Playing your Bigger Game – what does that even mean?
I recently told you about how I fell in love with a model for how to play big in work and life. So here’s a series of posts to help you get started, and possibly you will fall in love too.
What is the Bigger Game? How do you get on the board game and actually play?
If someone offers you a great opportunity and you are not sure you can do it, say yes, then learn how to do it later
Richard Branson
I’d say that Richard Branson is a serial Gulper. Who else would be known for a quote like this? What does it mean to be a Gulper? Read this post, watch the video, and it will all make sense.
Have you ever taken his advice?
I have. And I’ve struggled with choosing which example to share with you. These will hopefully show the spectrum of Gulping that is available to you.
My Little Gulp
During a training program, we were organising an activity, and we needed MCs. For some reason, I was compelled to volunteer. It was nuts. I’ve never done it before, I don’t know how and I prefer to stay in the background. But I knew that I needed to do it (even if I didn’t know why).
After saying yes, and learning more about what I actually needed to do, I had an internal mini panic. I don’t know how to do this! What was I thinking?
I was excited at how amazing I thought it could be and scared of making a complete tit of myself, or even worse, being boring and drab for the audience. And what if I let down the people who were going to perform?
So I leaned into a quote from another great guy
“The antidote to doubt isn’t confidence, it’s commitment”.
Rick Tamlyn
(seriously, he has so many of these good quotes. Go cyber-stalk/sign up to his newsletter to get more of the gold)
When in doubt, don’t bother looking for fickle and often elusive confidence. You may feel confident one moment, then have it evaporate the next. You can’t rely on it. But you can always choose to commit.
When as I was about to go out onto that stage, I took a moment. The gulping, anxious, nervous feelings came first. Then I made a choice.
“I’m doing this”.
And I put all of me into it, let go of the outcome, let go of my inner Judgey Judgerson.
I committed to being an MC, whatever it took.
And it was good. I did the job I needed to do, people enjoyed it. People told me I should do more of it. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself. So. Much. Fun.
Was I perfect? Was I the best? Of course not. I came away with a lot of learning points for myself about how I could have done it better, and I’ve been working on those in the last couple of years.
The Big Gulp
The MC thing was a little gulp. But when I left my career in the supply chain, with great pay, great opportunities, great colleagues, to become a coach, I had no idea what I was doing.
I didn’t have much experience as a coach.
I had done my certification so I was grounded, but not experienced.
I had never done acquisition before – and when you run your own business, you have to do a lot of acquisition.
People kept asking me what kind of coach I was and I didn’t know how to answer – I hadn’t figured out my niche (or that the world wanted me to have a niche)
What I did know was that I wanted to do this work, and I would learn how to turn it into a career along the way.
But hey, it wasn’t as flighty and vague as that sounds. I was a supply chain professional for almost 20 years so I was really clear on my deliverables, my constraints, and resources, and I knew my first steps. And most importantly, I knew that a plan was only my “current idea of how it was going to go”. You don’t get to be a planner or project manager for that long and believe that the plan is sacred. Plans are meant to be changed.
But stepping out of that security: financial, identity, contribution, was a massive gulp. I did not know how to actually create my own business that would sustain me, but I knew I had to do it. And it was thrilling!
(except for those “oh my god this is so sh*t, why did I ever start this?” days. Not going to lie, that comes along with Gulping too).
Here’s where the rollercoaster comes in:
This is the high-energy square. This is the place where excitement and fear feel like one and the same. When you’re considering a bold action and your palms are sweaty and your mouth dry, you take a position on this square so that you know it’s perfectly normal and not at all bad to feel exactly how you’re feeling. Then, you turn all that potentially negative energy into a positive force for change.
For the last 12 years, my life has been like a theme park: fun lakes with the pedal-boats, surprising quiet spots that I just love, and a whole bunch of roller coaster rides. And I haven’t had to stand in line for an hour and a half to get on a ride. I can take that ride whenever I want: pick a Bold Action, Gulp, and get on board for the ride.
So what are you gulping about? I know you have a Bold Action that you have been thinking about. I know for sure you’ve gone through Gulps and taken action, many times in your life. Tell me about yours.
I know I will definitely feel better for hearing about it – maybe I can steal be inspired by your ideas. Maybe I can cheer you on and be an ally – or help you find allies. But I do know that it might help you – speaking our wild and crazy ideas changes the energy of them and can help you get started.
If you like what you see in this series and want to know more, then we have good news. The Bigger Game Event will be coming to Amsterdam in Spring 2020. For more updates and to be the first to know, join our mailing list.
Do you want to be on another list?
Maybe you want this list because it’s just about Bigger Game. Dorothee and I will not be spamming you with other amazing offers. Just Bigger Game stuff.
So what will you get?
Non-Salesy: videos about playing your bigger game, FAQs, blog posts where we share stories and insights. nice quick reads.
Salesy: the upcoming event. We want you to join us! So we will tell you about it, offer you first access to tickets, and early-bird specials. But that’s it. Nothing else to sell here.