I’m at an event right now and I was going through emails. A speaker asked,
“What if I can’t charge $10,000 like you? You can charge that much because of what you do on stage but I don’t really think I can get to that level.”
And it would surprise you at how many times I’ve gotten similar emails.
When I read this, I just shook my head.
There’s a conversation in Star Wars that goes like this,
Luke Skywalker: “I don’t believe it.”
Yoda: “That is why you fail.”
If you don’t believe you can charge $10,000 (which really isn’t that much) then you’ll never get to that point.
You hear it a million times… “Dream big.” But are you actually dreaming big or are you thinking small?
I don’t know where you’re at in your speaking career. I don’t know how many gigs you’re doing, if your calendar is full, what you’re charging, nothing. But I do know that wherever you are now, you can blow it out the water if you just start thinking highly of yourself.
Marianne Williamson has a great quote that goes like this…
“We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?….Your playing small does not serve this world….There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that others don’t feel insecure around you.”
NEVER say something like, “I don’t think I can charge $10,000 to speak?” If you think small, you’re going to act small, and nothing around you will change.
The world chastises people who think highly of themselves. People will say you’re arrogant. People will tell you to ‘tone it down’ a little.
But don’t.
There’s NOTHING wrong with thinking highly of yourself.
There’s NOTHING wrong with believing you’re going to charge $10,000…$20,000…or whatever you want to charge to speak. It just comes down to backing it up with action.
You can’t accomplish great things with a small ego.
Every successful person has a huge ego…it’s just a matter of whether or not they show it. People who show it are called arrogant. People who don’t show it are called humble. But to accomplish things, you have to first believe you can make it happen.
How many more gigs could you have gotten in 2015? What could you have done more of?
It all starts with a belief that it’s possible. And from there, you hustle harder than everyone around you to make it happen.
Stop playing small and start taking it up a notch.