Episode 72: Embracing Change with Jenny Blake




The Creative Giant Show with Charlie Gilkey show

Summary: Many of us get stuck in life, because for some reason or the other we’re resistant to change. Being resistant to change is like being resistant to gravity, we might be able to counter some the effects of it, but it’s always going to be there. There are some amazing gifts that come from embracing change, and Jenny Blake joins me to jam about the ways to embrace change rather than to resist it. Ready? Let’s do this!   Key Takeaways: [0:51] Thank you to our sponsor, SaneBox.com [1:51] Charlie tells us a bit about Jenny and her body of work. [3:54] What excites Jenny the most about living in New York? [5:16] How did Jenny get started with ‘Life After College’ before leading Google? [6:41] How did she handle her crisis of confidence when she decided to leave Google? [7:54] How did Jenny find her spark after struggling with her confidence & the path she was on? [12:45] Jenny’s ‘aha’ moment with PIVOT & digging herself out of the ‘dark existential hole’. [15:03] How do you get in that creative spark zone without crisis or hitting rock bottom? [18:19] Meditation practice is a big business accelerator for Jenny! [21:29] What was most surprising when writing her book, PIVOT? [24:54] We never know what the future holds, but we do have certain ‘constants’! [29:53] The new security for Jenny: having a diversified portfolio of our day & our income. [31:46] What do you do when you’re in an ‘okay’ or a ‘great’ job by others’ standards, but that it’s not the ‘IT’ job for you? [34:53] What kind of life do you want to live? Are you aligning your day-to-day with your values? [39:21] What are the pieces of your priorities’ pie & how are you going to portion & slice it up? [42:14] Jenny suggests finding ‘constants’ in your life to help you make better decisions. [46:37] Within a decision itself you can have known and unknown variables. Turn the scary unknowns into ‘how can I’ questions? [49:21] What is the most unanticipated challenge Jenny is facing right now & what is a known ‘unknown’ for her? [55:41] What does Jenny want people to remember about her or her body of work?   Mentioned in This Episode: SaneBox JennyBlake.me @jenny_blake Life After College PIVOT by Jenny Blake Sacret Contracts by Caroline Myss Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Scarcity by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir