In the Spotlight with Tanya Geisler, featuring Jen Brown
In the Spotlight with Tanya Geisler is a weekly live show that shines a light on some of the biggest mindset challenges facing leaders and entrepreneurs today in their lives and in their work.
This week's guest is Jen Brown. Jen is a Trail Running and Triathlon Coach as well as the founder of Sparta Chicks, a community and coaching business that supports women who participate in endurance sports and outdoor adventures to chase their dreams (in sport and life) with less anxiety, fear and self-doubt and instead with more confidence. A former Corporate Lawyer, Jen now specialises in coaching women and is an author, speaker and the host of the Sparta Chicks Radio podcast. In her spare time, Jen can be found drinking coffee or exploring her beloved trails throughout the world heritage listed Blue Mountains, outside Sydney, Australia.
WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT:
All about Sparta Chicks and how it got started
Swapping out the word “jogger” for “runner,” or “blogger” for “writer” - what story does that perspective tell?
The power in naming ourselves “athletes” to feel like an athlete
Trying to start a new habit again, after failing before
How the impostor complex shows up in Jen’s work
Jen’s new podcast, Sparta Chicks Radio
The impact we have on our people
JEN SAID//
The thing that holds us back is not the physical stuff…. What holds us back is all that stuff upstairs, the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and who we’re not.
What do you think of when you say the word runner? I used to say, “I’m not a runner. I’m just a jogger.” I [had to think] about the story I was telling myself about running…
There’s a fear that someone will call you out: “You’re not a runner because you’re so slow” or “You’re not a runner because you don’t look like what a runner looks like.” You’ll never feel like an athlete until you [call yourself] an athlete.
I know a lot of women who would not call themselves athletes even if they do very athletic things.
(If you’re starting a new habit) Start small - it’s really easy to get trapped in comparing yourself to your old self or what you used to be able to do. For anyone starting out, or trying to get back into running again - start small. I have clients who start out with 30 seconds of running, 4.5 minutes of walking and then repeat that four or five times. Start with small, bite sized chunks. Try not to run [in such big chunks right away]… You’re setting yourself up for failure.
Question those stories you are telling about yourself in your head, about your fears or your inadequacies. What’s that narrative? What’s at the core of it? Is it the fear of failing again, is it a fear of failing again in front of your family? There is always a much deeper underlying theme going on under the surface.
You need to do both - do the smart training, start small on the physical side. But you also need to examine the stories you tell yourself.
For me the biggest lie of the impostor complex tends to be that I’m not ready or good enough, which I’ve realized feeds into procrastination or perfectionism.
It’s funny how something (my podcast) that was such a cause of angst and fear and self doubt is actually one of my favorite things I’ve done in my career. Full stop. End of sentence.
Often the things you are most proud of in life are the things on the other side of the greatest struggle or fear.
I had the skills I needed to do the job.
You put your work out into the world - it doesn’t matter what it is - and you’ve got no way of knowing how it’s being received. And the fact that you’re not hearing how it’s being received doesn’t mean it’s not being received. Keep doing what you’re doing. You’re changing lives in ways you’ll never understand.
Go out and chase your dreams. Accept that you’ll have failure, accept that you’ll feel completely scared at times. But life’s too short. You can change lives. Whatever you do - just go do it.
TANYA SAID//
Swap out the words jogger for runner, blogger for writer.
We’re afraid of failing or being called out or our inability to commit… but usually in business, often fear of failure is actually fear of success. Usually that’s hidden around the inability to handle success.
Will people be proud of me? Will people be happy for me?
You have no idea the impact you’re having on people.
Small bites. 30 seconds at a time. Next step, next step, next step. First it’s ten minutes… then it’s 100 kilometers.
FIND JEN
Each week Tanya and a guest star (an expert in their zone of genius) take on a topic that is UP in their work, or in the work of their clients. (Can’t step into your starring role when perfectionism, procrastination, boundaries, comparison, people pleasing, diminishment, and overwhelm are in the way, right?)
Listen to In the Spotlight with Tanya Geisler on iTunes or where you listen to your favorite podcasts!