Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Well, hello and
welcome to the first actual
episode of the 10X Boulderpodcast.
I'm Nora and I'm so glad thatyou're with me.
I'm really excited because it'sMay and it's really special
timing the fact that I'm doingthis in the month of May,
because May actually holds a lotof significance for me and it's
my favorite month out of thewhole year, and today I wanted
(00:27):
to talk about the story of whythat is, and before I do, though
, I just wanted to mention thatwhen I put out the trailer for
this podcast, somebody listenedto it and asked me about the
fact that I speak so openlyabout my own faith.
He actually said like aren'tyou afraid that that's going to
actually push people away whenyou talk so openly about that?
(00:47):
And the truth is, I want thispodcast to be something that
resonates with people of allfaith backgrounds, and I don't
want this to just be the mostChristian-y Christian podcast
ever.
But at the same time, my faithis the center of who I am really
, and I don't want tocompartmentalize something
(01:08):
that's so important to me out offear.
That's the whole thing withthis podcast is being bold and
not doing things out of fear,and so if I were to hide that
because I didn't want to offendsomebody or push someone away.
Then I wouldn't be authentic tomyself or even the vision of
this podcast.
But, with that said, I want youto know that, no matter your
background, I hope you feelwelcome here and I do plan on
(01:32):
having people on here that arefrom different faith backgrounds
if they'll come on, but I'mexcited about that.
So, with that said, I want tointroduce today's topic, which
is something that I like to calloption unicorn.
Now, what is option unicorn, youmight ask Good question.
(01:54):
So I don't know about you, butsometimes it can feel like when
I'm faced with a decision, I'm alittle bit stuck between a rock
and a hard place, like thereare no good options and really I
just need to choose the leastbad option, which is kind of a
(02:16):
bummer.
It's honestly a bummer to feellike I don't have any option
that I'm excited about.
It can happen in so many areas,like dating, or in financial
situations or work or school,but whatever it is, you know it
could be for housing.
I know I've experienced whereit feels like option A is an
(02:39):
apartment that is within budgetbut it's really ugly.
Or in a bad neighborhood.
That is within budget but it'sreally ugly, or in a bad
neighborhood, and option B issomething that has beautiful
lighting, but if I were to takeit, it would put a huge strain
on my monthly budget.
And so I was facing a scenariolike this at work, and I'm going
(03:02):
to keep the details vague, butand this has been a long time
ago, but basically there was ascenario where a couple of
co-workers had dated previouslyand broken up, and it was just
very tense.
It was just pretty toxic and itwas pretty close to me and so
it really was affecting me dailyand I had tried to go to
(03:25):
someone to get it resolved.
But the situation was ongoingand I really felt trapped, and
it came to a point where Ireally felt like my two options
were to either stay stuck andjust be in this unbearable
situation stay stuck and just bein this unbearable situation or
to just leave and get a new job, and I just had no idea where
(03:49):
to even begin with that.
So, when this was all goingdown, I was driving home one day
and I just prayed, and this is.
I feel like I'm always justgoing to be telling stories of
me driving in my car and talkingto God, because I do that all
the time.
But I said, hey, god, I feelreally all the time.
But I said, hey, god, I feelreally stuck.
Could you just open up a jobfor me?
I don't even know what it wouldbe, but I need, I need help.
(04:12):
And, uh, I had a relatively longcommute.
It was like 45 minutes in thecar and, I kid you not, by the
time I got home I opened myphone to a voicemail from the
partner of a former accountingfirm that I had worked for.
I hadn't talked to him in areally long time.
I don't even know how he had mynumber, but he said basically
hey, nora, we are trying to hirefor a campus recruiter and I
(04:36):
thought of you and I thought youwould be perfect, call me back.
So I call him back and Ibasically start going down the
process of interviewing for thisrole and it seems so perfect.
It seemed like the answer to myprayer.
I mean, it was an answer toprayer, but it seems like the
solution.
That was a no-brainer.
You know, I needed to leave.
I asked for a job.
(04:57):
I got this job.
I went to my old office and Isaw my old co-workers and they
were saying, oh, you'd be soperfect for it.
But the thing was in the midstof all of this happening.
I was excited, but the more Iwent through the process of
interviewing, I started to get afeeling in the pit of my
stomach which is so annoyingbecause I just didn't have peace
(05:19):
about it and I thought aboutoverriding that intuition
because I just really feltdesperate and it just didn't
even make any sense, like itmade so much sense to just take
this role.
But I started to feel thatstuck feeling again, like option
A was to stay stuck or option Bwas to do something that I just
(05:39):
didn't feel congruent with anddidn't have peace about.
Didn't feel congruent with it,didn't have peace about.
And so when all this was goingdown, I was at church and I
still to this day don't know ifsomeone said out loud this
phrase or if I heard it in myhead, but I heard very clearly
(05:59):
the phrase Miracle May.
It was May at the time and Ididn't know what it meant, but
something in me just latchedonto it and said miracle may.
I don't know what that wassupposed to mean, but I'm taking
it for myself and I'm justgonna start believing for some
crazy miraculous outcome in thissituation that I'm in, and so I
(06:21):
just said to God hey, god, Isee option A and option B and
neither of them are great, and Iwas really into unicorns at the
time.
And so I just said, god, I'mbelieving that you have an
option for me that I don't seeright now, but it's better than
both of these options combined,and then some, and it's actually
(06:44):
good, and I'm going to callthat option unicorn.
And so, lord, I'm asking youfor option unicorn in this
situation at work.
And you know so.
I did that.
And still, though, during thistime, I felt so stressed out.
It just really felt super highstakes, like if I made the wrong
decision.
It was like I was up on atightrope and one wrong missed
(07:08):
up, and I would just likecontemplating all of this and
what decision I was going tomake about what was happening.
And I realized that I had morepeace about staying than I did
about taking the recruiterposition, even though it seemed
(07:29):
crazy, and I was seriously doubthe curb of the sidewalk, and I
got this picture of a littlegirl doing the same thing, just
laughing and teetering along theedge and not caring if she fell
off because it didn't matter.
And I felt like God was showingme that I was actually that
little girl and when I make adecision I'm actually on a curb
(07:52):
with the ground right therebecause God's involved and he is
going to catch me, and so I'mnot on the tightrope, I'm on a
sidewalk.
I just felt peace, that I hadfreedom to make either decision,
to either stay or go, but itwas my choice and either way
that I would be okay.
And that really helped me toget comfortable with this
(08:14):
concept of just making choicesand not putting so much pressure
on myself to get it right,because either thing could be
right and I would be okay.
And so, with all of that, Iwalked into the office and I, as
I was going in, I was just likeI don't know why I said this,
but I was just like God.
This is totally unrelated, butyou know, just while we're
(08:37):
talking, um, I was wondering ifyou could just let me know if
there are unicorns in heaven,and I'm sorry if this is bad
theology and I'm okay either way, but you know, I've just had a
lot going on and it would justreally cheer me up to see if
there were unicorns in heaven,but no big deal, yeah, just
(08:58):
putting that out there.
So I walk into the office andthe first thing I see is all of
my coworkers are wearing hornson their head, like unicorn
horns, and it turns out that itwas my one year anniversary at
this company and somebody hadorganized everybody else to wear
(09:19):
unicorn horns in my honor, andthen they got me like rainbow
flowers, because I don't evenknow how they make those, but,
yeah, they just wanted tocelebrate me.
Of all, I totally believe thatthere are unicorns in heaven,
and also more than that, I justreally sensed that things were
(09:40):
going to be okay, and it trulywas not a life or death decision
, and things were going to workout, even though I didn't know
quite how that would look quiteyet.
So, within the week, though, thepeople who had been involved
with all of the craziness atwork suddenly were no longer
(10:01):
part of the company, and thatdrastically shifted the entire
environment that I was workingin, and it also drastically
shifted my chain of command, somuch so that it just felt like
all of the stuff that I had beenexperiencing just completely
resolved overnight.
It was crazy, and then, as partof that, I was called into the
(10:26):
CEO's office and he had beenmade aware of what was happening
, and he was absolutelyhorrified and he told me that I
was going to start reportingdirectly to him moving forward,
and I was able to let him knowthat I was going to start
reporting directly to him movingforward, and I was able to let
him know that I had beenthinking about leaving, but I
decided to stay, and he wasreally grateful because it was
such a tumultuous time at thecompany and he just really
(10:49):
valued me being there, and so Ijust felt really seen and really
valued and it was superfulfilling valued and it was
super fulfilling.
And I realized that this wastruly option unicorn in this
scenario, because now I wasreporting to this executive that
I developed rapport with, andwe had a really awesome
connection that I really stillvalue, and I was able to feel
(11:14):
like I was making a difference,not just in my role but on the
culture of the company during avery pivotal time.
And more than that, though, itreally taught me that there's
always more to a situation thanthe options that I see, and it
helped me to realize that I'mnever as stuck as I feel when
(11:38):
God's involved, and so now thatthat's happened several years
ago, I always ask for optionunicorn in every area of my life
, whether it's housing or dating, and I just really believe that
it has raised my faith levelbecause I've seen so many areas
of my life where I thought thatmy options were limited to
(12:01):
something less than I wasenthusiastic about and then
things just turned around.
So if any of this is resonatingwith you and you've ever felt
like you have limited optionsand maybe you're facing that
right now, maybe you feel stuckbetween a rock and a hard place
(12:21):
financially or with dating orwith finding the right career I
just want to encourage you thatthere is so much more available
than what you can see on thehorizon right now and there is
breakthrough available for you.
I just want to invite you to,and challenge you to, ask God
(12:42):
for option unicorn and reallyopen up your heart to what that
could look like in yoursituation.
Maybe even take a piece ofpaper and draw a line down the
middle and write down all of thesubpar options on the left side
, option A, option B, and on theright, write down option
unicorn and start to dream ofwhat that could look like, even
(13:05):
if it feels far-fetched orridiculous.
I think the other piece of thisis, if you're anything like me,
sometimes I can feel afraid tostart to think like that or
dream big or ask for too much,because I don't want to feel
disappointed, I don't want tofeel like I got too big for my
(13:28):
britches and so I'd rather juststay small, so I don't have to
feel that letdown and I totallyget that, because I've felt that
way too and I've feltdisappointment.
But I want to encourage youthat actually there is so much
available to you on the otherside of that fear, of asking for
(13:50):
what you actually want.
It's a vulnerable, brave,beautiful thing to get real with
God and yourself about what youtruly want.
You truly want, and I believethat dreaming big after
disappointment and failure isone of the most courageous
(14:12):
things that someone can do, andjust the fact that you're
listening to this podcast aboutovercoming fear and being 10
times bolder says a lot aboutyou and what you're going after
and what I believe god has foryou.
Whether or not you believe inGod, god believes in you.
So, oh gosh, that was cheesy,but it's true.
So, anyways, I just want to saythat why don't you just try it
(14:35):
and see what happens, even ifyou don't believe in God and if
you do?
Just if I got in and just askhim to show you what option
unicorn looks like in yourscenario.
I have asked for option unicornso many times since I've had
this happen to me and sometimesI've been disappointed, but more
times my mind has been blownand it actually happened in my
(14:56):
living situation.
I pay like a decent rent forthe area and I live in a cottage
where I feel like a Disneyprincess and that's a story for
another day.
But I asked for option unicornin a lot of areas of my life and
I've had some pretty crazyoutcomes.
So I just want to tell you thatit's very real and it's
(15:18):
available for you.
So, anyways, I hope that thishas been encouraging to somebody
.
I know that this story ispretty out there, but I also
believe that somebody needs tohear it, and if it's you and you
have a testimony of whathappens, please let me know.
I would love to hear.
You can find me on Instagram atitsnora
(15:40):
I-T-S-N-O-R-A-E-X-P-L-O-R-A.
I welcome your questions, Iwelcome your feedback and I just
really want to thank you forlistening.
I hope you have a great night.
We shine bright, turn the key,break free, take flight step by
(16:04):
step.
We break the cold.
Here we go, 10 times, 10 timesbolder every day.
Fear can't hold us straightaway.
Rise above.
We're feeling strong.
This is our fearless anthemsong.
10 times bolder every day.
Fear can't hold us straightaway.
(16:25):
Rise above.
We're feeling strong, strong.
This is our fearless anthemsong.