Earlier, as many provinces in Canada headed into lockdown, I had the pleasure of diving into a rich conversation with James Gardiner as a guest on his show: Conversations in Courage. Jim is a performance coach, speaker, athlete and performer. He is one of the lead coaches with Leapzone Strategies and is described as a ‘super freak’ processor who helps heart-centred entrepreneurs connect the dots to lead spectacular lives driven by heart and soul. From my lens, I’d say, bam – they got that right. 

Here’s a snippet from the first fifteen minutes of our 45 minute conversation. Yep… all this in just fifteen minutes. Yep… that means there’s two more pieces coming to you… For now, this is #1.

Reconnect Inward – Conversations in Courage #1

Jim: Hey there everyone, Jim Gardiner here from Leapzone Strategies and welcome to our first of a series of conversations about courage. Quite frankly, these are conversations for you, the viewer, to add some positivity to the stream of consciousness that is ever-expanding around us in this day and time. I invite you to reconnect-in with these conversations. Today I am joined by one of my dear friends, a colleague, and a peer, Tina Overbury.

Jim:  Hey Tina how are you? You’re on Bowen Island, which is a small little island off of the city of Vancouver right?

Tina: I’m great, and yep I’m on Bowen and it’s a bit of paradise for sure. As far as isolation goes, being here, (and not to minimize what we’re in right now), is not so bad. The truth is, I kinda choose to live this way anyway.

Jim: You know, yes, yeah, and I’m living on Vancouver Island which is a huge island yet it’s still an element of being secluded too. I’m in a small town, and it’s the same thing. No matter where we are we can’t hide from what’s in front of us. Before we dive in, why don’t you introduce yourself to those who may not be familiar with your genius. Take it away.

Tina: Cool, thanks Jim. Thanks for having me, and thanks for starting this conversation. It’s a really important time for listening, and that’s what I do, I’m a story coach. When I say that outloud to people, I get: oh that’s interesting, I kind of get it. But if I actually tell you what I do, you might say:  that’s a bit weird, but it’s not weird. Not to me. I’m a professional listener, that’s what I do. I work with people who feel called by a communication of some kind. You might have a book you’re writing, or a keynote taking shape, and some people don’t even know the shape of the communication they’re here to give the world and that’s part of my job too. People come to me when they hear in their heads: I might be crazy but… I think I really need to say this, or I’ve had this thought that’s been keeping me up all night for months  – what do I do with it? 

I’m a collector and sometimes I call what I do story keeping, where I work with people to help them keep the story that’s been entrusted to them. Then I support the structures for that communication to live in the world. Not all of us are made to write a book, and not all of us are made to keynote, but we’re all made to relate and to communicate. My job is to listen to each communicator as the instrument they are and help them align their message. In basic language, I help them write their book, write their keynote, create their blog… but it’s so much more than that.

Jim: We were talking about this a while ago, you take the someday conversation, as in someday I will,  someday I want etc. and you turn that into right now. I think that’s why we’re here. Right now. Having this conversation. Right now more than ever, everyone has the chance to stop and look inward and say okay what are those some days I’ve been toying around with and discussing? How can I make that now?

Tina: Come on out the skinny branches with me if you will. In story language, I say to people: stories are like toddlers. They will chase you around, tug on your sleeve, they’ll throw themselves at your feet – all because they simply want a good listening-to. And in this conversation about someday, just like stories, they are waiting for us. Whatever you want to call it, your purpose, your mission – whatever. Someday is today. It starts now.  Shake hands with that impulse, that mission and say: I’m in. We have the time. Our someday is right now.  

“Shake hands with that impulse and mission and say: I’m in. We have the time. Our someday is right now.” 

Jim: Let’s break that down because I know you know that I know, in my community of people, we’re all kind of cut from the same cloth, and many of us recognize, ironically that what we have more of right now IS time. And alternately, time is our only non-renewable resource. It is our constant limitation. It’s always 24/7. Seven days a week, right through, and 365 days a year. The same time. In this time, how can we inspire others to engage in that inward conversation. What is my someday? What is now? And let’s see what we can do to break open our courage, that rock of courage to stimulate this thought pattern and choice. 

“Let’s see what we can do to break open our courage”

Tina: I think that’s one of the things I appreciate about your work in the world Jim. It’s the way you know how to break down time, and pull it apart into pieces so that we’re present right now. We are doing something each day which can lead us to the thing we’ve been some-daying about. You are skilled in that time piece, and not just the management of time, but the maximizing of our potential in that time, all in bite-sized pieces. You do the whole strategy piece.

Jim: It is incrementalism and its finest, and whether I’m helping somebody build a business or helping somebody check off a bucket list item, it’s the same methodology. It’s the same principle. It’s breaking things down into incremental steps of growth. I find that time is the one constant which can be played on the macro and micro level. I think that’s why, to do well in high-performance sport, time is how we understand our volume of training. It’s periodization of training on a larger scale, and time becomes the cornerstone of everything. 

Tina, what would be a catalyst for people on this to start this journey of time?  Because I think this is where you come in. What is the story we want to create for ourselves? Ultimately if it’s a dream or a goal to write your book, or run a marathon, the reality is, we’re already creating that story in our head.Maybe you can shed some light on that.

“It is incrementalism and its finest.”

Tina: You know I think you nailed it already. Just geek out with me a little bit okay?  When I’m listening to people, it’s almost as if their words shimmer, and thats how I hear them. They come up to the surface and shine so I can hear them. What you just said about time as the cornerstone – I was like: that’s it, that’s the message, that’s the answer to the catalyst of this time. It’s really asking the question: What is the cornerstone of this time for each of us?  What do I want? If I really centred in, and remember, some of us work from the outside in, others from the inside out. My writing partner totally works from the outside in. She writes that way. It’s completely opposite to me who hears, or is peaceful working from the inside out. It doesn’t matter which way you work, neither is better than the other. All I’m trying to say is: when you sit with what is the cornerstone of this time for you? – and just get quiet, or write, or do what you do to connect to you, and just LISTEN to what you want, what do you hear? Jim, are you an internal or external processor? 

“What is the cornerstone of this time?” 

Jim: yeah yeah yeah I definitely work nucleus out. I use a lot of acting analogies, and I enjoy creating a character from the inside out. Adding those layers upon layers upon layers until it becomes a reality. 

In the work that I do, we always say: be clear about what you want, and the how will surface. I think for anyone, this is the point where we take that first step. For those that know me, I talk about stepping into the arena and engaging our warrior mindset. I know some people have reached out because they are kind of hesitating, or paralyzed because they don’t really know what the first move is, and I say: that’s fine, you don’t have to know but remember to take courage and ask what do you want? For some, those answers happen quickly, while others have to really peel back the layers to figure it out.

“Step into the arena and engage your warrior mindset.”

Tina: That’s so what’s cool. You gave us the ‘how’,  which is courage. As a story person I process the world and communication through: who what when where why and how, so the ‘what’ of this question, as in what do we do at this time? = cornerstone. The how, which just arrived = courage.  

Jim: Hmmmm… this is what I love about this. We’re just having conversations and hopefully inspiring others with some insights, and we’re educating each other too. It is about conversation and it is about connection. With your family, and people who are close. It’s keeping that sense of community alive, and above all, it’s time to elevate ourselves. I think we have a duty. I honestly believe in my heart that we each have a duty to multiply our impact. To figure out what our impact is, and what is our potential, and to step into that. Now is the time.

Tina: Wow I love that. I was just going to ask you, which you kind of answered already but, what do you think this time is about? We’re all talking about it and thinking about it. We’re all having conversations around the topic, but not really. You know? What I heard you say is: understand or get to know your potential and impact. This is the time for that. Did I hear that right? 

“We have a duty to multiply our impact.”

Jim: Absolutely. I feel wholeheartedly right now, it is our duty as human beings. We have a duty to ourselves, and each other, to figure this out. I feel we should come out of this time more evolved, whatever that means to you. If people come out of this and don’t change, don’t move the needle forward… it would be sad. It saddens me to think that way. This isn’t about financial means. This isn’t about race, or status positions. This is a horizontal even playing field, and everyone should grow from this experience. 

Tina: Wow. Horizontal playing field for all of us. I hear that. 

Watch for part #2 & #3, and more about the romance of courage in the coming weeks.

James Gardiner is an Adventurer, Author, Speaker, and Performance Coach with LeapZone Strategies. He works with entrepreneurs and high performers to get in touch with their authentic selves and maximize their business and personal brands in congruence with their life design. As a high performance athlete and accomplished rower and coach he tackles personal and business growth as an athlete, through health and wellness and playing the game to win. I have constructed bodies and minds to perform at peak performance. To James, mindset, is everything.

Find out more about James as a speaker here.

If you’d like to know more about TinaO’s upcoming book: Story Stones or performance dates about her upcoming show O MY GOD, click here.

Tina Overbury is a core-communications specialist who works with individuals and organizations who feel called. She is a storyteller, performer, and a professional listener who works with narrative and story structure as a vehicle for human connection. Her work is rooted in Myth, Mysticism, and the practice of personal faith. She brings thirty years of collaborative storytelling in theatre, film, marketing, team based selling, and workshop facilitation. She is the founder of Live Your Best Story, a weekend retreat of deep listening held on Bowen Island, BC, Canada and is the voice and story behind TinaOLife, home to Story Stones, TinaO’s weekly online gathering of listening in to sacred stories. Tina is a proud associate of PowHERhouse media where she listens and supports the ‘stories’ of whole and integrated leaders of tomorrow. 

If you would like to know more about Tina’s approach to story, click here.