Playing small so others feel comfortable doesn’t help them. It just shrinks you.

Playing small to keep other people comfortable does not make them any bigger. Hiding a good result, laughing at your own ambition, going quiet about what you are working on: none of it transfers anything to anybody, it just removes you from the room by degrees. The people worth keeping were never asking for that.

Say the true-sized version of your news once this week, with none of the softening. Notice who is glad and who changes the subject. That reaction is useful information you would not have collected otherwise.