Bite more than you can chew

Na your jaw go expand

Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash

Bite more than you can chew. Na your jaw go expand.
— PNI.

Disclaimer: This letter has nothing to do with food. 😚🙃

It’s the start of 2026 and everyone is either fine-tuning their goals or getting started on them. When it comes to goal-setting, we might find two categories of people:

• Those who set goals that are bigger than them.

• Those who set goals they can achieve with “just enough” effort.

If you find yourself in the latter category, then this letter is for you. One reason why many people don’t like biting more than they can chew is fear of breaking their jaw. No one wants to break their jaw (fail), and that seems likely to happen when you bite more than your jaw can handle. So, to avoid failure, discomfort, and loss, people aim for goals they can achieve if they push themselves just a bit.

But guess what? You won’t grow that way.

Growth doesn’t happen in comfort. Growth happens when you’re constantly on your toes. That hot seat you don’t like being put on is exactly where your growth is. Have you forgotten that heat and pressure turns coal into a diamond? If there’s no heat or pressure coming from your goals & plans, you can’t be refined into a beautiful gem. You can’t maximize the potential you have. And trust me, you have so much potential, simply by being created in God’s image. But that potential can’t manifest if you’re in comfort; if you’re not being challenged.

I saw this quote somewhere:

Avoiding the forge delays growth.
I believe pressure is not meant to destroy what is good, but to purify it.

Consider David’s story: If he had only tackled what he could handle, he’d never have faced a lion or a bear as a youth. By daring to bite more than he could chew, he was prepared to defeat the bigger challenge — Goliath.

I know you’re scared of breaking your jaw, but majority of the time, your jaw ends up expanding. You can’t know the full extent of your potential if you’re not stretched. A rubber band can only know its full length when it’s stretched to its limit. Playing it safe doesn’t help you grow; you have to step out of your comfort zone. You’re worried about your jaw breaking, just like a rubber band snapping when stretched too far, right? Well, guess what? God is Rapha (the Lord who heals).

If your jaw breaks, it’ll heal, and you can go again. Don’t be so scared of failure that you never live out the full potential God has deposited in you. I personally believe it’s both dishonoring and unappreciative to God to hold back what He has placed in you.

If you keep choosing to play it safe, you’ll end up with a list of accomplished goals but no growth. If you choose to bite more than you can chew, you might not accomplish everything on your list, but you’ll definitely grow.

You want to see yourself grow? Do the things you don’t even believe you can do. Sign up for that oratory contest. Join that basketball team. Take that ICAN exam. Start that podcast. Build that business. Do big things this year, my friend. Bite more than you can chew — na your jaw go expand!

As he bites more than he can chew,

M.I Writes. ✍️