What If the Business You're Building Is Actually Too Small for Your Potential?

There’s a fear that gets a lot of airtime in the coaching world: What if I’m dreaming too big? What if I’m being unrealistic?

But this fear creates a problem... It keeps you dreaming too small.

And when you're building a coaching business, a business that's supposed to carry your gifts out into the world, dreaming small doesn't just limit your income. It limits your impact, too.

What if the vision you're holding, the one that feels "safe," "reasonable," and "smart," isn’t actually the one that would set your life on fire (in the best possible way)?

What if you’ve been calling it “being realistic”... when really, it’s just fear wearing a different outfit? The same frequency?

When "Being Realistic" is Really Fear in Disguise

It’s easy to convince ourselves we’re being wise by setting careful goals. By lowering the bar just a little, not enough to notice, but enough to avoid looking foolish if it doesn’t work out. (I know you've done that! I sure have.)

It feels safer that way, doesn’t it? 

You can stay in motion. 

You can feel productive. 

You can protect yourself from the sting of disappointment, and from the sideways glances of people who don’t quite get what you're building.

But here’s what I’ve learned the hard way: Shrinking your vision doesn’t actually protect you. It just keeps you from ever finding out who you could have been if you’d given yourself the full chance.

When you're growing a coaching business, being grounded doesn’t mean trimming your dreams down to a “reasonable” size. It means balancing your expectations, letting the timeline stay flexible, without gutting the vision itself.

You don’t need smaller dreams. You need stronger roots.

A True Vision Requires Confidence and a Bold "Why Not?"

The kind of vision that lights you up from the inside out? It’s not about ego. It’s not about proving anything.

It’s about answering a quieter question: Why not?

Why can’t I live the life I can feel pulling at me, even when it scares me? 

Why can’t I build a coaching business that doesn’t just pay the bills, but feels like a living, breathing extension of my soul?

It takes confidence to ask that question without immediately backpedaling. 

It takes guts to hold a bigger vision in your hands without crushing it under the weight of “Who am I to think I could do this?”

It's not easy, I know.  Believe me, I KNOW.

Matter of fact, it’s one of the hardest things you’ll do: Holding a vision despite fear, doubt, and worry.

But here’s what I want you to know: The future you want isn’t reserved for “them.” The ones you look at and think, "It’s easier for them"... 

...They once thought that future belonged to someone else, too.

We’re all “them” to somebody. 

We all start out wondering if we’re good enough, smart enough, capable enough.

It’s never been about being one of the chosen few. It’s always been about how you choose to see yourself, and which barriers you decide you're no longer willing to believe in.

Building a successful coaching business isn't about waiting for someone to choose you. It’s about choosing yourself first.

Expansion Triggers Contraction. And That’s Normal

Here’s another truth we don’t talk about enough: Growth doesn't always feel good in the moment.

Sometimes, expansion feels exactly like fear. Like standing at the edge of a cliff with the wind in your face and nothing to hold on to.

And you know what? That’s not a sign you're in danger or taking an unnecessary risk. 

That’s the brain doing what it’s wired to do: Protect you from the unknown.

Uncertainty is a threat, biologically speaking. So when you step into bigger spaces, bigger dreams, bigger risks, bigger visibility, your brain will sometimes try to pull you back to safety.

It’ll whisper doubts. It’ll manufacture urgent little tasks to keep you "busy." It’ll second-guess things that felt clear just days before. And it will point out all the things you’ve “failed” at to get you to stop and turn back.

None of that means you’re on the wrong path. It means you’re walking forward, creating your path, because you know you can.

A Quiet Invitation to Expand Your Coaching Business Vision

So maybe today’s question isn’t, “Am I dreaming too big?” 

Maybe it’s this: Where have I been calling it "being realistic" when it was actually fear?

And even more importantly: What would change if I asked myself, “Why not?”

You don't have to rush. 

You don't have to bulldoze your way there. 

You just have to be willing to hold the bigger vision, even when it makes you feel uneasy.

That’s where the tipping point lives. 

That’s where the real you, the one you may not have fully met yet, is waiting. 

And that’s how the coaching business you were meant to build finally begins to take shape.

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Michelle Sera

Michelle Sera is a Coaching Business Growth Specialist who’s worked behind the scenes of 4 multi-million dollar coaching brands, learning what truly works to grow a thriving coaching business. As a Certified Happiness & Manifesting Coach and founder of ElevatedMind®, she guides coaches to consistent growth with strategic simplicity and energy alignment.