Are you playing offense or defense?

There are two kinds of entrepreneurs. The ones that take bold calculated risk, and the ones that play safe to protect what they’ve built. The kind that play it safe steadily react to challenges instead of creating opportunities. Top performing entrepreneurs know that growth comes from creating opportunities rather than reacting to them.

Today, we’ll explore the essence of taking bold steps for higher impact.

🗯️ Playing Not to Lose vs. Playing to Win

An acquaintance described her experience and takeaway from two business owners she worked with. Both had built successful companies, a security industry & a hospitality industry respectively. She realized their approaches to life and business had a striking difference. One was always focused on maintaining the level he had risen to.He feared losing it all, so his decisions were conservative, unwilling to take bold actions.

The business spent days, weeks, months, and years troubleshooting, firefighting, and worrying about competitors. The other CEO was not afraid to make tough decisions. She was constantly on the lookout for new opportunities, and improved ways to deliver better results. Her mindset wasn’t driven by fear of loss but by the thrill of growth. She took calculated risks, invested in innovation, and wasn’t afraid to fail in pursuit of a bigger prize. She described her as a “sponge” — ready to absorb, learn from, and dispel the curveballs thrown at her.

Recently, she learned that the conservative CEO's business had plateaued. The team has been dissolved to rebrand and reopen in the future, due to challenges that could have been avoided if certain tough decisions were made. The other is still thriving and has recorded higher income and impact over the last one year.

Her takeaway?
The key to bigger wins is bigger decisions.

🧠 The Cost of Playing to Protect

When you're too focused on safeguarding what you already have, you're essentially limiting yourself. You're not looking for new opportunities, and you’re certainly not growing. This defensive mindset is often driven by fear. Fear of losing what you've built, fear of taking risks, or fear of failure. While it might feel safe, it leads to stagnation.

You wake up one day feeling like you’ve got so much more to give, yet you can’t imagine taking that bold step to reach your desired goal. Too afraid to face your fears, you find yourself falling short on the standards you’ve set for yourself. You spend your days striving to maintain what you’ve built. Your passion gets buried under day-to-day struggles and distractions.

No color.
No spark.
No growth.
No excitement.

You end up constantly reacting to the world around you, instead of taking the canvas and painting your own unique reality.But no matter how scared you are, there’s something in you that can help you face your fears.

❤️ Tune into Your Purpose

You didn’t start your journey to maintain status-quo. You intended to create something extraordinary. You even had a big WHY for embarking on that plan. The reason you started this journey in the first place. And you visualized your excitement when you finally bring it to life.

When the time comes to take bold steps, tapping into that feeling you once visualized can help you make decisions from a place of courage, rather than fear. Those bold moves open new doors. It opens you up to possibilities you never even imagined. New opportunities, greater successes, and the satisfaction of knowing you’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

Constantly creating new paths, building confidence, and dignifying your aura.

🤲 Make a Bold Move

It’s okay to be scared.
But it’s not okay to stay scared.
You’ve got to face your fears.

Here are five actionable steps you can take right now to start playing offense in your business and life:

1. Fuel your drive: Ask yourself: “What is that big vivid vision I desire to achieve? Build an 8 figure company? Next, ask: “Why did I embark on this vision in the first place?” To help people solve a problem you once overcame? Reconnect to that purpose and allow it fuel the next step.

2. Assess your goal: Review how far you’ve come in turning that vision into reality. What part of your life or business are you fearfully holding back on? What areas are falling short of the vision you created? What areas have you been playing safe?

3. Face it: What’s that one big, audacious goal that scares you a little, but also excites you, and can draw you closer to achieving your dream? Be it expanding your business into a new market, launching that new product, or taking on a major personal challenge. Whatever it is, make sure it’s something that pushes you beyond your current boundaries.

4. Take one bold action: Take one single action that will bring you closer to that goal — invest in a new opportunity, make that new hire, change your business strategy, or say yes to that decision you’ve been putting off.

5. Track and course-correct: Write down what you did well and what you struggled with each week. Take time to evaluate whether your actions are pushing you towards achieving your goal, or if you’re slipping into defensive habits. Adjust as needed and stay focused.

A courageous decision taken with purpose often leads to breakthrough. A journey of a 100 miles starts with a single step. But if you’re too scared to take the first step, you may never give yourself the chance to soar.

🎯 What Kind of Entrepreneur Are You?

Are you busy protecting what you’ve built or chasing new successes? Not stepping out of your comfort zone doesn’t necessarily lead to losing what you’ve built. But it will deprive you of the MORE you seek.

And may leave you lagging behind.

In the words of Mark Zuckerberg, The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

P.S.: Are you struggling with fear? I’ve been there before, and I discovered a consistent practice that helped me go for the things I deserve. Reply to this email and I’ll share it with you.