Honesty that sparks connection.
Here's the thing about making yourself smaller â it doesn't usually happen all at once. There's no single moment where you decide to shrink. It's more like a slow, quiet negotiation you've been having with yourself for years. You adjust here, soften there, edit before you speak. And after a while, you don't even notice you're doing it anymore.
But you feel it. That low hum of this isn't quite me.
Women's History Month is a lot of things, but for me this year, it's about starting close to home. Starting with the small, everyday moments where we make ourselves less â and asking: what would it look like to take up just a little more space?
Here are 3 signs you can look out for in your daily life, that may signal youâve unintentionally been making yourself smaller.
đť Signs You've Been Making Yourself Smaller
You matched the room instead of entering it. You adjusted your energy, your look, your language to blend in. Not because you wanted to, but because belonging felt safer than being seen.
You felt relief when no one noticed. Flying under the radar felt like protection. Standing out, even for something good, felt like risk.
You explained yourself when no one asked. You justified your choices â what you wore, what you liked, what you wanted â to people who didn't require an explanation. You volunteered an apology for just being yourself.
If any of these landed, that's not a character flaw â that's a survival strategy. A lot of us learned to make ourselves smaller to stay safe, to belong, to avoid the friction of being too much. But noticing it? That's where it starts to shift.