Life as we know it is a difficult thing to navigate. We will inevitably encounter challenges, disappointments, pains, heartaches, and discouragement. This is why 97% of us choose to live life in the safest and securest way possible.
Having a safe, secure, and stable life isn’t a bad thing. In fact, that’s what all peoples want. That’s the goal each and every person has. But how you get there is a different matter altogether.
A lot of us choose to get to that destination by playing it safe and going through the conventional and somewhat comfortable route. Not wanting to divert from it for fear of being ridiculed and mocked. Dreams have been buried along with the dead out of this fear. It’s true what Les Brown once said: that the graveyard is the richest place on Earth for there you will see hopes, dreams, visions, ambitions, desires, and potentials that have never been fulfilled.
Just because people sold themselves short.
5 Ways that Selling Yourself Short Affects Your Life
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You live with regrets.
Too many times people on their death beds talk about the things they regretted not doing out of fear of rejection or being different. They have lived their lives not out of contentment but out of pressure to stay where it is safe not realizing that they were meant to thrive and stand out.
John Maxwell said that the two most important days in a person’s life are the day he was born and the day he discovers his purpose. Unfortunately, most people only get to experience the former and live life without even getting close to the latter because they undervalued themselves and settled for what’s convenient and what’s readily available.
Stop living life trying to fit yourself into others’ definition of who you’re supposed to be and what you’re supposed to do.
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You miss out on life-changing experiences.
Imagine you’re an artist who has to go through life sitting in a cubicle with a dead-end desk job. Try to visualize that you’re a successful brain injury lawyer but are living an empty and meaningless life because your joy and passion are to serve the ministry.
Because of decisions that we make to go where everyone is going — the safe route, the conventional route — we tend to go through life missing out on experiences that can alter the way think and change the way that we look at the world and life itself. Just because we wanted to play it safe and not live up to our fullest potential.
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You become complacent.
Another downside to selling yourself short is living a life of complacency. For most of our lives, we were told how to think, how to behave, how to dress up, how to speak, and so on. It’s like we were being raised from an assembly line where we’re all supposed to be generic when in fact, we’re supposed to be unique.
The world system and people’s world views have already been set to look for what’s safe, what’s universal. If you’re different from the rest, you’re an outcast. But the thing is, we weren’t designed to be like everyone else. That’s the reason why our DNAs are different from each other. We were meant to stand out and express ourselves creatively.
The best thing you can do for this world is to become the best version of you according to who you are and not what people say.
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You won’t experience true happiness.
Most folks would like to think that success, money, and stability can help bring you happiness in life. While these things aren’t bad and they do contribute to how happy you feel, at the end of the day, you will only find true happiness if you’ve really lived your life out according to your purpose and potential.
Many a man have experienced success in life — accolades, wealth, achievements, fame, awards, the whole nine yards. However, most of these people would readily admit that when they go home, they feel empty and unfulfilled.
To quote Doc Hudson from Disney’s Cars, “All I see is a bunch of empty (Piston) Cups.”
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You leave a mediocre legacy.
The biggest price that you will have to pay for selling yourself short is living a life of mediocrity as your legacy to those next in line, especially your children. When you live life living for others, you let your potential go to waste. Stop thinking about them and start thinking about what you’re here on Earth for, what you were designed to do. You must realize that it’s never about you nor the people who try to define you but it is also about living for those next in line and how you can inspire and encourage them to be all they can be and more.
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you will land among the stars.
Stop living a life of mediocrity and of trying to fit in. You were born to do great and mighty things. Live purposefully and start going after your dreams and ambitions. It’s never too late to turn things around and live your life to the fullest.
