Living Lucky® Podcast with Jason and Jana Banana

Barefoot Skiing and Life's Momentum

• Jana and Jason Shelfer • Season 8 • Episode 36

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Speed Up to Break Free: The Barefoot Skiing Secret to Life Momentum

Ever feel like you're sinking in quicksand, struggling to move forward? In this eye-opening episode of the Living Lucky® Podcast with Jason & Jana Banana, we reveal a surprising truth: sometimes, the key to overcoming resistance is to speed up, not slow down.

Inspired by a mind-blowing barefoot water skiing competition, we discovered a powerful metaphor about momentum that will transform how you tackle life's challenges. Imagine skiers gliding effortlessly at 40+ mph, then sinking deeper and struggling as the boat slows. This mirrors how we often create more resistance by overthinking and over-planning.

Here's what you'll discover:

  • The Barefoot Skiing Paradox: Speed vs. Resistance: Learn how higher speed minimizes resistance, both in water skiing and in life.
  • The Quicksand Effect: How Overthinking Creates Drag: Understand how excessive planning and analysis can hinder your progress.
  • Find Your Optimal Pace: The Sweet Spot for Momentum: Discover how to identify the speed that allows you to glide over obstacles.
  • The Power of Small Movements: Breaking Through Paralysis: Learn how tiny actions can create momentum and lead to significant change.
  • Seven Weeks to Move Mountains: The Time is Now: Understand the power of focused momentum in a limited timeframe.
  • The Story You Tell Yourself: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities: Learn how your mindset shapes your experience and outcomes.
  • Momentum Builds Momentum: Making Future Actions Easier: Discover how consistent movement creates a positive cycle of progress.

This episode is your guide to breaking free from inertia and creating unstoppable momentum in all areas of your life.

Nuggets:

  • How to overcome resistance by increasing speed.
  • The dangers of overthinking and over-planning.
  • Strategies for finding your optimal pace for momentum.
  • The power of small movements for breaking through paralysis.
  • How to shape your reality with your mindset.

How to create momentum in your life, How to overcome resistance and achieve your goals, How to find your optimal pace for success, How to use small movements to build momentum, How to transform challenges into opportunities, How to use mindset to create momentum, How do I create momentum?, How to over co

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*Previously Recorded

Jana Shelfer:

Are you ready to create a life you crave? Let's spin that doom loop of negativity into an upward success cycle and start Living Lucky®. Good morning. I'm Jana, I'm Jason and we are Living Lucky®. You are too. We went to a barefoot skiing competition yesterday.

Jason Shelfer:

Yes, and that's a water sport.

Jana Shelfer:

I've never been to one before. In fact, I have never been around barefoot skiing. I thought skiing it's in the name skiing you use skis right. It's not called barefooting, is it Well?

Jason Shelfer:

barefoot skiing is barefooting and they call it skiing. Does it hurt your feet? I don't know, I'm not a. Barefoot skiing is barefooting and they call it skiing.

Jana Shelfer:

Does it hurt your feet?

Jason Shelfer:

I don't know. I'm not a barefooter. I mean, I do know that I have put my hand out of the boat going super fast and just kind of felt that resistance, and I also know that I've kind of put my feet out like I was going to barefoot. But I never thought, oh, that's something I might be able to do.

Jana Shelfer:

Okay. Well, if you've listened to our podcast for a while, you know that sometimes we're not even making sense. Sometimes we're just hashing out these thoughts that are in our brain, and this is what we learned yesterday. It was a group of old men, basically.

Jason Shelfer:

One of them was in his late seventies.

Jana Shelfer:

Yeah, so this sport has been around for a long time and it feels like when people get hooked on barefooting, I'll just call it barefooting.

Jason Shelfer:

Yes.

Jana Shelfer:

That seems to be their sport.

Jason Shelfer:

They love it. They love it, and I saw some massive ridiculous wipeouts yesterday that freaked me out as a viewer of the sport.

Jana Shelfer:

Right, because you think oh, oh, I was like that's going to leave a mark, Like they're going to be sore tomorrow.

Jason Shelfer:

Right, my body just did things it shouldn't do, right?

Jana Shelfer:

Yes.

Jason Shelfer:

And so think of that as a 75-year-old.

Jana Shelfer:

They seem like they were in really good shape.

Jason Shelfer:

They are in really good shape.

Jana Shelfer:

I mean, when I say old, men I mean, they seemed like you could see their muscles.

Jason Shelfer:

They're probably not your average grandpa.

Jana Shelfer:

Right.

Jason Shelfer:

I would agree with that. They're active, they're doing it. They have, I think, a knowingness about their body.

Jana Shelfer:

Yeah, Like you could. Definitely they had a swagger about them. You could definitely say, oh, they're one of the competitors.

Jason Shelfer:

Absolutely.

Jana Shelfer:

Okay, so here's what I noticed, though, and I feel like there's an analogy to life here. So, in barefoot skiing, the faster you go, the less resistance there is on the water.

Jason Shelfer:

Yes.

Jana Shelfer:

So they would start out at 40 miles per hour, which is pretty fast behind a boat. I don't know if you've ever been behind a boat. 40 miles per hour on a boat, that's pretty fast. Now when you're going that fast, there's not much wake behind the boat. It's pretty smooth behind there.

Jason Shelfer:

And you're going fast enough to keep your body on top. One of the guys started at 42.

Jana Shelfer:

Okay. So if you're going 40, 42 miles per hour, you are on top of the water, which means you're not feeling a lot of. I mean, you may feel a tingle or a tickle under your feet, but you're pretty much on top of the water.

Jason Shelfer:

You're like gliding. It's kind of like skipping a stone. Like you don't toss a stone up in the air and hope it's going to skip, you sling it yeah.

Jana Shelfer:

It's weird, right.

Jason Shelfer:

Yeah.

Jana Shelfer:

Now let me just tell you how this works. So they would do a lap at 40, 42 miles per hour, and then, for every lap that they held on, they would slow the boat down by two miles per hour.

Jason Shelfer:

Yes.

Jana Shelfer:

Now, as the boat gets slower, it gets more difficult, because as the boat gets slower, the body sinks a little bit more in the water. Yes, there's more of your foot in the water and resisting the water foot in the water and resisting the water, so it's harder to hold on and there's more of a wake behind the boat, which means the water forms more of a wave if that makes sense for anyone that's not a water skier.

Jana Shelfer:

And you put on top of all that just the fact that the stamina of holding on to anything that's pulling your body yes, so by the time they had gone around to five and six laps, they're down in the low 30 miles per hour and they're sinking. I mean, you can tell.

Jason Shelfer:

It's getting harder and they've been doing it for longer.

Jana Shelfer:

Yes, it's like a marathon. It is like a marathon for them to hold on as barefooters back there and you can tell they're not only hurting, but it's almost like when they come by. It's almost like you see their calves.

Jason Shelfer:

Yeah, and their knees are shaking a little bit and it's-.

Jana Shelfer:

Instead of gliding on top of the water, you see-.

Jason Shelfer:

Oh yeah, the visual.

Jana Shelfer:

The visual of it.

Jason Shelfer:

It's almost like their feet are underwater Because they're pushing up so much more water around their feet, yes, that you can't even see their feet, and it almost so. This whole thing reminds me just because we're in the personal development field, right that sometimes we will sit in our thoughts like in our planning phase.

Jana Shelfer:

We stew in them, we ruminate in them.

Jason Shelfer:

Yeah, like not getting moving and it's like you don't have to go a thousand miles an hour. But getting movement so that you can find that sweet spot is really the key. Because I've noticed sometimes in my past where I would sit and I would analyze all the what ifs, all the things and then I would start building evidence. That kind of was almost like this big backpack full of weight and extra that I didn't need to just get started and allow myself to grow into and learn they even.

Jana Shelfer:

There's like a saying that says, if you want to get something done, ask a busy person. Right, because busy people they get busy.

Jason Shelfer:

And they just do things. Now, some people aren't directional in their business, but if you ask a mom or parents of three, four, five kids, I mean that's freaking chaos. Like in my mind, that is chaos. And I, the ones that I talked to say I didn't think at the time maybe I could do, I could keep the stamina of doing it with one more kid, but then you just do.

Jana Shelfer:

They just do it. However, then if you get stuck, if you've ever been stuck in your life, let's think of it on the opposite end of the spectrum, if you ever get stuck in your life, think of an area of your life where you've been stuck, whether it's financially or relationship-wise, or career-wise.

Jason Shelfer:

Or spiritually.

Jana Shelfer:

Or spiritually or spiritually.

Jana Shelfer:

If you get stuck in an area of your life, sometimes it feels like it is the hardest thing in the world. It's like you're buried up to your neck To just get going again, and sometimes the littlest thing can seem like moving a mountain.

Jason Shelfer:

Yes, so there's some clients that have been so stuck it felt like they were up to their neck in this mud. It's like quicksand. I can't do anything. There's no momentum, there's no movement, and that's something that we just create by wiggling, like you know. Wiggle a little bit like just move a little, and then you'll notice there's more room for movement.

Jana Shelfer:

Yes.

Jason Shelfer:

And it's so pivotal. I think pivotal actually is a good word. It just popped in my head. I don't use that word very often.

Jana Shelfer:

And sometimes you know we start feeling, oh well, things are moving too fast. Things are moving too fast. Well, it's actually the opposite. Sometimes you need to move a little faster.

Jason Shelfer:

Yeah, so big.

Jana Shelfer:

And I know this. I know this because and the only reason I'm talking about it is because right now I'm facing it. In my life I have been feeling a little overwhelmed in areas where I've been telling Jason gosh I have this one woman show and I'm skiing and sometimes I don't know what to do. So I don't know what to do and I almost feel paralyzed because I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing.

Jason Shelfer:

Right, you claim it. You claim the neutrality of not moving. Yes, and we do that. That's one of those things that we do.

Jana Shelfer:

it's become a weakness of mine and and at the same time, when I was watching that barefoot competition, I'm like I think the universe is maybe sending me a little lesson right now in that maybe it's not that I need to slow down, maybe I need to speed up a little bit.

Jason Shelfer:

Rock and roll. I told her, yeah.

Jana Shelfer:

I keep telling myself, oh, I need to slow down, I need to slow down. Well, maybe I have a little too much time on my hands.

Jason Shelfer:

And I think the awareness around it is very crucial, and it's one of those things you can't tell someone, hey, you're not moving fast enough, or hey, you're moving too fast. That's one of those things that we have to work on ourselves and we have to have this awareness about ourselves so that we can find that very balanced pace.

Jana Shelfer:

Right, because you know I was talking about it. I was interviewed on the Red Dot podcast on Friday and they were like so, jana, what are you up to right now? And I said I have this one woman show. However, I've been really, really stuck in the creative process and in getting the script written, and I think I'm down to. I think I only have eight weeks left now, so I may have to.

Jason Shelfer:

Or five.

Jana Shelfer:

Well, it's two months two full months, so I think I'm maybe seven weeks now. So I may have to pull out and give the opportunity to someone else, because the timing just isn't right for me at this time. And then I walked away from that interview, thinking seven weeks.

Jason Shelfer:

We can move a mountain in seven weeks.

Jana Shelfer:

Seven weeks, oh my gosh Jana, I can do anything in seven weeks.

Jason Shelfer:

Are you?

Jana Shelfer:

kidding me.

Jason Shelfer:

You became almost a champion water skier in two days. It was kind of two days. We started skiing almost a week before the competition.

Jana Shelfer:

I buckled down and did it, and all I need to do is just decide.

Jason Shelfer:

And create that forward momentum.

Jana Shelfer:

And just say this is what I'm doing and just do it. And yet, for some reason, sometimes I give myself it's almost like I give myself too much time, too much of a runway, and I understand that for most people that's the way they work and that's the way that's the way they work and that's the process they need. I'm not sure that I'm like that.

Jason Shelfer:

And noticing that is wonderful, because what you can do is give yourself the runway, but redefine what the runway is Like. Get the jet rolling down the runway.

Jana Shelfer:

Yeah, this would have been great to create back in January and and then just have had it done, get to play with it and then right like and not not sitting here and worry and stress and and be like bounce it off some walls here and there.

Jason Shelfer:

Yeah, make it funny and make it, make it, make it even better, make it comical, make it those sorts of things, and either way, if it says if it's something you want to do, create this show for the fringe, then it's going to be fun. It's going to be. It's it's all in the story that we tell ourselves about it, and then the story we tell ourselves after it it's and I think that you are a fun spectacular, a really exceptional person that has all the tools needed to do this. It's just saying, hey, is it something I want to do? Let's start this motor and get it going.

Jana Shelfer:

It is interesting, though, that sometimes, the faster we go, the less resistance there is.

Jason Shelfer:

So big.

Jana Shelfer:

Right, yeah, isn't that a lesson? So big Right, yeah, isn't that a lesson? And the fact that I learned that from a barefoot water skiing competition yesterday, because literally I mean I think about term papers in college, you know, and sometimes if I would start three weeks ahead of time, I would sit and stew and do research and do more research, and then it would take a left turn and a right turn, and a rabbit hole here and a rabbit hole there, and then next thing, you know, I would end up with a whole different topic and honestly, the night before I'd be like okay, I got to come up with the, I got to sit down and do this.

Jason Shelfer:

Let's get this ball moving, let's get this train rolling. Yeah and the so when you were saying all that? Because I'm the metaphor guy and I'm a visual person.

Jana Shelfer:

I was thinking of.

Jason Shelfer:

I was thinking of what contradicts that. Yeah, but like what I came to, or, and what I came to is that if you go too fast, then you fly because there's wind resistance.

Jana Shelfer:

And you don't always enjoy it as much maybe and you don't always get everything out of it right, and it's just setting the what's your intention?

Jason Shelfer:

You know I intend to slow down and take in the sights, take in all the little things, but we're so into personal development that I think we will still see and notice the things, to be grateful for those, those wow moments, those awe inspiring moments, um, regardless of how fast we go.

Jana Shelfer:

And also you know there I mean there were several things I noticed yesterday about this competition. I noticed that the slower the skiers were going, if they fell, it didn't quite seem as catastrophic.

Jason Shelfer:

That's true.

Jana Shelfer:

Yes, catastrophic as when they were going 40 miles per hour. They just kind of sunk further and stopped.

Jason Shelfer:

Yes, where at 40 miles an hour. The one guy that fell and did like three or four cartwheels in the water.

Jana Shelfer:

It was like oh my God, is he okay?

Jason Shelfer:

I was like oh sleeper, get to him quick. Our butts puckered on that one right? It sure did. We were like ah, I almost pinched a hole in the chair. I was sitting in the vinyl chair.

Jana Shelfer:

So I guess it's just find the right pace for you.

Jason Shelfer:

Yes, that's so big.

Jana Shelfer:

I will say I have been my biggest obstacle on this, and just knowing that is.

Jason Shelfer:

So just get curious about your pace, not about whether you're stuck or not, but get curious about what pace. Not about whether you're stuck or not, but get curious about what pace would feel good and what pace will get me there, because we can do anything over time. You said it Seven weeks. I can move a whole mountain for that.

Jana Shelfer:

I can.

Jason Shelfer:

And this is just a show, like a 45-minute performance.

Jana Shelfer:

I'm putting on or a 50-minute performance. Nobody's judging this show and it doesn't matter. It'll just be what it is performance.

Jason Shelfer:

I'm putting on A 50-minute performance. Nobody's judging this show and it doesn't matter. It'll just be what it is. I'm just me. You're going to spend seven weeks judging it Myself. And then you're just going to do it and then be like, okay, oh my gosh. And then, 10 years from now, you'll be just proud that you did the show.

Jana Shelfer:

Right, whereas I feel like if I do, if I don't take advantage of this opportunity, I do feel like there's going to be something inside me.

Jason Shelfer:

In 10 years it says I regret never not having done it.

Jana Shelfer:

Yes.

Jason Shelfer:

So I'm glad you've decided you're sticking in it and you're going to get the momentum going at your sacred pace or your balanced pace.

Jana Shelfer:

Thanks for joining us. Keep Living Lucky®, bye-bye. If the idea of Living Lucky® appeals to you, visit us at www. LivingLucky. com.