Living Lucky® Podcast with Jason and Jana Banana

The Ripple Effect And a 30-Year Goal

• Jana and Jason Shelfer • Season 9 • Episode 37

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The Ripple Effect: How a 30-Year Dream Teaches Fear Management & Stewardship 🐠

A cold, muddy dive planted a long-term goal: the Great Barrier Reef. 🌊

This self-help masterclass in patience and personal development is the full-circle story of a dream realized, teaching you the ripple effect of small choices.

We share how steady breathing and a calm guide transformed panic cues (the "call of the void" at 40 feet) into focus.

You'll learn:

  • Long Goals Shape Us: Waiting 30 years meant we were ripening—becoming the people capable of the dream.
  • Fear Management: Preparation and presence are the thin line between dread and delight.
  • Stewardship Mindset: "Don't touch" is a love language to fragile ecosystems. Respect ripples from the ocean to your office.

Actionable Takeaways for Big Dreams & Impact:

  • Dormant, Not Dead: If a dream hasn't happened, you're waiting to ripen.
  • Anxiety to Attention: Use steady breathing to move past panic cues. Preparation + presence is the hack.
  • Value of Guides: Experts transform fear into focus. (Believe in the people around you).
  • Stewardship Mindset: Care is a skill that travels. Leave fewer scars.
  • The Ripple Effect: Every choice sends a powerful ripple. Choose the positive effect.
  • Perspective is Everything: Helicopter view: Wonder is fragile and needs guardians. (Believe in your circumstances).

Hit play and move toward your Great Barrier Reef.

  • How to keep a long-term goal alive for decades.
  • Managing panic and anxiety during scuba diving (or high-stakes moments).
  • The ripple effect of small choices on personal growth.
  • Ecotourism principles and responsible travel mindset.
  • The value of a private coach or guide in overcoming fear.
  • How to turn anxiety into attention and focus.
  • "How does the law of ripple effect apply to personal development?"
  • "What is the importance of setting long-term, ambitious goals?"
  • "How can I manage panic attacks (or the call of the void) while scuba diving?"
  • "Why is patience necessary for achieving big dreams?"
  • "What is a stewardship mindset in ecotourism?"

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The 4 pillars of Living Lucky
Believe in yourself
Believe in the people around you
Believe in your circumstances and
Believe that God is working through you, for you, and always conspiring in your favor.

*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®.

Jason Shelfer:

Good morning.

Jana Shelfer:

I'm Jana. I'm Jason. And we are Living Lucky®.

Jason Shelfer:

You are too.

Jana Shelfer:

We got to go scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.

Jason Shelfer:

Incredible.

Jana Shelfer:

We are in Northern Australia, right outside of Cairns.

Jason Shelfer:

Cairns. Port Douglas.

Jana Shelfer:

Port Douglas is where the boat left. And then we went out to the reef. It took like an hour and 30 minutes to get out there by boat.

Jason Shelfer:

Yeah, it was 75 kilometers offshore.

Jana Shelfer:

And what was so crazy is while we were filling out all of our scuba diving information, they needed our actual certification cards. Luckily, I brought them.

Jason Shelfer:

Yes, thank you. Thank you for being so organized.

Jana Shelfer:

When I pulled it out, one of the questions was, when were you certified? And it said I was certified on December 7th, I think, in 1995. Actually, I think it was April 7th, 1995.

Jason Shelfer:

That's a ways back.

Jana Shelfer:

Right?

Jason Shelfer:

That's a couple years ago.

Jana Shelfer:

And I remember taking my scuba class, which I took my sophomore year of college, and I remember saying, I want to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef one day.

Jason Shelfer:

So you went to school in Illinois at Champagne Urbana Urbana. I hear it mean Urbana, because I'm in uh Australia.

Jana Shelfer:

Because you're in Yana banana mode. It's so funny.

Jason Shelfer:

I can't even say things like I I can't wait to get back to the States. But um and so your teacher there teaching the certification, and you're telling him that you want to scuba dive the Great Barrier River.

Jana Shelfer:

Yes, I remember.

Jason Shelfer:

It's like a pipe dream because you're what 18, 19, 20 years old.

Jana Shelfer:

Yeah, I was young. I was very young, 1995.

Jason Shelfer:

We're gonna go get in this murky, cold water here in Illinois and teach you scuba diving. Everyone wants to scuba the Great Barrier River.

Jana Shelfer:

Which was a miserable experience for me. I must be, I must tell you. In fact, I've gone on a lot of scuba trips, and they have not always been the best experience for me. I will say that.

Jason Shelfer:

Well, you were telling me about your certification, and it was like it was freezing cold water.

Jana Shelfer:

Three-inch wetsuits, which I couldn't move in. Not millimeter. I couldn't get it on, I couldn't get it off. By the time we got into the lake, I was so muddy. There was like 50 feet of pure mud just to get into the water. And then once I got into the water, then you had to swim out further. And they said, no matter what, don't touch the bottom of the lake. Well, just to swim out into the water, I was dragging on the bottom of the lake. And then they made me wear these flippers to keep my feet warm. So I had to wear these booties and then these flippers. And literally, by the time I got into the water, got under the water, I couldn't tell that my flippers were dragging in the mud, which was making it murky for everyone. And then we had to do these exercises where we had to use a compass under this pitch black, freezing cold water, and we had to make a triangle.

Jason Shelfer:

Oh no.

Jana Shelfer:

And I got so lost, I couldn't find where I was, I couldn't see anything.

Jason Shelfer:

Like just pass her. Give her a give her a pass.

Jana Shelfer:

The weights, they made me put on these really heavy weights. So I literally, like, because I'm a floater, for some reason, I'm a floater in the water.

Jason Shelfer:

So they made me put on these super floaters.

Jana Shelfer:

Soup, thank you, Jason. They made me put on these super heavy weights. And then by the time I got down, I couldn't, I couldn't get back up. I'm like, I am this is a really bad experience for me. And then once you know the whole dive was finally finished, and the teacher literally passed me just so that I wouldn't take the class again.

Jason Shelfer:

I don't want her coming back. The skimmer passed.

Jana Shelfer:

Once we the you know, once the dive was over, then trying to get back into my chair, which was full of mud and probably icicles at the time. I was full of mud. I had mud in my wetsuit, mud in my flippers, in my booties, and then we had to we took these vans out to get there. So try try, you know, not getting the van dirty.

Jason Shelfer:

No wonder you wanted to scoop it out of the Great Barrier Reef. Right? Because this was a beautiful trip.

Jana Shelfer:

I started asking questions. You know, where are the warm places to dive where you can just go in your little bikini? I want those places. I was shocked. And I would like to manifest a really hot husband that can just carry me in and out of the world so that I don't have to worry about this.

Jason Shelfer:

So close.

Jana Shelfer:

And here we are 30 years later, this dream has come to fruition. And it just it's really weird because when I wrote down, you know, the date that I was certified, this memory came up for me, and I actually had kind of forgotten about it because I've been to Australia twice, and neither time, other time that I came was I able to go scuba diving. And I'm like, gosh, I'm so close to being there, and yet it's just not gonna work.

Jason Shelfer:

And it wasn't like you were here for a couple of days, you were here for a month.

Jana Shelfer:

You were here for a month, yes.

Jason Shelfer:

Each time you were here for about 30 days, yes, and it just did not have the opportunity in those 60 days to go scuba dive the Great Bearer Reef. I mean, it's a big continent.

Jana Shelfer:

And then here we are for a water ski competition in Mulala, Australia. And then my husband plans a few days for us to go and just experience Australia, and one of them was scuba diving, which Jason, how was the experience for you?

Jason Shelfer:

It was it was fantastic. Now I was a little shocked when we got there because I didn't plan to have a certified diver go with us, like a private dive diver go with us. And so that was a real shock, but also a blessing because I was so glad we had a dive diverse.

Jana Shelfer:

Wasn't that great? This diver was pointing out things and thank you, Addie. I'm gonna just tell you something. We were underwater and a shark, a shark.

Jason Shelfer:

A big beautiful shark came swimming by.

Jana Shelfer:

And if I didn't have a dive master down there with me, I would have freaked us out. I don't know what I would have. I mean, I froze, uh, I probably would have freaked out a little bit.

Jason Shelfer:

Probably would have freaked us out a little bit, but it was it was a really beautiful experience. The whole, the whole thing, and also just pointing out some of the things that we probably would have missed, you know, because I was the best day of my life a lot of times.

Jana Shelfer:

It was the absolute best day of my life.

Jason Shelfer:

I remember scuba diving off of Boynton Beach, like out early uh uh not too far off of Boynton Beach, but I got squirreled off at a horseshoe crab.

Jana Shelfer:

Yeah, you did.

Jason Shelfer:

And we got caught in the current and then ended up and seeing people close to shore.

Jana Shelfer:

Uh we ended up where the swimmers are. All of a sudden we looked up and people's legs were right above us. I'm like, oh my God.

Jason Shelfer:

So this was a great experience.

Jana Shelfer:

And then in Curacao, you were. Oh, that was a different experience.

Jason Shelfer:

Yeah, I had a panic attack in about about uh 40 feet.

Jana Shelfer:

And he was like, My f my ears won't pop, my ears won't pop. And luckily, I had some like dexatrim. It was like weight loss, it was like a weight loss thing, and I'm like, here, take this, this will pop your ears.

Jason Shelfer:

There's something really interesting. So there's there's this um phenomenon called the call of the void. And I experienced the call of the void when we're in hot air balloons, and then also at about 40 feet, 40 to 60 feet when we're scuba diving, where I have this minimal panic attack where I want to take my aerator out.

Jana Shelfer:

Okay, this is a whole nother I know it's a whole nother subject.

Jason Shelfer:

Okay, so just get past that. But it was the most probably one of the most amazing experiences scuba diving.

Jana Shelfer:

It's the best experience for me, and it's literally an anxiety as well. Once I get underwatering for my husband.

Jason Shelfer:

I get very into the moment once I get past my little panic attacks. Um it, but it was fascinating because I was expecting the water to be like cool and cold. Uh-huh. 80 something degrees. It was like getting into a nice, wonderful little bathtub.

Jana Shelfer:

Uh-oh. I mean, it was so much different than Kickapoo Lake in Illinois.

Jason Shelfer:

Kickapoo. That's perfect. That's apropos for the mud and muck that you're swimming in. The colors everywhere.

Jana Shelfer:

The vibrance, the vitality. You don't even realize these reef and these coral, they're breathing, living creatures that are underwater.

Jason Shelfer:

Undulating.

Jana Shelfer:

You go under there, there's a crab the size of a uh king-sized bed.

Jason Shelfer:

Oh, that clam.

Jana Shelfer:

Clam, uh, the size of a king-sized bed, and then all of a sudden, our dive master puts her hand over it and it clams up. Just like what you would expect in The Little Mermaid. Like it's exactly that. And then, you know, we go over to this rock that have like these little, they're like loofah blooms. That's how I explain them. They literally look like those loofahs that you scrub your body with in the shower.

Jason Shelfer:

I would scrub my body with those.

Jana Shelfer:

And they have these feathery little tentacles.

Jason Shelfer:

They look like Vegas to me.

Jana Shelfer:

And then, right? They're like show girls, and then all of a sudden you you just wave your hand over this rock and they like disappear. It is so magical, though, to, and you don't even realize that all this is happening underneath the ocean all the time. And here and then, and then what was so great after we were done scuba diving, which seriously was the best experience of my entire life, then we hopped on a helicopter and we got to see the Great Barrier Reef from the sky, which we flew right over the area where Steve Irwin was stung by the stingray and killed. And to see the I mean, you could see the stingrays from the helicopter.

Jason Shelfer:

And the swarms of turtles.

Jana Shelfer:

Oh, and manatees. Which I had no idea there were even manatees here.

Jason Shelfer:

Like sea cows or yes, they are sea cows.

Jana Shelfer:

Yeah. So it's uh I mean, I we have manatees in Florida.

Jason Shelfer:

I mean, I guess I just don't think about things like that. And I don't think of them, I don't think of them in the oceans. I guess I just I'm not that versed in what they are. I think of them in all the springs in Florida.

Jana Shelfer:

I was just so amazed at everything that we were seeing, and then the whole ecosystem in itself and how everything feeds everything else, and even that shark that went by, where you know, you think, oh, that's a predator, that's a predator. It was so beautiful and strong. And seeing it swim by, I was like in awe of its fierceness.

Jason Shelfer:

The other thing I really appreciate how um the ecotourism here and how they are very um conscious of informing people when they come about don't touch, be be um aware of the fact that we are visitors in this environment.

Jana Shelfer:

And also, I mean, you also saw a lot of the reef is dying.

Jason Shelfer:

Yeah.

Jana Shelfer:

And that part was sad.

Jason Shelfer:

You're right. And that's why we shouldn't touch it, because we want to preserve and to Yeah, we want this, it needs to be here because when you destroy part of an ecosystem, other parts of it are dependent on it.

Jana Shelfer:

So every we're all dependent on it.

Jason Shelfer:

Everything, every everything has a ripple effect. And we I mean, that's this is something we talk about in our mindsets and in every part of life, there is a ripple effect. So, how do you want to affect everything around you? Do you do you want to have that positive effect or do you want to have the negative effect? So, what type of ripples are you putting into the world?

Jana Shelfer:

I love that. But the one thing that I really want to reiterate is that I set this goal 30 years ago and it came true. So if you are listening to this, just think about that. Because sometimes we we put things out there and we think, oh, you know, it just isn't isn't meant for me. Well, maybe it is meant for you, and maybe you're just waiting to ripen.

Jason Shelfer:

Yeah, waiting for the the cards to land or the deck to come together, the stars to align. Yeah.

Jana Shelfer:

Ah Under the sea.

Jason Shelfer:

Under the sea. Everything's better down where it's wetter. Just wait and see.

Jana Shelfer:

That is right. Thanks for joining us.

Jason Shelfer:

Keep Living Lucky®.

Jana Shelfer:

Bye bye. If the idea of Living Lucky® appeals to you, visit us at LivingLucky.com.

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Jana Shelfer

Host
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Jason Shelfer

Host