Episode Transcript
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Cynthia (00:05):
Welcome to Uncharted
and Unfiltered, The Journey Back
to You.
I am Cynthia Jameson, yourhost, and this is where we break
free from the noise and divedeep into what truly matters.
You.
If you're tired of the shoulds,the expectations, and the
pressures to fit into a moldthat doesn't serve you, you're
in the right place.
This isn't a podcast about easyanswers or sugar-coated advice.
(00:29):
This is your invitation toreclaim your path, embrace the
unknown, and become the bold,unapologetic version of yourself
that's been waiting to show up.
It's time to get unfiltered.
Let's get started.
Hello, hello, and welcome backto Uncharted and Unfiltered, a
Journey Back to You.
(00:50):
I am your host, CynthiaJameson, and I am so glad you
are here.
It is a glorious day heretoday.
It is Monday, October the 6th,and this is a beautiful time of
year where Mother Nature remindsus of how simply we can, if we
(01:13):
choose, um step into the lettinggo process.
And having said that, what Iwant to talk to you about today
is a personal story.
It is a story about running,but not just the physical kind.
It's about the pace that we setin life, the pressure to keep
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up, and what happens when wefinally choose truth over
tension.
So let me give you a bit ofcontext.
Yesterday I ran a halfmarathon, 21.1 kilometers of
movement, of reflection, andtruth.
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And I did not do it alone.
I ran with a friend who hasbecome one of my favorite
humans.
The kind of friend that youmeet through something simple
like running and end up sharingconversations about life, about
patterns, about purpose, abouteverything.
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And we started training back onJuly 31st.
And so week after week, earlymornings, long runs, we've had
the opportunity to have deepconversations.
And there's something aboutrunning long distances that
opens people up.
It opens me up, it opens othersup.
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We strip away any pretense, andwe meet each other in the space
between breaths.
And honestly, I love that somuch.
The sweat, the silence, thesoul-level conversations that
sneak in somewhere betweenkilometer eight and twelve.
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And for us, last week was taperweek.
And that's the quiet windowbefore a race.
The moments in time when youpull back, you rest, and you let
your body recover.
And so for me, what that meantwas it meant saying no to a few
other runs, to a few otherinvitations from friends, from
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just the community, just otherthings that would have pulled me
out of that recovery and intosomething else.
And it wasn't easy because Ilove being out there.
I love being out there running,I love being out in the
community, but something in meknew to listen, to trust a
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pause.
Now that last week taught mesomething that I wish more
leaders understood, and I wishthat I would have understood it
sooner.
But slowing down isn'tweakness, it's strategy, and it
is where clarity has room tocatch up with you.
(04:14):
And so I did.
I paused.
My friend paused, we paused,and we decided to drive to
Moncton on Saturday afternoon.
So for those of you who are notfrom uh the East Coast, not
from Canada, anywhere else inthe world, what that means is it
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was about an hour and a halfdrive to the event.
And we were super excited.
We were ready to pick up ourrace kits at the expo.
And I just want to take amoment and say how underwhelming
that was.
But there's also something hereto learn because sometimes your
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expectations don't meet thereality, but that's life, right?
Like how many times have youhad an expectation?
And when that wasn't met, yourjoy, you're like you had this,
instead, you've had this feelingof disappointment.
So we laughed that off and welifted up our own spirits and we
(05:17):
went for dinner at a placecalled Carabah.
I hope I'm saying thatcorrectly.
It was a place that wasrecommended to us by my son and
my daughter-in-law.
And I have failed to mentionthat my husband was with us too.
He was running the 5k the nextmorning.
So it felt like this big,beautiful adventure.
The three of us, as we weregoing out for dinner, we were
(05:41):
going to sit down, really readyto enjoy a good meal and some
good conversations.
And then one of those fullcircle moments, I literally ran
into my old boss.
And so there were big hugs,there were warm smiles, and
there were promises toreconnect.
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There was a big move, all ofthese different moving parts
were taking place.
And I just want to say, sheisn't just a former boss, she
was one of my mentors, someonewho saw leadership in me long
before I truly trusted it inmyself.
And so then later, about 15minutes later, another former
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colleague came by our table,someone I hadn't seen since
2012.
And it felt like to me like theuniverse was giving me these
little winks of connection,little reminders that even when
things don't go as planned,we're always where we're meant
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to be.
And it was such a beautifulreminder that connection fuels
resilience because we leadstronger when we're surrounded
by people who have seen usthrough different chapters, the
ones who can remind us of whowe've been and who we are
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becoming.
And so dinner that night wasabsolutely beautiful,
delightful.
There was laughter, there werestories, there was deep talks
about families, about life,about growth, and about
consciousness, all of the thingsthat light me up.
And later on, as we walked backto our hotel feeling full, not
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just from really great food, butalso from soul connection.
That's how I was feeling.
And it was just such abeautiful, beautiful evening.
There were stars overhead, eventhough like it's just like
taking it all in.
So as it happens, we didn'tknow this until the morning, but
(08:05):
we had the hotel uh HVAC systemright outside our window.
So let's just say sleep was notas I had envisioned it.
Now it's still obviously I gotsome sleep, and lo and behold,
raced morning arrived.
It was crisp and electric atthe same time.
(08:29):
Now, I followed my usualpre-race routine that I have.
I have my ritual of groundingand preparing, and then we went
to meet my friend, our friend atthe start line, and the
excitement in the oval at theAvenue Center was palpable.
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We started scanning the crowdfor pace bunnies.
There was another friend ofmine that I came across that I
hadn't seen for I don't know howmany years, probably 10.
And yeah, started scanning forthe pace bunnies.
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I lost my train of thoughtthere for a moment.
And if you have never run anevent, pace bunnies help you set
your speed through the race.
And my friend had her eye onthe 150 Pace Bunny.
And this is the moment when myintuition started to whisper to
me.
And here's what it said, nottoday, Cynthia.
(09:33):
So I spotted the two-hour pacebunny in instead for myself and
thought, like I just kept thisto myself, that feels right for
me.
And I knew that if the two-hourpace bunny was behind me, I
knew that I was doing great.
If they passed me, that I wouldreassess.
And so I'm bringing you, I wantto invite you into this moment
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with me.
So the gun goes off.
We start running.
And right from the first fewkilometers, something felt off.
My bib was rubbing against myshirt, and it was creating all
of this noise and all of thisfriction and all of this
distraction.
My running belt, which is theone that held my water, my
nutrition kept shifting allaround my body.
(10:21):
And it sounds small, but in arace, those little distractions
add up.
And as I ran, I noticedsomething else.
I was running through streetsthat I used to run back in 2012
when I last lived in Moncton.
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And the air was familiar, theturns were recognizable.
And out of nowhere, all ofthese synchronicities hit me all
at once.
The people, the places, thememories, everything looping
back to me.
And in so many ways, it didn'tseem like I had ever left, like
(11:04):
I'd stepped right back into anold chapter.
But this time with a new levelof awareness.
And it hit me in a way that itjust didn't before.
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Like growth is not linear, it'scyclical.
We loop back to places, topeople and patterns that once
shaped us.
Not to repeat the past, but tosee how much we have evolved.
I mean, sometimes we repeat thepast, and that's until you
evolve.
And it was like time folded inon itself, showing me just how
(11:55):
far I'd come, not just indistance, but in growth.
And around the five kilometermark, I realized something else.
And by it, I mean the energy,the rhythm, the power, the legs,
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the freedom.
And I didn't.
Now the old me would havepushed through, tried to keep
up, ignored my body and my innerknowing just to prove I could.
But I don't lead that wayanymore.
Because while culture andsociety love to tell us this is
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how we do things, Cynthia, whatI have learned is that our own
way, our own rhythm, our owntruth is the only right way for
us.
And so instead, I looked overat my friend and I said, Go,
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you've got this.
Run your race, run your bestrace.
And I ran mine.
But and that moment reminded methat leadership is learning to
listen to your own pace, notsomeone else's finish line.
We can't lead from truth ifwe're running on someone else's
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rhythm.
And that was my truth that day,yesterday.
To listen, to trust, to let go.
And I crossed the finish lineat two hours, one minute, and 44
seconds.
Was it my best?
(13:45):
No.
Was it my worst?
No.
But do you know what?
It was my success.
My definition of successyesterday was no toe cramps, no
burnout, just peace.
And my friend ran her bestraised, feeling great.
And my husband ran his andnailed his 5K in the way that he
wanted to.
(14:06):
And and I didn't see any of myfamily this time.
And the old me would have feltobligated to.
And that's what success feltlike on that day.
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Not speed, not comparison, notproving, just trusting myself.
And it was interesting becausemy husband and I have been
talking about this.
I have, I think most of us usedto chase or are chasing
sameness.
Help, let me be what everybodyelse is doing.
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But the idea that success hadto look a certain way, feel a
certain way, be a certain way.
And now I know better.
Like my way is enough.
It's more than enough.
And today I'm really feelingthe emotions of it all, the full
circle moments, the growth, theletting go.
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And as I sit with it, I can seeso clearly that my mission as I
understand it today has alwaysbeen to find my inner truth and
to trust that.
Yesterday's race was exactlythat.
It was a lived expression ofwhat I teach and what I believe
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and what I'm still learning.
To listen, to trust, and to lettruth lead the way.
I realized that every physicalexperience is a spiritual
mirror.
The way that we move through arun, a project, a relationship,
it all reflects how we leadourselves.
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That race was such a mirror forleadership, for life.
How often do we measure ourpace against someone else's?
How often do we push past ourown wisdom just to keep moving,
to keep proving, to keep up, toperform.
But leadership, realleadership, isn't about speed.
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It's about alignment.
It is about knowing withinyourself when to push, when to
pause, when to listen, when tolead, when to follow.
The antidote to burnout isn'tbalance, it's truth.
Because when you lead from yourtruth, you stop forcing, you
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start flowing.
And here's the thing (17:07):
your
truth might not look like anyone
else's.
In fact, it can't, becauseyou're the only you that there
ever will be.
And that's the power ofhonoring it.
It might mean taking the slowerpace, it might mean saying no.
It might mean walking insteadof running for a while.
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But when you honor it, reallyhonor it, you will find energy
that no external validationcould ever give you.
And so maybe today you don'tneed to run faster.
Maybe you just need to listen,to ask yourself, what pace feels
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true right now?
That's how you lead from truth,not tension.
And if you are craving a spaceto actually live this, to
practice leading from truthinstead of tension, I would love
to welcome you into the Be theLight community.
It is a sanctuary for highintegrity humans and heart-led
(18:18):
leaders ready to live, love, andlead authentically, and like
the way for others to do thesame.
And there are three ways youcan join us.
There's a monthly membership,just two to four hours a month.
It's simple, it's intentional,it's nourishing.
There are standalone resourceslike the power of know, career
values identification workbook,balance and self-care toolkit,
(18:41):
career coaching toolkit, renewyou love your life self-paced
program.
And there's the free community,where you will find the very
tools that I have leaned onmyself when leadership and life
felt heavy, positiveintelligence practices, the
feelings wheel, mental fitnessexercises, growth mindset
(19:02):
prompts.
I promise
you, you do not need to have to
figure it all out alone.
In the community, you will findothers who get it, people who
are also navigating change,practicing self-awareness and
creating lives that they areproud of.
And so my invitation is to comeas you are and live a little,
(19:25):
live a live a little.
Yes, live a little and leave alittle lighter, clearer, and
more lit up about your life.
Or if you're ready for deepsupport, you can work with me
one-on-one.
All of the links are in theshow notes.
And with that, it feels like abeautiful place to say thank you
(19:49):
so much from my heart to yoursfor being here, for listening,
for walking or running thisuncharted path with me.
Until next time, I'm CynthiaJameson, and this is Uncharted
(20:12):
and Unfiltered, the journey backto you.
I hope that you're walking awayfeeling more aligned with your
true self, more confident in thechoices ahead, and ready to
leave the safe path behind,knowing you've got everything
you need within.
Remember, the journey to youisn't about finding one perfect
(20:32):
direction.
It's about trusting yourselfenough to explore all of it.
If you're ready to dive deeper,join me for the next episode
and don't forget to subscribe sothat you never miss the next
step on your path.
I invite you to join my mailinglist at www.cynthia
jamesoncoach.ca, where we'lldeepen our relationship and you
(20:53):
can claim your copy of yourinner compass, a guide to
charting your course toauthenticity.
Until next time, stayunfiltered, stay true, and most
importantly, stay you.