Thinking Small Isn't Such a Bad Idea

By Tricia Scott.

I'm writing this from a pink armchair in the corner of my office, while feeling a very strong pull to do something more productive with my time. Map out Q4. Finish the thing. Get ahead.

You know the feeling.

It's August. There's no magazine from The Female CEO this month.

Some of you are packing bags. Some of you are already there, sand between your toes and phone in hand, reading this between checking your inbox and the latest Marian Keyes book — highly recommended, by the way. Some of you are holding the fort while the rest of the world seems to be somewhere warmer, counting down the days until it's your turn.

So why, when we have even a tiny pocket of space, do we feel the need to fill it?

This month, I'm not going to. And I'm going to suggest that you don't have to either. We have been so beautifully conditioned to believe that happiness is waiting just around the next corner.

The next launch.

The next milestone.

The next quarter.

We become experts at arriving — at the holiday, the goal, the good week — and immediately looking towards whatever comes next. We never quite land where we are because we're always half-somewhere else.

As I write this, I'm reminded of a conversation with Jessika von Innerebner when she appeared on the cover of our magazine, and something she said: "You keep finishing things before they're done becoming; let them stay weird longer."

We're always striving to get something finished, ticked off and done. But wherever you are today, I want to remind you that you have the right to exist exactly as you are right now. Not as the woman who has Q4 sorted. Not as the faster-growing, always-on-top-of-everything version of yourself. As you are. Right here. Right now. 

And perhaps this month, you could try being your own best friend rather than your harshest critic. A best friend would tell you to put the phone down. A best friend would remind you that you've done enough this week, this month and perhaps even this year — and mean it. A best friend wouldn't let you spend a perfectly good August already living in September.

Thinking smaller for a while isn't a failure of ambition. It can be an act of intelligence

And this isn't me telling you not to build, create, launch or move forward. Perhaps you're full of ideas right now. Perhaps this is the month you finally begin, share the work or take the brave next step. There is nothing wrong with following that energy.

But it is equally valid to pause. To regroup. To think without immediately turning every thought into a plan. To reflect on what is working, what no longer fits and what you want the next season of your business and your life to feel like.

Progress doesn't always look like producing more. Sometimes it looks like creating. Sometimes it looks like launching. Sometimes it looks like changing direction. And sometimes it looks like sitting still long enough to hear yourself again.

September will come. The plans, ideas and opportunities will still be there — and they may be better because you gave them room to become (or stay weird a little bit longer)

But right now, August might be asking something different of you.

Listen. And whatever this month looks like for you — building, launching, resting, reflecting or simply finding your feet — trust that it counts.

You are allowed to be here. 

I believe in you (always).

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 Tricia Scott is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Female CEO — a global platform, magazine, and community dedicated to helping women build confident, aligned, powerful businesses.

A startup mentor and multi-company director, she’s spent the past decade helping women move from overwhelmed and isolated to empowered and intentional.

Most days, she’s juggling her MacBook, her next big idea, and a very necessary caffeine supply. Connect with her at thefemaleceo.com.