The Hidden Cost Trap: What It Really Costs Not to Share Your Story

Most people don’t set out to waste their story. But without realizing it, they end up doing exactly that. Not because they choose to, but because they neglect to do anything about it.

It is easy to put your story on hold. Life moves fast. Other things feel more urgent. But while you wait, something else is happening under the surface.

Here’s the question we rarely stop to ask: What is it costing you not to tell your story well?

Most of us never think in those terms. We assume that doing nothing is neutral. Safe. But it’s not. There’s a hidden cost in waiting. A silent loss that builds up when you’re not intentional about stewarding your message.

I call this the Hidden Cost Trap. It’s what happens when we fail to recognize what we’re giving up by staying quiet.

You don’t see the missed connections. You don’t feel the lost influence. You don’t track the income you could’ve earned. And because you don’t see it, you assume it’s not there.

But it is.

For many years, I led a private school. I loved the hugs from kindergartners and helping teens navigate the next season of life. But inside, I felt like I was supposed to be doing more, something more consistent with the calling I felt deep inside me.

 I had always thought of myself as a writer, but I wasn’t writing. I thought of myself as a storyteller, but I wasn’t telling stories. 

Eventually I reached the place where I realized that if I did not start leaning into my one story, I would end up regretting it forever. So, I made the decision to step out before I knew how it would turn out. 

Another school leader asked me a powerful question as we discussed the possibility of my leaving the school: “What would be the worst case scenario?” 

I surprised myself a bit when I admitted the worst case scenario would be for a year to go by and I would still be in exactly the same position but feeling even more stuck.

I stepped away from the school and into a new direction, one that would take a couple years but resulted in the founding of StoryBuilders. 

If I hadn’t recognized the high cost of doing nothing, I would’ve missed the chance to build what I was uniquely created to do—something that’s now impacting lives in ways I couldn’t have imagined back then.

If you’re not doing anything with your story, doing nothing is doing something. It’s costing you opportunities you were made for. It’s limiting the impact you were meant to have. It’s holding back income that could be supporting your life, your family, and your calling.

You may tell yourself, “One day I’ll get to it.” But the cost of delay adds up every day you don’t.

You have something to say. And the longer you wait, the more you lose—often without even realizing it.