We recently connected with Stephen Jaye and have shared our conversation below.

Stephen, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Taking a risk is a common topic that comes up on Action’s Antidotes, my podcast. All my guests have had to take risks but their stories vary from those that one day just decided to quit their job and start a business to those that spent many years building and planning to get where they wanted to be. While the latter may come across as more risk-averse by comparison it is still more risk than a lot of people take.

People have different tolerance for risk and some people will never be the kind of people willing to just pick up and go without a fully formed backup plan, climb Mount Everest or go bungee jumping. However, becoming comfortable with risks like reaching out to new people about job opportunities, asking someone out on a date, putting a blog out there for the world to see or trying something new can have immense positive impacts on our lives.

I started a travel blog back in 2013, the same month I left my first job. Nearly a decade later, putting this out there for the world to see seems like a trivial risk, all I was risking was bring ridiculed, or ostracism. However, this is the fear that keeps many of us stuck and it shows up in some subtle ways, like being afraid to go against a majority opinion in a conversation or being afraid to talk to someone new at a party.

I often think of people playing basketball, golf or any sport in public where people can see people with varying abilities. There is often a person who is really good, shows off some amazing skills and draws the awe of others. At one point, that person was the novice. Some time ago, they had to show up on that basketball court and look not so awesome in front of others while improving their skills. They had to risk being laughed at to get where they are. I believe it is this form of risk taking that is most important to become comfortable with.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the founder and host of Action’s Antidotes, a podcast where I interview people who have followed their true passions in order to inspire listeners to do the same. I also offer coaching services for those who are looking to restructure their lives around what is truly important. I am motivated by the number of people who are stuck in unfulfilling lives. I typically refer to this as “living by the script.” What this usually looks like is a job that “pays the bills” but does not provide excitement or purpose, and a general lack of meaning and true reflection of self in other areas of life. Quite often, this involves feeling stuck, spending a lot of time in front of screens and misaligned priorities. I am motivated by this pursuit by my own experiences of having been there and observing a lot of people I care about also struggling with this. I am currently working on other products to help people move from feeling stuck in unfulfilling lives to one where they can thrive.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Our education system teaches us to wait for an authority figure to assign us work and then wait for their approval of that work. I would later learn that our current education system was designed based on the 19th century Prussian model and was meant to produce efficient factory workers. However, this is not the world we live in today. It is one of many institutions that has failed to adjust to a changing reality. However, 17 years of conditioning is hard to break. I went to work and started doing what I know, wait for my boss to tell me what to do and then hand in the assignment. It takes years to unlearn something mapped into the subconscious, but this is important to unlearn.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative in your experience?

Hands down it is knowing that what I am producing is a true reflection of myself. I think this is why I struggled so much in some of my past jobs. I was simply not fulfilled by following processes and procedures. My podcast is mostly about others’ stories. Only a small amount of it is about my own life and experiences. However, these stories reflect what I want to see in the world!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stephen-jaye.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephen_jaye/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-jaye/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephen_jaye
• Other: https://jayetravelblog.com/

Image Credits
I took my own photos