is
going to consist of the moments that you stayed quiet
because you didn't want to stand out. You didn't want
anybody looking at you. You could have spoken up and
said the thing, but it felt too hard and uncomfortable
in the moment. I know you probably have a few
key memories of those moments, and I want you to
(08:42):
make a list including those. And these lists don't have
to be long and extensive. They can just be a
couple items. It's just to get you started in acknowledging
the times where you've knowingly or unknowingly held yourself back. Then,
I want you to ask, ask yourself, what would have
been different if I had taken those opportunities, if I
(09:07):
had shared those ideas, if I had spoken up in
those moments where I stayed quiet, not just for you,
but for the people around you, what would have been different?
This isn't an exercise about regret and beating yourself up.
It's about recognition, recognizing that playing small has a cost,
(09:33):
and that cost compounds over time. The world doesn't need
another person playing small. I can guarantee you that there's
too many of us that are already doing that. It
needs you amplified, bigger, bolder, better. Remember, your authentic self
is your competitive advantage in so many situations. Lean into it.
(09:59):
Thank you, Thank you so much for spending time with
me today, and as always, I'm wishing you a wonderful
week ahead, sending you big love and positive energy, and
until next time, be well,
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