Jenny Wood on Wild Courage: How to Overcome Fear and Unlock Your Potential

Beyond the To-Do List - Productivity for Work and Life

Erik Fisher

Business, Entrepreneurship, Self-improvement, Careers, Education

4.5 • 875 Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, we welcome Jenny Wood, a former Google executive, founder of Own Your Career, and author of Wild Courage: Go After What You Want and Get It. Jenny shares powerful insights into overcoming fear, taking bold risks, and navigating personal and professional growth with courage. In this conversation, we explore: The Courage to Overcome Fear: Jenny opens up about how fear, in various forms, often holds us back from achieving our goals and how Wild Courage provides a practical roadmap to take action despite that fear. Reclaiming "Negative" Traits: Jenny discusses how traditionally negative traits like being "selfish" or "shameless" can actually be powerful tools for personal empowerment when reframed positively. Taking Action Despite Uncertainty: We dive into how fear of failure can paralyze us, and Jenny shares her journey of making bold career decisions, including leaving Google to become a writer and keynote speaker. The Power of Bold Decisions and Risk-Taking: Jenny explains the concept of "reckless courage" and how making decisions quickly and confidently, even when outcomes are uncertain, can lead to powerful growth and learning. Saying "No" and Setting Boundaries: Jenny offers practical advice on how to protect your time, energy, and priorities by saying "no" to small distractions and focusing on what truly matters. Jenny’s insights on courage, fear, and bold action are sure to inspire anyone feeling stuck or uncertain about their next step. If you’ve ever struggled with self-doubt or fear of judgment, this episode provides actionable steps to help you take charge of your life. Learn more about Jenny and her book Wild Courage at JennyWood.com. Connect with Erik: LinkedIn Facebook Bluesky This Podcast is Powered By: Descript Descript 101 Castmagic Ecamm Podpage Rodecaster Pro Top Productivity Books List Make sure to support the show by checking out the sponsors! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello Blue Skies. Hello moving onwards and upwards. Hello, taking control of your money. Say hello to tax-free investing. Open a Stocks and Shares ICER and act by the 5th of April to get 100 to 3,000 pounds cashback. Cargreaves lands down. Hello Life. Register and add or transfer £10,000 plus.
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0:27.6	chl.com.
0:28.6	UK 4 slash ISA. Hello and welcome back to Beyond the To Do List, a podcast about productivity.
0:51.7	I'm your host, Eric Fisher, and I'm excited to welcome to the show
0:54.8	Jenny Wood. She's a former Google executive, founder of Own Your Career, and an expert in
1:01.1	career development and leadership. In this conversation, we're talking about her new book,
1:05.9	Wild Courage. Go after what you want and get it. And we talk about why we get stuck, the fears, the failure, the uncertainty that hold us back from pursuing our goals,
1:16.8	and why action, instead of overthinking, can create clarity and progress towards those goals,
1:23.3	how to ask for what you deserve, whether it's advocating for a raise or a promotion,
1:28.8	or a career opportunity, you can do it with confidence, and how to take smart risks.
1:35.0	So if you need a boost of confidence or a reminder of your own self-agency and advocacy for
1:41.0	yourself, or a little push to take some risks. This conversation with Jenny Wood is perfect for you.
1:49.1	It is my privilege to welcome to the show.
1:51.8	Jenny Wood, Jenny, welcome to beyond the to-do list.
1:55.6	It is such a joy to be here.
1:57.8	You've got this great brand new book out called Wild Courage. Go after what you want
2:03.0	and get it. And obviously, I want to start with the fact that you're a former Google executive,
2:10.2	you were the founder of Own Your Career. So you have a lot of career development insight in the
2:16.6	mix. I'm curious, how did both those roles or things and projects
2:23.1	lead to you seeing through your own experience as well as your own lived experience,
	...

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