Authors, Holding Yourself to a Higher Standard: Playing Big
27 of 28 big ideas from the world of coaching to grow your author business

The twenty-seventh in a 28-part series on 28 big ideas from coaching for authors to coach themselves, adapted from my book, The Coach Within.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually who are you not to be?”
— Marianne Williamson
Once you’re in the swing of coaching yourself to grow your author business, one finer point it’s imperative to master is playing big and holding yourself to that standard.
Playing big refers to all manner of bigness and stretching ourselves to get there. It’s such things as:
Thriving and not merely surviving.
Dreaming bigger, thinking bigger, planning bigger.
Raising the bar for ourselves, our craft, and our business.
Being fearlessly honest about what we want.
Showing up from a larger place — more centered, more present, and more aware.
Acting from a nobler place — with greater purpose and making a greater contribution.
Behaving at a peak level — with more confidence and at the best of our abilities.
How do you play big?
Start by not playing small, not operating from pettiness.
Do the thing/s you’re afraid of, face your fears.
Take the leaps, accept the challenges before you.
Always ask yourself: Is it enough? What else is there? How else can I serve? What more do I want? What more can I do?
Say yes to the big things you want. Let the possibility of those things be real and have a chance of taking hold in reality before you deny them to yourself.
Conduct yourself with utmost integrity, from your highest nature.
Be all that you can be in the moment at hand.
Create big (big idea #2) and take big responsibility (big idea #3).
Take extreme care of yourself (big idea #12).
Idealize big (big idea #16).
Set big intentions (big idea #19).
Take big actions (big idea #20).
Express big gratitude (big idea #23) and love big (big idea #26).
Coaching Yourself in Action
⎕ Review the sections of your coaching journal that address your author goals, intentions, and idealizing. Assess how big you are playing. Is it big enough? Do you now want to play bigger in any of these areas?
⎕ In a walk or meditation session, let your mind wander to the meaning of bigness in those areas and the significance for you of stretching yourself further.
⎕ As you go about your daily activities, find one or two places today where you can think bigger, show up bigger, and play bigger. Bring your best self, your best game. Afterwards, think about what the experience showed you about your limits and your potential.
Play Bigger Starting Here and Now
If a bigger, better, income-generating, sustainable author business you love matters to you, then join us here! It’s only $8/month to try out or $72/year, which amounts to investing about 20 cents a day on behalf of your goals. It’s worth it. Guaranteed. Any time you don’t think you’re getting your money’s worth, please request a refund.