Leadership In Law Podcast

S02E98 Rewire Your Brain to Move Beyond Limitations with Jenna Harrison

• Marilyn Jenkins • Season 2 • Episode 98

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Meet Jenna Harrison, a reformed overworker turned business coach who helps ambitious professionals build more freedom, impact, and wealth in just three days a week. In this mind-expanding conversation, Jenna reveals how the military's approach to leadership development and identity cultivation transformed her understanding of human potential and performance.

At the heart of Jenna's philosophy is a powerful metaphor: "We think we're swimming in an ocean of possibility, but really we're in a fishbowl inside the ocean, and that fishbowl is our mind." For law firm owners hitting plateaus despite working longer hours, this insight is revolutionary. Your limiting beliefs create invisible barriers that filter what opportunities you can perceive.

The counterintuitive strategy Jenna shares involves deliberately constraining your work hours to force innovation. When high-achieving professionals reduce their workweek, they must answer crucial questions about efficiency, delegation, and prioritization, questions that unlock their next level of success. But the journey isn't just about time management; it's about nervous system regulation and expanding your capacity for discomfort.

Rather than using traditional affirmations that can backfire, Jenna teaches "ladder beliefs", gradually stretching your mindset with statements you genuinely believe. She explains how to recognize patterns that reveal your limiting beliefs and why mastermind communities dramatically accelerate growth through social learning.

Reach Jenna here:
https://theuncommonway.com
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-3-day-workweek-rewire-your-brain-business-for/id1635447772
https://www.instagram.com/theuncommonway/
https://www.facebook.com/theuncommonway
https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrisonjenna/


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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Leadership in Law podcast with host Marilyn Jenkins. Cut through the noise, get actionable insights and inspiring stories delivered straight to your ears your ultimate podcast for navigating the ever-changing world of law firm ownership. In each episode, we dive deep into the critical topics that matter most to you, from unlocking explosive growth to building a thriving team. We connect you with successful firm leaders and industry experts who share their proven strategies and hard-won wisdom. So, whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting your journey as a law firm owner, the Leadership in Law podcast is here to equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to build a successful and fulfilling legal practice.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to another episode of the Leadership in Law podcast. I'm your host, marilyn Jenkins. Please join me in welcoming my guest, jenna Harrison, to the show today. Jenna is a top-ranked business coach, podcast host and founder of the Uncommon Way. A reformed overworker, she helps women build more freedom, impact and wealth in just three days a week. But for Jenna, the three-day workweek was just the start. Achieving extraordinary results in an unconventional way makes you question everything, unlocking a life beyond your wildest dreams. She walks her talk, having designed her own 24-hour workweek and moving her family to Spain, where you'll find her hiking up mountaintops with friends or playing on the beach with her seven-year-old son. I'm excited to have you here, jenna, welcome.

Speaker 3:

Thank you so much for having me, marilyn, really happy to be here, I'm excited to have you here, jenna, welcome.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for having me. Marilyn, really happy to be here. Absolutely, I'm excited to have this conversation, but give us a little background.

Speaker 3:

Tell us a little bit about your leadership journey. Okay, I'd love to. So I had a very windy journey.

Speaker 3:

I started out in the fashion arena and I worked in corporate for many years until I got married, and then my husband was a soldier and he immediately got stationed in Germany and while I had been telecommuting this was long before COVID I'd actually arranged for a telecommuting arrangement back then because it was in the cards. I've always loved to travel and I've loved location independence, but they said that was a little too far for them. Germany to the East Coast seemed a little too much. So that's when I started looking around for things to do and how I could channel, obviously, the skills that I'd built in corporate and in management into another career. And what I happened upon out of sheer luck, was in the US military. They actually offer all the trainings, or the majority of trainings and courses that they do, to the spouses as well.

Speaker 3:

So I was absolutely fascinated because I've always wondered how can you take an disadvantaged inner city youth and take him into boot camp? Somehow something magical happens and they come out a US soldier, and I always thought this must be brainwashing, it must be fear tactics. But when I started diving into these leadership classes and I eventually got my certificate in leadership development from the US Army War College, which is their graduate level institution, it turns out it goes much, much deeper and it's about identity cultivation and a lot to do with how you think and performance thinking. So when I started blending that together with business, it just started getting incredible results for me and for my clients. And then they started calling me their business coach, and that was about 10 years ago. The rest is history.

Speaker 2:

Wow, identity, performance and identity. Yes, I love that, I love that. So give us a little bit more about how that works. I mean, obviously, you know, high performing, high achieving women obviously want to get, or, in, men want to achieve more obviously. How does that?

Speaker 3:

work. Yes, so there are many different facets obviously that make up the world as we see it and I like to say we think we're swimming in an ocean of possibility, but really we're in a fishbowl inside the ocean and that fishbowl is our mind. It really filters the opportunities we see. It filters what we think is possible for us and we don't really even notice it's there unless someone else taps on the glass and helps us see it.

Speaker 2:

I love that analogy.

Speaker 3:

You're right, you're kind of stuck within your own limiting beliefs and that's really where identity cultivation and performance mindset come in is to try and stretch those beliefs and those ideas, those preconceptions, and really amplify that fishbowl, enlarge it and hopefully break through it. I often say I help women break through their own glass ceiling. It's not about a corporate glass ceiling, it's not about an industry glass ceiling, it's our glass ceiling.

Speaker 2:

I love that. I love the way you put that and thinking about using your glass ceiling you set for yourself. Revenue is one of those things we all run into revenue plateaus in your practice or your business. How do you help you know your practice or your business?

Speaker 3:

how do you?

Speaker 2:

help women or your clients move past that or adjust it, make bigger.

Speaker 3:

Great question that could. We could actually go in a few different directions with that, which might be kind of fun for your audience just to see how different it could be for different people, because it really depends on the person themselves. But one of the unconventional ways that I might help them do that is to suggest that they work fewer hours. And that is where the three-day work week was born, because it really wasn't originally about helping women work a three-day work week. It wasn't like my clients came to me saying I don't really want to work that much Actually very ambitious people that want to create meaning or create impact in what they do and so what was really happening was they would say it's just not sustainable. I just need to give myself some space, work a little bit less.

Speaker 3:

And what we found was that when we started cutting back on the work week, they invariably had to ask themselves questions of how can I still do what I need to do? How can I still create the revenue that I need to create? How can I satisfy my clients in this amount of time? And the answers to those questions were exactly what they needed to get to their next level. So that may be a different service that they had to offer, that might be operational, systemic issues in their business, or it might be something in their own mindset that was holding them back from going to you know, a different type of client or a different level of revenue. Maybe I'll tell you a really common one it's either that they are concerned about the management aspect of growing their business or it's that the opposite they don't want to give up control, and so they're worried about the product suffering when they're not able to have their hands in all the different moving pieces. So that might be one unconventional way that I would help women do that.

Speaker 2:

So given them, you know, taking that time off, or like putting yourself I think about an attorney trying to make partner or whatever you're working 70, 60 hour work weeks and getting that down to something normal, Is that giving you basically a time to clear your head and see more possibilities?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's doing several things. So, in the corporate example you gave me, one is that it's forcing them to get very, very clear on KPIs with their partner. You know, they really need to be a lot more proactive about what they're doing and also about letting people see what they're doing in order to create the same type of what, should we say? In order to be seen in the same way as they would when they're working more right. They have a branding opportunity here for themselves where they're able to create so much in less time than it takes somebody else. That might show that they are smarter, that they're more efficient, that they're thinking outside of the box. Right, they have something else to offer that maybe their other colleagues don't have, but those are the kinds of new ways of thinking that they'll get to access. Then, on the other side of that, yeah, they are going to have time off In the beginning.

Speaker 3:

For somebody that has been working a lot and been very ambitious and high performing and I can speak to my own experience it is challenging to actually rest during that time off. Often it gets filled with other things All of a sudden. It's about and I'm not trying to stereotype in any way here. I've just actually seen it happen with clients of mine, but maybe then they become the room mom for their kid's class, or maybe they start a side venture. Maybe that's when they decide to write their book, and all of those things are wonderful. But what is really fantastic is when you can actually give your brain some time to decompress. What we've now seen over and over again in fMRIs and thanks to all the amazing work that neuroscientists are doing, we can actually see how different parts of the brain light up when you're in a more well-rested state and actually the ideas that come to you, the creativity, the problem solving, the higher level thinking are exactly what lets you really impress your bosses and make partner more quickly.

Speaker 2:

Interesting and do you find that like? So, instead of giving yourself a new job, like for a mom or whatever, taking up a hobby, is that something that you would encourage, because I'm seeing that more and more women that have more time off are taking up hobbies and not just gardening.

Speaker 3:

I mean, they would sit there and rake sand forever, but they were doing a lot of not necessarily reflection, but they were using it as brain capacity builders in those moments. If it's something that you are using to get away from the discomfort of not having anything to do, because deep down you think that your worth is tied to doing this, then, no, that's going to backfire.

Speaker 2:

Okay, okay, I love that. That's very interesting. So calculate what you're doing and be yeah, be intentional about it.

Speaker 3:

Decide who you want to become, how you want your life to look, and then clear out any limiting beliefs about how it can't be that way. There's a very, very common example about Roger Bannister. I think I might be completely ruining the name, I can't remember if it's Robert or Roger at this moment, but he was the first person to run a four-minute mile. We've all heard of him, and before that, everyone thought it was impossible. As soon as he did it, all of a sudden, other people started doing it. So I think that if everyone around us were working three-day work weeks or even were working 40-hour work weeks which in a lot of communities, even 40 hours sounds like luxury, but if the people that are surrounding you are making it work everyone in your firm is able to do it in 40 hours, chances are you'll think it's a lot more likely that you, too, can do it in 40 hours.

Speaker 2:

Oh, that does make sense. And so, if we have, how do I spot my limiting beliefs? I guess is the first place to start. How do I know the size of my fishbowl and how do I think outside?

Speaker 3:

of it Such a great question.

Speaker 3:

Sometimes it's tricky because we do tend to be smart women and our brains have figured out exactly how to help us stay exactly in our patterns.

Speaker 3:

It's a survival technique and it's worked very well for hundreds of thousands of years, and so the brains will continue to replicate what works Frequently. You can look for one thing that I see as a really telling sign over and over again, and that is patterns. So when you see a pattern recurring in your life where maybe you switch jobs thinking that this one was going to give you a little more breathing room, but then you notice yourself working the same kind of hours I see that so often with entrepreneurs. They leave corporate so they can work fewer hours and they end up working more than they did back at corporate. And so when you see a pattern starting to happen, especially a pattern where you might say I just wish I could get out of fill in the blank, that often is a telling sign that there's some resistance there that's pulling you back into it. If, everywhere you go, you see this again and again, then it's it might be about you. You might be the common denominator.

Speaker 2:

Interesting, interesting Again looking at intention, and yeah. So let's talk about again the revenue plateau, because I've heard other people think about sales coaches. Think of it like this If you want to reach a seven-finger business and your brain can't handle it, because it just doesn't, so you can never get above, say you know, say a $20,000 mark or a $30,000 mark, it's almost like you can't, your brain can't see that number. How do you, you know, is that something? How would you work through that?

Speaker 3:

Yes, I'm so glad you brought me back to this, because I remember saying well, there was one possible way, which was we do something completely different, like constrain our hours and therefore force our brain to think differently and create new solutions that we never would have thought of. But there's another component we haven't touched on yet, and so this is really what I notice. When it's when the pattern is a plateau, when people come to me and they say I just haven't been able to go beyond this number, then, yes, I also agree that typically what's going on is there's some level of comfort around that number or known situation around that number, and understanding what is needed for the next level is interesting to talk about. But more often than not, what I see it's actually a nervous system, it's a body issue, and so what that looks like is you start to bring on more clients, or you start to become more visible, or you land the keynote speech or something, and then you may not even notice it, but there's what's called an activation in your body.

Speaker 3:

You get a little more nervous, right? Something feels off and that's your nervous system responding to newness, and what we often unconsciously do is bring ourselves back to what we used to know. And so sometimes that looks like getting sick before the keynote speech. Sometimes that looks like deciding you're just too busy now to take on any more of those visibility opportunities. Maybe it's that you stop selling, you stop marketing, because you're thinking, oh my gosh, I can't handle the capacity of more clients, I'm going to get even more burned out, I'm going to get even more burned out. And so that's when we really need to stop and work with the capacity building of the nervous system. And that's why I'm so thankful that I did have the military training, because one of the things they do really, really well is create mental toughness, which is really emotional tolerance. We think of it as all cognitive, but it's the ability to hold discomfort and to maintain a high level of performance even with that discomfort.

Speaker 2:

Okay. So it's building on your capacity, because if I don't, if I've never earned that and it's one of those hairy, audacious goal, right, and it's a breakthrough number, something like that. So you're saying work on your capacity, but see where you. Where does your brain go whenever you start to reach that level or aim for it? Then we can all fall back into comfort.

Speaker 3:

You may notice signs where you are just a little more anxious than you were before. You may start cleaning the house furiously. You may notice that you need to you tend to want to, I don't know buffer more with wine or food, right, there are lots of little telltale signs and all that's telling us is my nervous system is activated. It doesn't realize that I'm going for something that's actually going to benefit myself and the family. It thinks I'm doing something new, I'm doing something scary.

Speaker 3:

It may totally backfire, and so why don't we just stay with what we know, the devil we know, and so what you actually have to do is you have to let your nervous system see that you are safe, that everything's fine.

Speaker 3:

It's probably going to mean a lot more of techniques they call them like body-based regulation techniques in order to remind yourself that, hey, it is totally safe, it's totally okay, and in fact, this will be amazing. But you're probably going to have to do some more workouts or you're going to have to let that anxiousness release in healthy ways, and these are the steps that we don't take when we're in it, when we are ambitious and we're setting a goal and we're working to get there and we're like moving everything else aside because we're so laser focused. Rarely do we take the time to recalibrate our nervous system because we can do that later when we get to the goal. But it doesn't work that way. It's the who before how right. You really need to become the person that has that feels normal in those new circumstances before you can create those new circumstances for yourself before you can create those new circumstances for yourself.

Speaker 2:

Okay, I love that, and do you, because we all heard about affirmations and that helps get your brain on to seeing that goal as something that's achievable. What are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 3:

I actually am not a fan of affirmations. I think they backfire quite frequently. So you may say that thing, but all that's doing is pointing out what you don't have or pointing out what you don't believe, and so I'm much more of a fan of latter beliefs. So you may not say I am a millionaire, but you may say you need to find and this is, it needs to be very unique for every person you need to find what, one step on the way there, you do actually believe in your core. So it might be something like there are many women who are millionaires and that's something that your brain really believes and that's what every time, you say oh, this is probably impossible.

Speaker 3:

You're not saying I am a millionaire, you're saying there am a millionaire, you're saying there are many women who are millionaires, and that's how you're reminding yourself again, right and soon, that will seem so matter of fact and so normal to you that you'll be ready for your next level. It's possible that I could be one of those women 's. The next letter, or lat or rung on the ladder, right. It's possible that?

Speaker 2:

yeah, because I was having a conversation with someone the other day about consistently missing goals and coming to that. You know it's like, okay, am I making those goals too high? Am I being unrealistic, should I? How am I always? How do I keep going when I keep missing walls? So that's the thing. How would you address that?

Speaker 3:

Oh, that's such a great question. So, without knowing the person, because I do believe that there's a really important time where we do lean into our growth edge and that means we are going for the thing that really feels out there. But there are other times where we're doing this capacity building, where we're really creating safety, and maybe what we need to do is recreate a previous goal in a different way. What that's doing is it's showing us that it's very possible for us to create new results, but it's not in the one area that feels the scariest for us at that moment, right? So, for instance, if you have a lot of you know, a lot of stories, a lot of issues around money, and then reaching the next milestone with money may feel really charged, but you may be able to recreate your current results, just doing it a little faster.

Speaker 3:

For instance, you reached this in six months. Now you're going to do it in five months. Let's just see if we can do that in five months. Or let's do the same thing in six months, but instead of doing it in 60 hours a week, let's do that in 50 hours a week. Yeah, these are brain hacks.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I love that, because that's something that makes it feel more attainable.

Speaker 4:

Yes, exactly, very interesting.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because it's the revenue goal. We all have that pie in the sky number and I'm a big fan of the breakthrough code by Tom McCarthy and that's one of the things is pick a breakthrough number and or something that would make that would change your life. It is a breakthrough. So, and I have a hard time doing, you know, setting that up and setting that as a goal because, again, your brain doesn't believe it.

Speaker 3:

Exactly yes. And then we get reminded of what we don't have, which is, you know, if you're into it, manifestation 101 is living in the already being there. But even with just performance psychology as well we do tend to perform when we're more in flow and in the zone than when we're in perceived black.

Speaker 2:

And it's kind of like rewriting. I love the idea of rewriting the goal just a little bit different so your brain actually can handle it.

Speaker 3:

Yes, there are so many ways to get to where we need to go. I think the first core belief is just that we can absolutely create what we want. We just haven't found the way yet, but we're finding the way. And then the second thing, one that I really love, is that when I create the right conditions, thriving is inevitable, and we see that in nature all the time. Right, I see it here, walking around I live in Spain I'll see olive trees growing out of the craziest places, out of a cliff, and there's no, no one is cultivating that tree and it just grows everywhere Like a weed. It's huge, it's ancient, it's been there for hundreds and hundreds of years and it's beautiful. You take that same tree and you plant it in the Mississippi Delta, which has very new, you know, by all standards it would be nutrient dense, lots of moisture, humidity. Everything should grow well. That tree will die. You need the right conditions, and when you do have the right conditions, you really don't need a lot. You will thrive.

Speaker 2:

Fantastic. So how would somebody start working with you? What does working with you look like? And again, look at what I'm currently doing or what I want. How would we do that?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so if we were working together privately, then we would be thinking about reinvention and that is all of this identity work that we've talked about, and that would be the first step before we bring the business into it. It doesn't have to be that long, it could be a month, but this is what I was talking about with the right conditions. If we don't set up the right conditions, then it's just going to stall our growth and make our growth more difficult. I also have a mastermind program, which is where a bunch of women come together.

Speaker 3:

The power of social learning just cannot be underestimated. It's a fantastic place if you also want to surround yourself with women that are specifically trying to do things differently than everyone around them is doing it, and to see that it's possible. And so that has a more structured curriculum where I have people walk through several of the areas that I see as being the most problematic and there's the most potential for lag there, and then we would meet on group calls weekly. So there are different ways to approach it, just based on what the preference of the person is. Okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I absolutely, wholeheartedly agree with masterminds, social learning and the amount of open-handedness, sharing of ideas and information, is just incredible. And a mastermind can move you years beyond where your business is right now. Isn't that amazing?

Speaker 3:

And it's like you don't have to do the heavy lifting anymore because your brain, by association, starts to believe well, if these people that I know like and trust are doing it, then I must be able to do it too. Well, if these people that I know like and trust are doing it, then I must be able to do it too. And when you're working in isolation, you have all those beliefs to overcome.

Speaker 2:

You know, I should say all that disbelief to overcome, and so so much of the heavy lifting just gets done for you, just by the community. Yeah, and you know, just seeing what others have done and that's one thing I like to do on this podcast is have attorneys talk about the story because you know we are stuck, we all work alone most of the time. As entrepreneurs, you're pretty much an island, when you shouldn't be, and this gives us an opportunity to see and a mastermind, I think is a really good idea, because you can actually hear what other people are doing, see where they're beyond you and you can see the possibilities.

Speaker 3:

I love that Absolutely, and you get to reinforce your own learning by explaining how you got to where you are. So, for instance, if you just went through, started to shed some limiting beliefs about money and then someone comes in who still has those, when you explain to them, that is how you really enforce that learning for yourself.

Speaker 2:

Nice. I love that. Wow, this has been really impressive. I love the way that you work and the way you kind of the brain hacks. That makes the hottest. And I know some of our people listeners may want to reach out to you and talk with you about you know what can they get help with? How would they best connect with you?

Speaker 3:

Yes, please come to theuncommonwaycom and let's set up a time to talk. You can also find me on all the socials. I have a podcast. I'm definitely out there, but really it's. I would love to identify what's going on with you, where your, what your goals really are, and then set up a plan from there.

Speaker 2:

I love that, so we'll make sure that the website and your socials are in in the show notes so people can easily reach out to you and your podcast. What's your?

Speaker 3:

podcast. Yes, it's the Uncommon Way.

Speaker 2:

Okay, yes, love it Uncommon.

Speaker 3:

Way Okay, branding.

Speaker 2:

Love it. All right, we'll make sure that there's links to that in the show notes as well. Jenna, this has been great. I really appreciate your time and I just love the way your brain works about helping ours work better.

Speaker 3:

Oh, thank you so much for having me on. It's been so fun talking.

Speaker 4:

Absolutely. Thanks for joining me today for this episode. As we wrap up, I'd love for you to do two things. First, subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss an episode, and if you find value here, I'd love it if you would rate it and review it. That really does make a difference in helping other people to discover this podcast. Second, you can connect with me on LinkedIn to keep up with what I'm currently learning and thinking about. And if you're ready to take the next step with a digital strategist to help you grow your law firm, I'd be honored to help you. Just go to lawmarketingzonecom to book a call with me. Stay tuned for our next episode next week. Until then, as always, thanks for listening to Leadership in Law podcast and be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss the next episode.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Leadership in Law podcast. Remember you're not alone on this journey. There's a whole community of law firm owners out there facing similar challenges and striving for the same success. Head over to our website at lawmarketingzonecom. From there, connect with other listeners, access valuable resources and stay up to date on the latest episodes. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Until next time, keep leading with vision and keep growing your firm.

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