ABA Redefined - Episode 22: Stop Playing Small: Why Your Environment Is Either Growing You or Keeping You Stuck
Release Date: November 19, 2025
Duration: [27 minutes]
Host: Sarah Burby, BCBA, Founder of MindBodyBehavior
Episode Description
Fresh off a life-changing four-day retreat in Arizona, Sarah gets brutally honest about what happens when you stop comparing yourself to others and start letting their success inspire you instead. This isn't your typical "mindset" episode - it's a raw conversation about glass ceilings we create for ourselves, the scarcity mindset plaguing our field, and why the resistance you're feeling about growth is exactly the sign you need to lean in. If you've been playing small because it feels safer, this episode is your permission slip to want more.
In This Episode Sarah Discusses...
Why feeling like you don't belong in the room means you're in exactly the right room
The shift from "I'm not doing enough" comparison to "if they can do it, so can I" inspiration
How giving yourself permission to want more isn't selfish - it's your responsibility
Why resistance to growth is often a sign you need to do the thing that scares you
The toxic scarcity mindset in ABA: why other BCBAs' success doesn't threaten yours
Quotes from This Episode:
"Your comfort zone keeps you safe, but it's also keeping you stuck. And you're not meant to stay stuck."
"Comparison is gonna make you feel small. It's gonna make you see other people's success as evidence of your failure. Inspiration makes you ask: if they can do it, why can't I?"
"There's not a limited amount of success that goes around. Your success does not take away from mine. My success does not diminish yours."
"The ceiling breaks the moment that you decide it's not real and you go for it anyway - not before and not after. It happens when you go for it in that action."
"Every glass ceiling I thought was real in my life, someone in another room had already broken through it. The only thing keeping me under that ceiling was my belief that it existed."
"You don't have to stay small to make people comfortable. You don't have to downplay your ambition to seem humble."
Resources Mentioned:
VIBE In-Person Retreat - April 2025 (beachfront location)
Featuring Seth Wagner (business coach) and Jill Stoddard (imposter syndrome expert, author of The Big Book of ACT Metaphors)
3-hour workshop included
Connect With MBB
FREE CEUS: https://mindbodybehavior.co/ceus
Mind Body Behavior RECLAIM Retreat:
https://mindbodybehavior.co/appointment-page-3564-2536-1477-4221
32 CEU Board Approved Health Coaching Program: https://mindbodybehavior.co/board-certified-health-coach
BCBA Supervision Program Outside ASD:
https://mindbodybehavior.co/bcba-supervision
Email: sarah@mindbodybehaviorllc.com
Social Media: @sarahburby @mindbodybehavioranalysts