Welcome to Rock Your Brain. Rock Your Life, the only podcast hosted by a high-achieving tech leader and certified coach that teaches you how to use proven cognitive tools to rewire your brain so you work 10 to 20% less while crushing your goals, and you'll do this in 180 days. Hi, I'm Sarah. After decades of frantically overworking, never believing I could achieve big goals in my life, and feeling constantly anxious, overwhelmed, and burnt out daily at work, I finally figured work out.

I learned how to work less while identifying and nailing goals I never thought possible. I learned how to feel calm, confident, and a sense of ease at work. So if you're a high achiever who wants to achieve big goals but doesn't even think it's possible unless you work a gajillion hours or doesn't even think big goals are possible in any way, shape, or form, this podcast is for you. 

I keep it simple. You'll learn the neuroscience based cognitive tools I and my clients use daily to work less while achieving more than they ever imagined. Quick side note, you'll run the risk of being passionately in love with your career.

Sarah Moody: Okay. Welcome to the podcast. And I'm so excited to have a incredible, incredible woman on the podcast today, Christine Rimer. Christine and I met gosh, a year ago. Was it 15 months ago? We met 13 months ago.

We're both in the technology industry and we just somehow came into each other's lives about 13 months ago. And next thing you knew, christine and Sarah were doing magical things together in the world of coaching. So I am so honored to have Christine on the podcast today. She is a graduate of the Rockstar Program and I cannot wait for her to share her journey.

And, um, she's definitely an example of an incredible woman. Who's an example of what's possible to every single one of you out there. So Christine,

Christine Rimer: thank you, Sarah. So good to be here.

Sarah Moody: Oh my God. I'm so happy. You're here. You're just going to fire up, all these other amazing human to show up for their badass selves, as we like to say.

Okay. Let's just start with, I always love starting with, you know, as everyone knows, I've done decades of therapy. I hired my life coach two and a half years ago and my life did like a 180 actually like a 360. So maybe just share for our audience, like, you know, how. How you came to coaching what you tried before and really why you even wanted to dive into the world of getting a coach and going down this path.

Christine Rimer: Yeah. Great, great question, Sarah. So it was a, it was a bit over a year ago, um, that I had decided ahead of the amazing chapter chapter, the company I was at, and I had had a good long run, three different roles, but I knew in my heart it was time, um, I was ready for new, I was ready for a transition, but transitions are scary.

Right? We start putting all these thoughts in our heads around I'll never find this. Um, my, my experience is so weird. I have IT and systems experience, and I have product marketing experience and customer experience and operational experience. It's just so weird and who's going to want this weird experience in all these different paths.

And so Sarah and I actually met in a, in kind of a tech forum customer advisory context. And when we started talking and Sarah just sort of called me out saying, what do you want? Um, and then when I learned she was coaching, I said, Let's go on this journey together. So that was the initial chapter a bit over a year ago.

And what I was initially solving for was getting my head in the right space on a departure from the company I was in and then thinking about what I wanted next. So that's how the journey began.

Sarah Moody: That's great. So exactly. So you come in, we start coaching, cognitive work. And what did you, what limiting beliefs.

What limiting beliefs did you start unpacking as we started, I love this analogy of us sitting on the couch together and like just watching our brains. I mean, I do this everyday. I'm like, watch my brain, you know, become the observer and watcher of the stories. What did you start seeing were some of the stories that you, you know, as we started our journey?

Christine Rimer: Yeah.

So, so I'll share the, sort of the, those thoughts, those limiting beliefs. Um, first in the chapter of transitioning out and thinking about this next job I would take on, um, and then we can talk into that whole next chapter, which was. Starting this job that I wanted and then having to work through a whole new set.

But if we just start with that first chapter, which was, I've already shared, one of them, my experience is so weird experience. Like I have this a 25 plus year career in tech. I've got a deep customer experience and systems in it and data management experience and operational experience. And I had this underlying like fear of, well, I haven't been one of those people that stayed in their lane the whole time in there for, it's not a positive.

Versus that complete flip-flop experiences amazing for the right role. And it turns out the role I'm in. I need all of that experience. It is perfect. So that was just starting with that. Flipping of looking at my experience as unusual and not in a particular language is one journey, but actually that cross-functional experience is so powerful and relevant.

Sarah Moody: And when you shifted that belief, how did you feel inside as we kind of changed that story? How did you feel?

Christine Rimer: So it moved from, you know, it's, it's all that, as you know, anyone who's been listening to this regularly, it's all this underlying how you show up. Right? So if you show up to a conversation, you don't, it's not conscious, right?

It's not out there, but you're like, oh man, do I downplay this, downplay this versus showing up and just saying. This is, this is what I bring to the table. I have amazing experience go to market. I deep, deep customer experience and years of delivering amazing customer experiences with high-performing cross-functional teams.

And I have deep operational experience that I can apply my systems thinking to you show up that way and suddenly you unlock. Where those opportunities are a match for your experience. So that was first is just getting clear in my head that I bring so much to the table. Um, and then I could, that allowed me to, to intersect.

The question you asked at the very first day, Sarah, what do you want? And I think when you first asked me, I was well known, you were like, good God, girl, what do you want? And so that's where you and I got really, really clear, pretty quickly. I'm sort of churning in my head, but I got really clear. I was looking for three and a potential fourth criteria.

Number one. Amazing leadership in a culture that focused on customers and the employee journey. So I wanted a really great culture and a set of leaders that I enjoyed working with and our values were consistent. Number two, I wanted a mission that made the world more equitable, a mission I believed in. A mission that was worthy of my time and I was passionate about, and then my third is I wanted a good juicy role.

I was looking for a chief operating or chief customer officer position. The seat at the table to leverage my experience. And then the fourth was ideally a Bay-Area based company with my peers, my leaders, so that I had a chance to work in person as the pandemic open things up. And so the combination of getting clear, what I wanted and then being really clear of what I bring to the table.

And, and as you know I expected this to be a longer journey. It just, the world sort of flipped in a way that I could never have imagined.

Sarah Moody: Yeah, you are so centered and calm and confident in who you were and changing that narrative that you showed up. Exactly. It, it was like, I don't know. It was like weeks and you're like, oh my God, this job opportunity.

And, and then you landed that C-suite role at this incredible tech company. And it was like, Let's go to the next chapter of then, you know, it's like, as we change our circumstances in life, like new, we get the opportunity to explore what's going on inside. And the new limiting beliefs start popping up for us.

So let's share what we learned next.

So the 

Christine Rimer: next chapter that's so great. So yes, I get anchored clear on what I offer clear on what I want. Yeah, magically, maybe it's coincidence that magically it's like all of a sudden the intersection and I lay in this amazing, an amazing company Guideline delivering, making 401k retirement possible for small business America, meaningful mission, hyper incredible growth.

Super exciting to be a part of an amazing role, chief customer officer, but heavy operations. So there was actually a moment where a few months in, and, and it was actually last summer and there was a, there was a situation that wasn't clear, it wasn't settled. And, and Sarah asked me, how do you feel about it?

And I was like, wow, I don't know. I mean, I'm just kind of bombed and why is that? Well, you know, I really liked the clarity. Like I'd like this closed cause then. I will enjoy my vacation more. Sarah kind of looked at me and said, I'm sorry, did you just say this circumstance over here, that you have no control over that?

Whether that's closed or clear or concluded? Is whether you're going to enjoy time with your family on vacation. I was like, well, when you put it that way, it sounds dumb. But yeah, and that was the moment that we had the conversation where Sarah said to me, you've just signed up for a pretty big job in, in a younger company, in a high growth company.

How much clarity do you think you're going to have day to day and how much closure and is your job about checklists? And all of a sudden, I, you know, how to think of like, if your ability to be calm and centered is depending on that closure, in that clarity, in that cleanliness and that checklist. I think you're going to have a really hard time in this next role.

And so that mindset and being really, really thoughtful around I am calm and centered without closure and without clarity and without a checklist, um, was, was pivotal. Would I still have this role? Like I'm eight months in now, nine months in, if I hadn't been really thoughtful then. Yeah, would I be enjoying it?

Would I be at the altitude I'm at, would I be able to keep my eye on what matters most I can guarantee not. Cause breaking up with that belief has been fundamental to do a job of this scope at this rate. 

Sarah Moody: Yeah. What was so beautiful is we, we operate at the 30,000 foot level of our self-concept. Oh, we at that level, calm, centered, c-suite executive and then that just.

That impacts every part of our work life, our professional life, personal life, you know, everything kind of operating at that level a hundred percent. So here we are at work. Yeah. That whole, you know, we're, we're unpacking, limiting beliefs, changing how we're feeling exactly showing up. Like you have to share because.

All of us have that whole time thing. Please talk about that time limiting belief that we kind of unpacked a few months in. 

Christine Rimer: Yeah, absolutely. So really got thoughtful, starting this role of just being calm and centered and, and there was so much to learn. Um, we were growing quickly and, and I, you know, I was pretty proud of myself.

Like I was staying pretty steady and. Yeah, I use so like lots of good. And I was really proud of like how I was showing up and then fast forward to. I don't know, like three months in three. Yeah. Maybe like three months in. I showed up Sarah and I were chatting. How are you feeling? Well, I'm a little stressed.

Tell me more about that. Well, you know, it's ended a year and I got to get all this stuff done in the next month. And so I was like, wow. Okay. With Sarah. And, and there was some deadlines that are our industry average deadline. So there's no doubt. But I sent her what? I mean, you know, the shiny, shiny penny.

She's like what? Shiny penny. And I was like, well, you know how, when you first started job, you're like the shiny new penny. And everyone wants to hear what you have to say because you're new. And you're like, so strategic. And then after you've been there a while, you know, you just get kind of tarnished.

And Sarah just looked at me and was like, oh, Okay. Load of BS, like I'm sorry, some of these problems you're tackling these challenges. How long have they taken to get there? I'm like probably a good amount of time. And how long, how long before you should have it cleaned up and finished and closed and perfect.

I'm thinking the next couple of weeks. And she just sort of said. So let's take a look at shiny penny syndrome and let's take a look at your own expectations. And again, Of course, we all want to get things done quickly, but when we put that level of pressure on ourselves, this is all has to get solved in two weeks, rather than it saw being solved.

You paralyze yourself. You're just overwhelmed. You're not motivated. You're not chunking it down saying first, we're going to chip this off and then we're going to tackle more in Q1 or tackle more in Q2. And wake up a year later and my God we've delivered amazing results, but it's not happening in the second two weeks of December.

So that was, I'd say those have been the biggest, there's been others, but my biggest was that I'm calm and centered without closure and clarity. And then I have enough time today, this week, this month to do the things that matter most, I don't have enough time to do everything, but I'm not trying to do everything.

Sarah Moody: That's so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that, Christine. Okay. So you've done incredible work around your relationship with your career. Anything, you know, how has this belief work impacted other parts of your life, if any other parts of your life? Personal? Relationships? 

Christine Rimer: Yeah, I think, I mean, I think for me, There has been the expansion of the work I've done for myself.

And I've seen how liberating, how much more I enjoy the journey. Um, That, that I have been able to share with my team that I work with. And in fact, Sarah, you know, joined my group of managers recently and we went through and kind of did some of this work of how to deliver amazing results. And everybody having that same aha, we all have these thoughts in our heads that are limiting.

Um, so certainly I've seen it expand within my relationship with my own team and my, my leaders. Um, but then also carry over to my personal life. That same thing of like, I am common centered. My kids are teenagers. It's not always calm. I am not always centered, but if I can remind myself that I control my thoughts, I choose how I react to situations.

They're exactly where they should be on their journey. Um, I have enough time, you know, my to-do list is just as long as the personal side is the professional side. In fact, that was just jotting down notes. I, you know, most days I end the day and I don't get a bunch of things done and that's okay. I've worked on what mattered most I worked on what was most important.

Sarah Moody: and then just stay in that feeling of like, kind of calm, like it's unhealthy, absolutely beliefs as everyone knows. Yes. What B works enough?

B minus works enough. I already know I'm a high achiever. Totally. Probably of you. I love it. Asking myself this question. I asked myself this question every year. How have I stopped thinking about who I wanted to be and actually started becoming the person I was always meant to be as a human. 

Christine Rimer: Yeah. I, I mean, I think it, it comes back to just it's that unpacking these, these thoughts that you're having that just do limit yourself.

I mean, we all know we've all. Read the books or, or had different journeys where you're like, you know, that the thoughts in your head, why to meditate, why to get some space, why to be the observer. But for me, it really just kind of clicked in around really anchoring on what were the limiting beliefs and then how to override those, how to create new beliefs.

And I have on the. I have a bulletin board next to my desk. And you know, it says who I am. I am common centered. Um, that's who I am at my core. I, I have enough time. I enjoy the journey. Um, I'm a curious, active listener. I appreciate activity and stillness. So I'm someone who's a doer in a workout, or I'm not with someone who's a meditator by nature and like, not as slow, but I remind myself this and I embrace it and, and by just

you know, we all know the power of visualizing for, for athletes by just saying, this is who I am. And, you know, you've listened to other Sarah about bridging thoughts if you don't believe it. But these have, these are who I am. And I had gotten in my own way and I have literally kind of overwritten my own.

Well, I'm not good at that, or I'm not that person. I'm like, no, that's exactly who I am. I am common centered without closure.

Sarah Moody: I've started, you know, as we watch our brain and this is what we do in, in, in our work together, I've started acting very confused with some of the thoughts that I've been thinking, like, like totally like it's so helping me unravel the story run like. I'm like, I'm so confused. Like how is it the problem itself under coach myself with this like totally confused way of looking at my thoughts, because we all know every thought in our brain is option.

It's just a sentence. Yeah. And we get to make up the sentence.

Christine Rimer: ~Absolutely~. Absolutely. I mean, that, that being curious that just, you know, like I have a next big milestone coming up at big presentation and just being curious around. Like, oh, why is that generating stress for me? Oh, because I'm uncomfortable on this part of the business.

Okay. Well, what could you do about it? I could learn it like I, and so just kind of, rather than being paralyzed, going to, what does great look like. I want to knock this presentation out of the park. Okay. Um, and I want to feel confident. Yeah. Excited. Okay. What are the thoughts? I am going to knock it out of the park.

What are the actions to do? We'll just start breaking down the gaps. What you don't know.

Sarah Moody: All right, Christine. All right. You've just been amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your journey with our listeners. And let's just close up with any just inspiration, closing thoughts, guidance, mentorship, to any of our listeners around coaching, deciding to dive into cognitive therapy, shifting beliefs and just believing.

Anything's possible.

Christine Rimer: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Thank you for asking. So for Sarah, thank you so much. Thanks for this opportunity. Thanks for the opportunity to have worked with you. I think my, my sort of closing advice is for me, I thought I was solving for this transition.

I thought I was solving for a moment. Right. Which is a decision to change a job and think about next chapter. When I read your book and I really kind of got into that head space of that framework of thoughts, strike how you feel drive the actions that drive the results. For me, it was. Like I was so quickly able to jot down some limiting beliefs I had and it's just been, it's been really transformational.

I'm doing a job that's significantly bigger. I am more calm than I've ever been. I've had jobs at a fraction of this size that have allowed, generate stress that, you know, impacted my personal life and impacted. Um, how I showed up my ability to be strategic and thoughtful and enjoy the journey. So I, you know, my advice is for folks for me, it has been such a positive impact in my ability to, to operate at a level that

I knew I was capable of. But didn't realize how much I was holding myself back. So I invite others to, to consider the journey it's been transformational for me.

Sarah Moody: You are the person you were always meant to be. You got out of your own way. Thank you so much for sharing your guidance on the podcast today.

I'm so grateful to have been on this journey with you. Side-by-side arm-in-arm. Absolutely. And. I love you. And I know we'll talk soon.

I look forward to it. Sarah. Thank you guys. And thanks to anyone watching and or listening, uh, enjoy the journey. Yes. And that's, I love that. Enjoy the journey. All right.

Take care.

If you're loving what you're learning in this podcast, you have to come and check out the Rockstar Program. It's my coaching program where we take these neuroscience-based cognitive tools and we use them daily to break through burnout so you can fall passionately in love with your career. So join me over at SarahMoody.com

I would love to have you join me. You could also follow me @sarahlmoody on LinkedIn. Twitter and Instagram. I can't wait to see you.