Remember being a kid? What was the one word we all wanted to be? Not astronaut, not firefighter, not even a pizza maker (though that was a close second). The word was bigger. All we wanted to do was get big, then bigger, then bigger still. And we did, until suddenly… we didn’t. We hit our limit.
But the obsession never left. It just put on a business suit. Now the paychecks get bigger. Responsibilities get bigger. The overwhelm gets bigger. Next thing you know, you’ve got next-level blood pressure, a next-level waistline, and you’re wondering when the “next level” stopped looking so sexy.
I get it. In my work as a Grammy Nominated Spoken Word Artist, I’ve seen that the loudest message isn’t always the one that connects. The biggest stage doesn’t guarantee the deepest impact. Sometimes, we’re so focused on getting bigger that we forget to get better. We’re not growing; we’re just swelling. So, if you’re ready to trade unsustainable inflation for perpetual inspiration, here are five ways to redefine your next level.
1. Trade Your Ruler for a Compass.
We love our rulers. We measure everything: revenue, market share, headcount. We get so obsessed with the numbers getting bigger that we forget to ask if we’re even going in the right direction. A ruler tells you how far you’ve come; a compass tells you if you’re heading toward your purpose. The best leaders know that a 10% gain in the wrong direction is still a 100% loss. Better growth isn’t about height, it’s about alignment. Is your team, your brand, your next move aligned with your “why?” If not, you’re just getting taller in the wrong forest.
2. Aim for the Goosebump, Not Just the Goalpost.
Here’s a truth every spoken word poet knows: data informs, but stories transform. You can hit your quarterly goalpost and have your audience feel nothing. Or you can tell a story that gives them a single, undeniable goosebump, and they’ll follow you anywhere. That goosebump is the ROI of humanity. It’s the metric that proves you’ve connected. Better growth creates an experience, not just an outcome. It’s the difference between a transaction and a relationship. An algorithm can hit a goalpost, but as I’ve said before, it will never know what it feels like to have its skin brailed with the language of wonderment.
3. Hire for Combustion, Not for Comfort.
Growing bigger often means hiring for comfort. You hire more people who look, think, and act just like you. Your team becomes a bland, predictable banana pancake. But growing better? That means you have to be a vanguard artist. You have to hire for combustion. You go find the chocolate and pair it with chipotle. You build the pulled pork and grilled plantain panini team. Homogenous teams lead to homogenous results. It’s in the collision of diverse perspectives—the beautiful, messy, uncomfortable friction—that the real fire of innovation is born. The most inspirational teams aren’t the ones that agree; they’re the ones that are aligned on a mission strong enough to withstand the turbulence of their diversity.
4. Make “Win Some, Learn Some” Your New Mantra.
The relentless pursuit of “bigger” makes us terrified to fail. A loss feels like a step backward, a blemish on a perfect upward trajectory. But better knows that growth is not a clean line. It’s a messy scribble of risks and recoveries. As a motivational poet, one of the most inspiring things I see is a leader who embraces failure not as an ending, but as intellectual capital. You have to create a culture where it’s safe to fail forward. Hand out the Armani gauze and the Chanel splints. If every attempt you make ends in a win, you’re not risking deep enough. You win some, you learn some. That’s how you get better.
5. Be a Story-Listener Before a Storyteller.
You want to grow, to connect, to sell. So you talk. You pitch. You present. But the quickest way to find yourself in others, and for others to find themselves in you, is to listen first. Effective storytelling begins with effective story-listening. Before I, a Grammy Nominated Poet, ever get on stage, I have to listen to the room. I have to hear the unspoken scriptures beneath the business cards. When you learn how to listen to your customers like you’re one of their own, they’ll start to listen to you like you’re one of theirs. That’s better growth—not just expanding your market, but joining a community.
Stop Swelling, Start Growing.
The next-next level isn’t a destination you climb to. It’s a new way of moving. It’s a mindset that chooses depth over width, impact over image, and “better” over “bigger” every single time. So stop chasing the shadow and start stepping into the light. Because true progress isn’t measured by the size of your footprint, but by the echoes you leave in people’s hearts.
