 What would you do if you couldn't fail? Hi there, I'm Stephanie Slokum, founder of EngineersRising.com. I'm excited to be a guest contributor for this week's Monday Morning Motivator hosted by the Engineering Management Institute. Today, I want to share with you one of my favorite quotes. There is no passion to be found playing small in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. Nelson Mandela We play small in a million different ways every day. Not speaking up when we have an idea because we're afraid of what someone else might think. Not grabbing on to a new professional opportunity with both hands because we think we aren't ready or that we don't yet have enough experience. Hiding or downplaying our strengths because we are working in an organization that we don't believe sees their value. Not asking for what we really need to thrive at work because we're afraid of judgment. Staying extremely busy with things that don't actually matter to us. Seeing an injustice and turning away from it, telling ourselves that's not my problem. Putting off that hard conversation we've been meaning to have. We play small in a million different ways every day. How are you playing small? What would it look like if you took just one of those things and started playing to your full capacity? Standing up, speaking out and going after those big dreams of yours. What would you do if you couldn't fail? What would you do if you didn't fear other people's judgment? Our quote today comes from Nelson Mandela. And if you don't know his story, he spent three decades in prison because of the strength of his convictions. Three decades because he refused to play small even at tremendous cost to himself. Now, you and I, we don't have to go to jail to play bigger. Yet, we constantly come up with all these reasons why we need to settle and play small. So today, I challenge you to join me in committing to playing full out. Speak up for what you want. Show up as the person you are, not the one who is hiding parts of themselves so that the people around you can be more comfortable. Writing down that secret big dream that you've been holding close to your heart and then doing one thing today that gets you one step closer to achieving it. You playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightening about shrinking so that others won't feel uncomfortable around you. As you let your own light shine, you indirectly give others permission to do the same. What would you do today if you stopped waiting for someone else's permission to play bigger? Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's feeling that fear. That uncomfortableness as you step away from playing small and you go for it anyways. So I ask you this, how are you going to go for it today?