You tend to live in a box—a self created box with boundaries that determine what you will and won’t do. It’s safe because you know the territory well. It’s where you believe that if you can get everything in its place and in control, you’ll be happy.

The problem with living inside your boundaries is that you can’t experience career satisfaction there. Fulfillment for you is outside your confining box because you are made to pursue and achieve. It’s in your DNA. Everything inside has already been achieved. Your natural drive to conquer and accomplish is outside. You can’t live small.

So what are you doing to put yourself out there? How are you pushing against your comfortable boundaries in order to experience the exhilaration of pursuing and achieving? Here’s what you need to do.

You need to think big. Your small world requires NO big thinking. NO possibility thinking. NO big dreaming. The only thinking required is what needs to be done so you don’t screw it up. Big thinking is the essence of vision—that energizing, inspiring aspiration that drives you and those around you to achieve. If you’re simply interested in what is comfortable, there is no vision and no inspiration.

You need to make big decisions. Big thinking should lead to big actions. Just imagining doesn’t make it so. Yes, they will be uncomfortable because they reside beyond your boundary. But you are just a capable as the next one.

You need to take big risks. Risk comes in all flavors: financial, professional, relational, etc. Now, for the risk-averse, I’m not asking you to bet the farm. I’m talking about the risks that are within your grasp but just outside your borders. It’s true that you increase the possibility of failure. But in the end, it’s about what you achieve. There is no trophy for how many times you didn’t fail.

NO ONE did ANYTHING exceptional who lived small. The founders of your firm took risks. They put it on the line, took a chance, and worked like hell. In fact, they took a risk when they hired you without full assurance you were worth the investment. Were they right?

Stop living small. Step up and step out. Fill a larger space and own it. This week, think big, make big decisions and take risks that make sense.