My Friend Said 10 Million. I Said 30K. That's the Day My Mindset Shifted.

Their goals weren't unrealistic. My goal was just too small.

The target has to be so ambitious, so wildly beyond your current reality, that even falling short means you've gone further than you ever thought possible. In every scenario you win.

The way I've been asking.

I've always asked for things with a low voice. Literally and figuratively.

Every negotiation, every opportunity, every conversation where I needed to advocate for myself I walked in small. I undersold my skills. I accepted the minimum because I was terrified that asking for more would make people leave.

But here's what I'm realizing: when you ask small, people give you small. Not because they're being unfair but because they're taking your word for it. You're telling them what you think you're worth, and they believe you.

I need to learn to ask differently. To stand taller. To speak with conviction. To stop negotiating from a place of fear and start negotiating from a place of value.

Because I do have value. I just haven't been pricing it right.

"Don't change. Upgrade."

Here's where the story gets personal.

I spent a big part of today convinced that to get ahead in life, I needed to become someone else. Tougher. Colder. More aggressive. I thought I needed to harden myself, change my personality, change my body, change who I fundamentally am.

And then a woman I deeply respect, her name is Flora, said something that stopped me in my tracks.

"You don't need to change. I'd rather you stay who you are. That's what makes you, you."

That hit me. Hard.

Because she's right. The goal was never to install a new operating system. It was always to update the one that's already running. I don't need to become another person. I need to become a better version of the person I already am.

Stronger, yes. More confident, absolutely. Better at expressing myself, at carrying myself, at knowing my worth, all of that.

But still me.

The road ahead.

I won't pretend this shift happens overnight. It doesn't. Thinking bigger after a lifetime of thinking small is like trying to stretch muscles you didn't know existed. It's uncomfortable. It's unfamiliar. And some days, I'll probably fall back into old patterns.

But I know the bowl exists now. And once you see the glass, you can't unsee it.

I'm going to work not harder, because people say that too loosely but smarter. More methodically. More intentionally. With a vision that scares me a little, because if it doesn't scare me, it's not big enough.

I hope this touches someone. Maybe you're the person who always plays small. Maybe you're the one who apologizes before asking. Maybe you're the fish who didn't know about the ocean.

Now you do.

Let's swim. 🌊

Christ-Yvan