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Quick Lift: How Women Build Confidence and Reinvent Themselves · Loud & Lifted

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  Welcome to A Loud and Lifted Quick Lift, the
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  shorter episode where we take a few of the biggest
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  ideas from the full conversation and turn them
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  into something practical. And Jeannie's episode
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  is such a good one for this, because yes, her
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  story is extraordinary. She reinvented herself
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  in midlife. She took on major open water swims.
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  She said yes to things that most people would
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  run from. But the bigger lesson is not about
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  swimming. It's about how confidence actually
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  gets built. Because I think a lot of women look
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  at someone like Jeanne and think, well, she must
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  just naturally be brave or she must have always
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  been confident. But that is not really the story.
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  The story is that confidence was built over time
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  by taking the next step, stretching outside her
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  comfort zone and choosing not to let fear make
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  every decision. And that is what makes this conversation
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  so relevant. because most of us are not being
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  asked to jump into the Hudson or swim across
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  the English Channel, but we are being asked to
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  do brave things in our own lives all the time.
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  Speak up, raise our hand, change directions,
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  try something new, ask for more and trust ourselves.
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  So here are takeaways from Jeannie's episode
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  that really stood out and one action item for
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  each of them. Number one, confidence doesn't
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  come first. You build it by saying yes before
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  you're fully ready. This is really the heart
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  of Jeannie's story. So many women are waiting
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  for confidence to arrive before they make the
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  move, before they apply, before they speak up,
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  before they raise their hand, or before they
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  even say yes. But confidence usually does not
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  show up first. It gets built. rep after rep,
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  after the risk, after the stretch, and after
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  the uncomfortable moment when you move away.
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  And I think that this is where Jeannie's model
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  works so well. She did not wake up one day magically
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  confident enough to do huge bold things. She
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  built that confidence by doing smaller hard things
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  first. and the bigger ones after. And one of
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  the simplest but strongest things she said in
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  the episode was this, say yes, not to everything,
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  not to nonsense, not to things that go against
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  your values or burn you out, but say yes to the
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  opportunity, the challenge, the stretch. The
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  next level, when fear is the only thing telling
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  you no. This is such an important distinction
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  because sometimes we call it, it's not the right
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  time or I'm not sure I'm ready. When really what
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  is happening is we're just uncomfortable and
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  growth and comfort rarely hang out together.
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  A lot of women miss opportunities because they
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  think they need to be 100 % buttoned up first,
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  but almost nobody is. Sometimes the opportunity
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  comes first, then the confidence catches up.
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  item, pick one thing you've been hesitating on
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  because you did not feel fully ready. Ask yourself,
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  is this truly a no or is it fear? If it's fear,
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  say yes to the next step this week. Number two,
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  stop asking what if I can't and start asking
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  what if I can? This needs to be one of the loudest
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  takeaways from the whole episode because most
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  of us are incredibly good at imagining what could
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  go wrong. What if I fail? What if I embarrass
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  myself? What if I'm not good enough? What if
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  I say yes and regret it? We can build a disaster
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  scenario very, very fast. But Jeannie flips that
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  with one simple question. What if I can? What
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  if I can do this? What if I can figure it out?
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  What if it goes better than I expected? This
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  is not pretending that risk does not exist and
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  it's not even fake positivity. It's just refusing
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  to let fear be the only voice in your head. And
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  that matters because the question you lead with
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  shapes how you show up. If you lead with, what
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  if I can't, you hesitate, you shrink, you stay
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  guarded, you have commit. If you lead with, what
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  if I can, there is openness, possibility, energy,
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  and ownership. And frankly, if we're capable
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  of imagining the worst case scenario all day
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  long, we should also be capable of imagining
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  a good outcome too. That mental shift is not
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  fluff. It changes behavior. action item. The
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  next time you catch yourself thinking, what if
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  I can't stop and replace it in real time with
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  what if I can? Then write down two positive outcomes
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  that could happen if you move forward. Number
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  three, reinvention is not too late. Sometimes
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  it's finally listening to yourself. One of the
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  most powerful parts of Jeannie's story is that
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  she made a major shift after a long career. She
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  had spent 20 years in IT. She had built a career.
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  She had experience. She had credibility. And
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  then she got to a point where she realized this
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  is not it anymore. And that is big because a
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  lot of women stay in something too long because
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  it looks stable, logical, or successful from
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  the outside. Or maybe because they have invested
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  so much time into it that leaving it feels irresponsible.
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  But there is a difference between something being
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  hard and something being out of alignment. And
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  what I love in Jeannie's story is that she finally
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  listened to that internal pull. Not because she
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  had every answer, not because the next step was
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  perfectly mapped out, but she knew she could
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  not keep forcing herself to stay in something
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  that no longer fit. This is a lesson that so
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  many women need. You do not have to stay stuck
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  just because you've been there a long time. You
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  do not have to keep living an old version of
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  yourself just because it made sense years ago.
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  Reinvention is not reckless. A lot of time, it's
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  just honesty. Action item, ask yourself, where
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  in my life or work Do I know something no longer
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  fits? Don't solve it all today. Just tell yourself
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  the truth. Next, the people around you matter
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  more than you think. Jeannie's story also reminds
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  us that courage is personal, but it's rarely
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  built alone. She talked about having people around
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  her who encouraged her, supported her, and helped
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  her believe it was OK to let go of one chapter
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  and move toward another. And that matters because
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  sometimes we make confidence feel like this is
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  totally a solo project. Like, if we're strong
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  enough, we would not need support. And this just
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  is not true. Sometimes borrowed belief is what
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  gets us moving. Sometimes we need the friend
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  who says, do it. Sometimes we need the mentor
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  who says, you're ready. And we need the partner
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  who says, it's okay to let go. This is not weakness.
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  This is wisdom. And this is a good reminder to
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  look at your circle. Are the people around you
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  helping you to get braver? Or are they keeping
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  you small, safe, and stuck? Because support does
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  not just need to feel nice. It can change what
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  we are willing to do. Action item, reach out
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  to one person this week who makes you stronger.
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  Tell them what you are considering, where you
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  feel stuck, or what stretch you are trying to
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  make. Let someone support you. Jeannie's story
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  is about a lot more than swimming, although her
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  feats are amazing. It's about confidence, reinvention,
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  courage, support. and possibility. And maybe
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  most of all, it's all about refusing to let what
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  if I can't be the question that drives your life?
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  Because the better question, and maybe the one
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  more of us need to ask is, what if I can? And
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  then right behind it, what if I just say yes?
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  Thanks for listening to this quick lift. If you
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  have not listened to Jeannie's full episode,
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  I strongly encourage you to do so. Until next
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  time, stay loud and stay lifted.