Welcome to Season 2: Standing on Your Comfort Cliff...

Are you ready to take the Leap?!  Yes!  No.  Not sure?  Luckily, there is no wrong answer.

Depending on where you are  on your Comfort Cliff is how you'll decide when to jump.  Discover the three zones that guide our journey and move us closer to the Growing Edge! 

"Life is often a battle between the person you are today and the person you’re meant to become." Deep down you know you are meant for more.  In this season, we'll explore the powerful stories of women who have moved through their Empowerment Zones.  They will share the messiness before they got to the Growing Edge and decided to leap!  

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Jes Averhart 0:00 
You really can't have a great reinvention story without referring to the moment that you decided to take the big leap.

Jes   0:13 
I'm Jessica Averhart and you're listening to the Reinvention Road Trip podcast. Listen, I'm a mom who's obsessed with the power and process of reinvention. And I'm also a fourth generation entrepreneur. I've worked on an Amish farm and for the world's most admired company, produced events in partnership with the NFL and NBA, and carved out a little place in the world of early stage startups, every step of the way, learning the power of reinvention. So let's take this journey together, it's time to get inspired, Dream louder, and own the keys that will unlock the next best version of you.

Hey, team, welcome back to season two of reinvention road trip. Wow, it has been a minute, but I am excited to be back with you. This season is perfect because it lines right up with the start of spring. And I'm here for all of that all of this goodness that's coming out of the spraying out of all this last pandemic masks, it just feels good to kind of have some newness, right, those great to walk out into the sun without bundling up. And I'm just glad to be here to record this episode. For you. For those of you that are new to this podcast, welcome. I hope you enjoy what we've got lined up for you and encourage you to go back, listen to season one. Get some of that good wisdom from our guests and a little bit more about my story. For those of you who did join us the first time around. Welcome back!

Jes  1:49 
I'm giving all of you virtual hugs.  All right, well, I can't wait for what we've got coming down the pike this season, I'm convinced that all of this good learning is going to hit home for me personally, and hopefully for you too. So with that in mind, season two is for what learning, growing and acting, okay, we're not gonna just talk about it here. We're gonna be about it. Right? We're women of action. So we're going to hear from some incredible women who are killing the game in their industries, we are going to personally challenge ourselves with self reflection on sometimes I might even throw some homework or thought exercises into the mix, in fact, at the end of this podcast and got a little thought exercise for us as we move forward. And we're going to create community.

So let's dig in, this is going to be a ton of fun. Let me tell you about the season really quick. I was thinking when I started writing these outlines that I wanted to start us with two ideas. I think these ideas are key to reinvention. So over the next two episodes starting with today, we're going to uncover transformative risk taking through the lens of our comfort cliffs. And an episode two, we're going to unpack a concept that if applied correctly, and consistently, it's going to change your life, it will also change the lives of those around you. So Episode Two is a big deal. So buckle up, we're gonna start off pretty, pretty hardcore, but it's gonna get us set up for a really great season with our guests.

All right. Now, a little about me. For those of you who don't know, I'm a Midwestern girl, I always talk about what you know, my roots were I was raised. I was specifically raised in a small town of about 300 people called Evans sport, Ohio. Evans sport is probably 45 minutes south of Toledo, and 45 minutes east of Fort Wayne, Indiana. So if you think about the state, we're in that little postage stamp in the corner, I come from a long line of entrepreneurs and was lucky enough to be brought up with a pretty strong work ethic. And they got me working when I was really young at about age six. And my grandpa taught me the gift of the long game. He was like if you want to make a deep impact in business, you got to be in it for the long haul. And so maybe I haven't always followed that rule. But I definitely appreciate his wisdom now because it's paying off.

I'm a mom of a teenager who is headed off to school after taking a gap year in the pandemic. He's off to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. So he gets to have all his classes in the sunshine and access to palm trees and all these great views all year long. It's not a bad destination for me either. I was thinking about parents weekend like listen, I'm gonna go to parents weekend I'm going Boca Raton, so I'm excited for it. And I've already got all my little proper mom attire so that I can route on the owls at the football games and all that good stuff. professionally. I'm like, kind of like a Jane of all trades rate. I've done a lot of things I've worked with a portfolio of Fortune 500 companies like Google, General Electric Procter and Gamble, and manage the rollouts for a Pepsi Cola in North America. I produce football and basketball. Ball All Star games in partnership with the Bengals, the browns and the Cavs and lots of other different things, leadership work and early stage startup work. Just all kinds of things that I stay curious.  And I find myself in these new industries. So there's no doubt that I have learned a ton because of these experiences. And I have designed our time together this season to share some of those lessons, as well as introduced powerful tips and guiding principles from these great women that I follow and admire.

So here's the what's in it for you part. Okay, so I'm sure you're thinking great, that's great, just what's in it for me,?  Well, at the end of each of these episodes, my hope is that you will have gained a few more nuggets inching you closer to your growing edge, which we're going to talk about in a minute, and giving you the fire in your belly to act to take the next right step in your journey.

Jes  5:54 
This is the good stuff, y'all This is this little time that we have together should be considered a gift to you. You carve it out, you protect it, you write notes, you think about it, you meditate all the things, you talk about it with your friends, this is the good stuff. So we're going to lean in this together. Alright, what else do I want you to know before we dive into the topic for today, I think that the only thing I want to point out is that as a norm, I should just remind everybody that I am an expert. On my story only, I am not an expert on your story. But I can relate and I do relate to the insecurity, the uncertainty, sometimes the anxiety that you are feeling or have felt as you approach the proverbial fork in the road. I've had many forks in the road. So I know that feeling of self doubt well, and I've created tools and ways that I've hacked my way through it so that it can continue to grow and be successful in my career and in my life in general.

Alright, so that was actually a great segue into today's topic, which is dropping self doubt, and taking leaps, also known as risk taking. So you should know that I pride myself in taking risk, I like to talk about the times that I took a chance, and it paid off I like to, you know, think about this is a big risk I'm taking How do I how do I feel about it, right? So I love the idea of risk taking. And I really like taking risks when they when they present themselves, even if they don't pay off, even if I get knocked down. Just the act of walking into the unknown makes me feel accomplished. That might not be for everybody. But it is certainly the truth for me. Now, when women tell me that they admire my ability to have enough Moxie to do something or that I'm brave for making the choice, I stand a little bit straighter and hold my head up higher. And I bet you do too. I like to celebrate these milestones, these little bits of progress. And I hope that you're doing that as well.

So we're going to be talking about the comfort cliff. But also just want to point out that you've been on this cliff, you've probably taken some leaps along the way. And I'd like to pause and celebrate that, right, we don't honor our efforts enough or too busy running around to the next thing, or beating ourselves up over what we didn't do, rather than celebrating the things that we did do.

The first thought exercise of today is just simply take a second push me put me on pause, do a little bit of like love, like give yourself a hand like, go get a ice cream zone, do something for yourself to celebrate. Just you celebrate the work that you put in, Okay, and let's stop beating ourselves up or running over those moments like they don't matter. Okay, but let's make that a deal for the season.

Alright, so that said, with all of my history of risk, taking the fact that I like doing it, and I have done it, I noticed that during the pandemic, I've sort of been standing on the edge of my own comfort cliff, and I haven't really been going for it. I can see myself jumping. I even told myself that I did jump in January. But really I didn't. It wasn't until about two weeks ago, which when this comes out will be May. But two weeks ago, I was like, you know, early April that I felt that physical tension, that physical tension plus the emotional exhilaration of jumping, without truly having a safety net. And that's how I knew that I did it. That's how I knew that I jumped off my comfort Cliff for the first time in about nine months.

So it's super important here. To be clear. I wasn't deceiving myself or, you know, trying to avoid jumping. I just wasn't ready. I was still sort of in that messy middle. And these past few months I've been working I've been reflecting I've been doing some self care. I've been you know, eating too much frankly and now trying to get back on the wagon, right and so just the stuff alive. It's not easy, y'all. But I've been doing all this little little bits of victories every now and again, inching my way closer to my comfort cliff edge. And these little wins that I've had have been preparing me to take the big leap. So small victories matter, because they get you closer to the goal.

Jes  10:20 
So now that I've jumped, it is getting real. It's getting like really real, our team is growing. We have four people who are waaaay smarter than me supporting our work and helping me build this vision that I have for the reinvention lab, which we'll announce later, this summer. It's a place where we can all go and experiment with tools and ideas and products to kick off our reinvention journey or help us walk through that journey. Y'all. This stuff is so exciting. It's also terrifying. It's all that at the same time, it's that thing where I was talking about tension and exhilaration all happening at once. I'm definitely leveling up, though. I mean, there's no question about it. My game is  sharper and focused. You know, my health is really good. Eating great like this. I'm on 10.  But it wasn't like that three months ago, right? I was still trying to inch my way closer. So I'm leveling up as a business owner and as a woman.

Now. Alright, let's talk about this Comfort Cliff for like the last five minutes. What is it? Okay, so here's how I define it. And this is a kind of a new term. So just hang in there. The way that I define our comfort cliff, is this ever present force, it's this thing that we're always on, we're on it. We're, we're either close to the edge or we're far, far away back, but we're always living on the comfort cliff. And it has three zones. So first of all, do this for me close your eyes.

Jes  11:48 
And imagine a cliff, maybe it's overlooking, I don't know, the like the Grand Canyon. Okay, so that's an easy one. Imagine a cliff overlooking the Grand Canyon, or a flat rocky plateau that juts over the mountains of North Carolina, which I think about the last of the Mohicans. Okay, so you got it, you got your cliff. Alright, keep that picture in your mind while I walk us through these next three zones.

The first zone in your comfort cliff is the widest, okay, it's the widest and the safest. Okay, that's sort of like the part that's attached to the mountain that you can just turn around and you're good, you don't even think that you're in danger. That's the first zone. And we call that simply the Safe Zone. That's your safe zone. And this zone affords us solid and cautious ground to stand on. It's wide and populated, meaning there are a lot of people standing on there with you. Standing on this part of the cliff, we definitely see the world but we see it from a safe distance, we see a great view, but not a full view. And we're amongst our friends and our family or colleagues, they probably share our interests, right in our ideas. It's safe.

Now the next zone is the most consequential in my opinion. In your especially in your reinvention journey, this is the most consequential it's the Empowerment Zone. This is that narrowing middle like when you're getting close to the edge, but not quite. It's that Middle Passage way, right that pathway. This has less people and you have a much fuller view ahead of you. You're moving into the zone by taking small and consistent steps towards your calling your goals, your dreams. This is where I've been the last six to nine months has been in my empowerment zone. You're getting more and more comfortable as you go. Because you're having more at bats and you're having more wins. Each incremental step or win is drawing you further away from your safe zone. And towards your next chapter. The middle pathway is critical. The empowerment zone piece that's critical. Each step is building up your risk taking muscle. It's giving you confidence, and it's allowing you to take one more step every time your confidence grows, you're like wow, I can do it again. Let me take one more step. You also go deeper. If you're learning something or you're trying to get into a concept or an idea or you're studying for something, you go deeper, you move closer, right, you're moving closer, you're going deeper, you're taking more steps, and you're getting close to the growing edge, which is the third zone.

The third zone is called the Growing Edge. Here's where we experience breathtaking views, right we get some clarity. And we realize we have new possibilities that are just right there. They're within reach. We can see exactly what's ahead of us. We can see what's around us. We can see what's beneath us. This is that panoramic view. Right of our life, it's like I said before, exhilarating meets terrifying, because right, you can see, but below you. But if we've done the work in the empowerment zone, we're likely prepared and confident enough to jump to the next best version of ourselves. I always like the 80% rule here, I, I'll never be 100% ready to do anything, because I'm always thinking It's never good enough. But I can get to 80%. I know when I'm 80% with everything. And so, I like to say if you can get to 80% in the empowerment zone, where you've learned enough, you've got enough people around, you got a great network, you've saved a little money, whatever it's going to take whatever that next goal is, I have no idea your you got your you got your food prep for the week, whatever you're trying to do, right, you've got you did, you've done the work in the empowerment zone, you're 80% there, then you're ready to step up to the edge. Okay. And you know that you could probably take the leap at that point. Because you know, you won't fall, you're prepared, you're ready to go. And you're probably going to soar at that point.

All right. So as you know, we spend most of our lives safely away from the edge, right? I mean, we don't live on the edge, we enjoy the views, right, we enjoy the changing landscapes in the safe zone, we love spending time with the people that we're comfortable with, and that we share the similar experiences with, it's a good place to be. And for some of us, it's just enough, right, a lot of people will just say, I'm going to live right here, and I'm not gonna move anywhere. And I'm good. Honestly, I actually really enjoy that part of the cliff. I love the safe zone, it's where I get to rest, I get encouraged, have more time to serve.

Jes  16:46 
But inevitably, I'll start to get a little restless. And I can't stop thinking about what's next. The Cliff's edge is where I naturally start to gravitate, takes on this whole new role in your life and becomes a platform to level up if you decide to jump.

Now let's go back and talk about that empowerment zone again, for a second, you could call it the messy middle. Or maybe we will call it the conflicting center, or attention path. I don't know. It's It's messy though, whatever you call it, this is where it gets rough, and a little tricky. So in my mind, we spend a lot of time here wrestling with the person that we are today. And the person we're meant to become. Let me say that again. In life, we are often battling between the person we are today. And the person we're meant to become deep down, we know we're meant to do more, we're meant to be more we're meant to be more for our community, for our families, for ourselves. This is where the powerful stories of the women on this podcast this season are going to come in because they're going to unpack how they moved through their messy middle, right, how they how they manage the empowerment zone, then got to the growing edge, and decided to leap take the jump.

For most of my life. When I found myself in the empowerment zone, which is quite often these days, I had to lean on my own self reliance to see me through or find other people who were on the same journey that could relate to how I was feeling from day to day. That is normal. And ladies, if you if you don't have people in your world, that are kind of on a similar path, you need to try to find them. Because it can get really lonely in the empowerment zone and that messy middle. And it's it's just much easier if you have a tribe or if you have you know your people to support you. The goal for all of us during this stage is to keep pressing forward. And when you have your people, you can press forward a little bit easy, but trust me, I've done it alone more than once and I made it so you don't have to have your people but I'm just suggesting that you maybe look around and let people know what you're up to take those baby steps or the big steps. The goal is to keep moving forward to discover that next best version.

Now in season one, episode one I talked about the power of reinvention, I shared some stories and I looked up the word reinvention in the dictionary. It was pretty quick and easy and non academic, frankly. So I'm gonna do a quick refresher on what Webster has to say. It says, Well, actually, I think they do a great job of clearly defining this word for us as so the word reinvention is defined as the action or process through which something is changed so much that it appears to be entirely new. I love the simplicity of this. Yet if we dig in to what I just said, we can see that this is not simplistic. If we're going to venture into these waters of reinvention and invest in the process of a new are we find you, it's gonna take some work y'all. It clearly said that reinvention is the action or process through which something is changed so much that it appears to be entirely new. So apparently, to make the claim that we are new, we must have been putting in some work or had some pretty good intention. It's not about hoping for the best.

When I was rereading the definition today getting ready for for this recording, I was really challenged by that. I know I'm in the business of personal transformation, or whatever people are calling it these days. But the fact is, I'm challenged, and and excited by the idea of changing growth. But it's hard, right? It is not easy. It's hard. And you have to be thoughtful, disciplined, you know, we'll spend a whole podcast on discipline, but you have to be thoughtful and discipline about what it is you want, right? Getting away from where you are today and wrestling with the business of what you're what you're meant to become. So I love the idea of wondering what my best version of me looks like, and then going after it with some intention and action. So when you put these two things together, the comfort cliff and the reinvention definition, it makes sense that our reinvention story, and the comfort Cliff go hand in hand, you really can't have a great reinvention story, without referring to the moment that you decided to take the big leap. So let's recap the work. And the intention takes place as you inch away from the safe zone of your comfort cliff. And you find yourself standing firmly at the growing edge.

Jes  21:43 
Someone once said, You'll never influence the world by being just like it. I love that quote. I love it. It's obvious, right? And get most of us remain in the pack, we stay behind. Because it's it's safe. It's time to stop being just like the world around you and start growing. Alright, this is a podcast, this is not an audio book. So I'm gonna stop here, we're not going to answer all the questions in one episode. We're just setting the stage to ask really good questions as we go along and get answers and be inspired by these women that will interview.

In order to prepare for Episode Two, I do want you to start doing some thought exercises, right? Just think about these next couple of questions that will get you primed for what's to come.

The first question is when you think about your own comfort cliff, I want you to imagine yourself on the edge on the growing edge like you've made it through the empowerment zone, you're on the growing edge. What is it? What is in the in front of you? Right? What's that next move? What's the next chapter? What is it that you want out of life? What is your dream? What is your goal? What are you been talking about thinking about for the last 20 years? You haven't done anything about it? What is that?

Then I want to know what's holding you back? Right? what's holding you back from the edge? If what's in front of you is what you're supposed to be honoring sort of this, this, this thing that you know is inside you that needs to come out and that the world needs. The world needs the gift of it. Right where we need to honor it. What is holding you back from that? It could be a salary, it could be benefits. It could be your kids, it could be you know, it could be a lot of things that are holding you back, it could just be fear of failure.

And are you willing to do the personal work and fight off the naysayers to make it through the messy middle? So that's the last question.

All right, so those are some good ones to think about. I mean, they're really challenging. We all stay on the edge of our comfort cliff. Many of us will never step off to find out what if what are those possibilities? We can see it but we won't jump. We like the safety of what's behind us. I contend if you really understand what you're made of, and know who you are, you'll have enough confidence to not just jump off the cliff but to fly.

Trust me, a whole new world of possibility awaits in Season Two.

So welcome to Reinvention Road Trip, Season Two.

Thanks, friends for riding along on today's reinvention road trip. If you like what you heard, tell a friend and leave us a review. I know seems like a little thing, but it is so important to see if we're on the right track. You can find the show notes at just Eva hart.com forward slash podcast. And don't forget to join the reinvention roadtrip by signing up for our newsletter where I share behind the scenes details and nuggets that you won't hear On the show, new episodes drop weekly, so subscribe on Apple podcast, Google podcast Spotify or wherever you're listening to your podcast these days. Alright friends, thanks so much. Until next time

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