Welcome to the Elevated Edit Podcast.

I'm your host, Blakely Ramsey, and the goal of this podcast is to discuss all things personal development, wellness and the art of editing your life in an elevated way.

From mastering morning routines to mastering your mindset, we're going to sift through the noise and empower you to take elevated action.

Make sure you catch the show notes for all the details.

Enjoy the show.

Hello and welcome back to the Elevated Edit podcast.

I am just want to stop and say thank you for showing up and thank you for being here.

It really does mean a lot to me and the conversations that I'm having with y'all in the DMs and in person regarding these podcast episodes, it really means so much to me and just wanted to say thank you before we get started.

And also I'm procrastinating because today's topic makes me a little bit uncomfortable.

We are going to talk about something that I am actively working through.

I'm actively journaling through, talking with my therapist, through talking with my coaches through, and that is the mindset shift around risk and why playing it safe might be one of your biggest mistakes.

I am someone who has always played it safe.

I love to brainstorm and look at all the options and I lean towards the safe option.

Now I love.

I still have to show up excellent.

And I love to show up in a big way in.

In my comfort zone.

I am not one who really loves to step outside of her comfort zone.

And in 2025, I have been forced to step outside of my comfort zone.

I have forced myself a little bit and then other situations have forced me as well, unintentionally.

And it's.

It's not always easy.

But I will say this.

I have had more growth in 2025.

As of the date of this recording on March 18, 2025, I've had more growth this year than I've had sometimes in entire years before.

So it.

I know that stepping outside my comfort zone is beneficial, but it's still hard and you might be experiencing that same thing as well.

So today we're just going to talk about this in a very informal way because this is something that I am actively going through as well.

And y'all know I'm going to give you all some tangible tips on, on how we can get through this together.

So playing it safe feels comfortable.

It feels like we are prepared for it.

We expect it.

We know what to expect.

Like, we can visually see the end when we're playing it safe, but playing it safe can Also really hold you back.

It can hold you back from opportunities and chances and really big things in life.

If you are constantly playing, playing it safe.

If you were constantly just looking for incremental growth instead of quantum growth, if you are constantly looking for the, you know, direct way or the way that it's been done before, instead of completely just shattering ideas and coming up with a completely new way which could actually change your whole life in the best way possible.

But when you can't see the end and when it's something you've never done before, it can be, at least for me, absolutely, absolutely terrifying.

But what I am learning this year is that stepping outside of your comfort zone is not just important, it's essential.

And this isn't easy for a multitude of reasons, but the main reason being that our brain, thankfully, this is not all bad.

But our brain is biologically wired to prefer safety because our brain is designed to protect us.

Our brain is literally wired to keep us alive, which, like I said, thankfully, you know, when you are sitting close to a, like a, an oven and you don't want to put your hand down on the burner, you know, your brain goes, oh, we need to get back in our safety zone.

Don't put your hand down there.

Or when you're standing on the edge of a cliff and you go to step off, your brain goes, comfort zone back up.

Like, our natural instincts are definitely there to keep us safe, but in our modern world, we pull those same ancestral instincts into 2025.

And so we go, oh, you know what?

I better not post that.

I better pull back.

Because you know, what if somebody doesn't like it or, oh, I shouldn't go for that dream, I better pull back.

And so having the even, I think having the awareness of that has been huge, at least for me, because it's like, oh, there have been moments where I did want to play big and I did want to step into, like, a new field or a new area that I'm not super familiar with.

And I pulled back because of maybe something I wasn't even aware of at the time.

But I pulled back because I was like, oh, there's something about that that doesn't feel safe to me because your brain can't tell the difference between putting your hand on a hot burner and posting a social media post that kind of like takes you out of your comfort zone.

Like, your brain looks at both of them as, nope, we got to be safe.

Let's back up.

We want to stay in our comfort zone.

And like, I said it is a great thing because our brains do prioritize safety, and they prioritize predictability because they want to keep us alive.

But real personal growth occurs when we intentionally challenge our brain's safety instincts, especially when it comes to things like new opportunities or posting something on social media, or having a conversation with someone that, you know, makes us a little nervous, or trying the new business venture or asking for a raise or, you know, asking someone out on a date that we aren't sure if they're going to say yes or trying the new recipe or whatever it is, like, when we step outside of our comfort zone, we challenge that part of our brain a little bit.

And what I have found, for me at least, is challenging my brain and questioning, like, is this actually keeping me safe or is this just holding me back?

It's kind of like developing a little bit.

I talk about developing a muscle all the time because a lot of what I talk about on this podcast is very.

It's something you've got to work on.

Like, you've got to do it over and over again.

It's not going to be something that just clicks automatically.

But every time I take a risk, I'm like, oh, okay, that was still.

That was scary.

But it was okay.

Like, I think I can do it again.

I think I can do it again.

And so every time, like, the risks seem to get a little bit more exciting, which is something that I've never, ever experienced before.

And I have talked a lot about on the podcast about the coaching programs that I have invested in this year.

And that is something that I don't even think in 2024, I would have invested in these programs.

I don't even think in January, like, early January of 2025, I would have invested in these programs.

But I started taking incremental steps that built me up to going, okay, you know what?

I am going to take a really big risk financially and mentally.

And, you know, I mean, the coaching programs are not easy.

They are very challenging.

I'm in there with women who are.

I mean, they don't know me from Adam.

And so a lot of the feedback is very, like, curt and direct and hearing things that isn't always comfortable, that's uncomfortable in itself.

I mean, there's a multitude of ways that I'm stepping outside my comfort zone.

But through all of this discomfort, I will say that I've had more growth in 2025 than I've ever had before in my whole life.

And I truly contributed to these coaching programs that I'm in.

And so I want you to, like, as we're going through this episode, I want you to think, like, is there an opportunity that I'm just not going for because I'm scared?

Is there an opportunity that I haven't just, like, chased or the money that I haven't invested because I'm scared, because I can't see the end result because I am hesitant on how it's going to play out or what it's going to require of me or the discomfort that I'm going to have to set in.

And so I just want you to be thinking about that in the back of your mind what it is that maybe you are, like, hesitant on or, like, where your comfort zone is, and just challenge yourself to feel what it would feel like if you did step outside of your comfort zone.

So y'all know I love to give some actionable steps that you can take in.

In all of my episodes, I feel like the personal development space is almost a little gatekeepy.

Like, it's like, I'm going to tell you how I changed my life, and I'm going to tell you how great I am, but I'm not actually going to tell you how to get there.

And that is not what we do around here.

I am.

I probably spill the beans a little bit too much, but I just get so excited when I have, like, a little breakthrough about something and I want to tell everybody.

So we're going to go through some action steps to help you practically step outside of your comfort zone.

Especially if, like, you're brand new to it, it can be a little bit like, don't worry, I'm gonna give you some baby steps.

So step number one, recognize and name your fears.

I have a funny fear that I recently put a name to, and it wasn't funny before.

It was like a real fear.

But once I put a name to it, I'm not joking you.

I like, journaled and been coached and talked about this fear of fear.

And when I finally, I was.

I had a journaling session and I put it on paper exactly what the fear was.

I literally laughed out loud.

So I show up pretty frequently on social media.

I.

I do feel like I'm fairly good at marketing and branding and.

But there's always been this, like, I feel like I can do more.

I feel like I could do better.

I feel like that's not like my 100.

That's not the best that I can do.

There's always been this little nagging feeling in the back of my head that, like, I could be doing more.

But for some reason, I would always self sabotage.

I would always, like, I would either not do enough reps of a post or I would not put enough thought into a post.

Or if I had a really good post, I would find a way and a reason to not post it.

Like, I'd be like, oh, my hair's out of place.

And that one, I can't post it.

Or I'd be like, oh, I don't know.

I.

I said that one thing and that might really bother people.

Or nope, I mispronounced that one word.

I can't post this.

Like, I would always find a way to self sabotage.

And so, you know, my coaches, of course, they're like, postmore, postmore, postmortal.

Like, reps, reps, reps.

We need you to, you know, get in the game.

You're not in the game enough.

I'm like, just scared.

They're like, okay, well, what are you scared of?

I'm like, posting.

And they're like, yeah, but specifically, what are you scared of?

I don't, I don't know.

Go journal about it.

So I've been journaling through this fear.

Like, what is it about?

You're going to laugh when you hear it.

You're going to literally probably laugh out loud.

Like, what am I so scared of?

And what I realized is that I am scared to go viral.

And I know, I know how absurd it sounds.

At the minute that I wrote it out, I was like, blakely, Adriema, Ramsey girl.

What?

Because it's like, okay, if that's your fear, you have a fear of going viral, which I do.

Like, now that I put it on paper, I'm like, oh, that's 100 it.

But when you put a name to the fear, it.

It allows you to take away some of the power of the fear.

Because first off, a multitude of things, but first off, really, like, in the, In a, in the world we live in, is that really that big of a deal?

Like, is that a problem?

I mean, there's literally people.

There's people with problems way bigger than that.

Like, okay, we're going to take that off the plate.

Second, what is the actual likelihood of me going viral?

Pretty slim, right?

Especially if I'm not getting in enough reps, like, when I'm still just practicing.

It's.

There's a very small likelihood that I'm actually going to go viral.

Okay.

So it's not really a problem.

Low likelihood that it's going to happen.

And Then I was like, okay, well, what if I do go viral and everybody comments on there and they talk about how awful I am and how I.

Who does she think she is?

And people make fun of me.

It's like, okay, so what if they do?

Like that could 100 possibly happen?

Like, is that the worst thing that's gonna happen?

You know, and then I just, like, kept pushing myself and pushing myself and finally I was like, okay, so I'm scared of something that isn't actually something to be scared of.

You know, it's not a saber tooth tiger.

It's not, you know, me being hungry.

It's not me, you know, being in physical pain.

Pain.

It's not actually a real problem.

It is not something that.

It's something that's very unlikely to happen.

Okay?

Actually going viral in our, like, saturated market is super, like, the likelihood is super low.

Okay, so there's second portion.

And then even if the worst case scenario does happen, I mean, it's a mean comments, you know, like, I've been called some really nasty things in my life.

I think I can handle it.

And just putting a name on my fear made me like, it turned the fear into something funny.

Like, now I laugh about it.

I'm like, this girl over here is worried she's gonna go viral.

That's her fear.

Okay?

You know, like, it literally does make it so funny.

And so I challenge you to do that with something that you're really scared of or something that you're like, holding back.

Put a name to the fear.

The fear might be very real.

Like, I still have that fear.

It's still there.

But now I can laugh about it because I'm like, I'm being dramatic.

It's probably not going to happen.

And if it does, like, it is not.

It's not really going to be that bad if the worst case scenario happens.

And I took a lot of the power of the fear away.

And so I challenge you to do that as well, is to like, actually put a name on your fear and maybe make fun of it.

Like, make the fear, like, small.

Like now my fear of going viral is like a little, like little munchkin fear just sitting over in the little corner.

Like, I'm just not gonna think about it.

Okay, Number two, take small steps.

So I don't know if I've talked about this on the podcast before, but before I dove into the coaching programs that I'm in, when I went to the summit in Atlanta in January, well, Alpharetta, but it's right outside of Atlanta.

I actually originally signed up for the general admission ticket.

That's just what I identified with.

I was like, I'm a general admission person.

I always go for the cheapest option.

We're all in the same room anyway.

We're gonna get the same information.

So why would I pay more just to sit in the front row?

Like, I don't need to pay for vip.

And I just had this inkling.

I was like, I feel like I need to pay for the VIP ticket.

So there was general vip, Platinum vip, and Platinum VIP had been sold out for, like, two weeks when I was having this thought, and I was like, you know what?

I.

I think I'm gonna upgrade to vip.

I don't know why, but, like, something's just telling me I need to upgrade to vip.

So I emailed the team.

I was like, hey, I pay for general admission.

Is there any way I can pay the difference and upgrade my ticket to vip?

And they said, absolutely, you can.

But we also.

We know we've posted that sold out, but we just had somebody back out.

There is one Platinum vip.

We were going to post about it tomorrow, but, like, if you want it, you can pay the difference there.

And I was like, oh.

Like, it was already a big jump for me to go from vip, from general admission to vip, but then to go from vip, from general admission to Platinum vip.

I'm like, I am not plum material.

And so I really had to.

That was a big jump for me.

Just that right there.

And once I bought the ticket, got in the room, sat in the front row, had lunch with the other VIP Platinum members.

The other cool thing was we all the VIP Platinum members, their names and Instagram handles and pictures got emailed out, I think a week before the event.

So I got followers from it, and I was able to connect with all the other VIP Platinum members before we even got to Georgia.

And we had a group chat going.

And so when we got to meet in person, it was like, oh, hey, Katie.

Hey, Olivia.

Hey, Juliana.

Like, I, like, was already familiar with people.

I'm sitting on the front row with my girls.

We had lunch in a separate room.

We all went out to dinner together.

We all stay in the same hotel.

Hotel.

We all worked out together.

We're, like, texting, brainstorming ideas.

Like, it truly.

I think just that was life changing for me.

It just kind of opened my mind up.

I met friends, like, lifelong friends, and had conversations and experiences that I wouldn't have experienced if I just bought the general admission ticket.

And I think it primed my brain to be like, okay, if I took that risk going from general to Platinum vip, like, what would happen if I invested in a high ticket coaching program?

If I invested numbers that I've never even considered investing before, like, how would my life look different?

And my life looks completely different in a, in two months.

And they're both year long coaching programs.

So I'm just so excited to see, like, how far this is going to go.

But I, I took that small step, that General to Platinum VIP to prime me for the big one.

And I, of course, at the time, I didn't even know that's what it was doing.

I didn't know it was priming me.

But just take a small step.

Like, if you're not ready to fully commit and you're not ready to jump all the way in, just be like, okay, what can I do?

Like, where can I slowly step out of my comfort zone?

It might not even be financial, it might be conversations, it might be social media, it might be asking for a small raise, it might be applying for a new job.

It might be like just considering starting a new business.

Whatever it is, like, take a small step and kind of build that muscle.

I'm going to talk about building muscles a lot because almost everything in this podcast and that I talk about is not going to be a one and done situation.

It's going to be something that you constantly have to work on.

Constantly have to work on.

But it's so worth it.

Okay, number three, change your environment.

This is a big one.

I have never really spent time with people who love taking big risks.

Like, I've been around, some of my friends are risk takers, but not on the scale that I've exposed myself to in 2025.

Some of the networking groups that I have been in, some of the masterminds I'm in, there's people that are coming up with ideas, talking about things, spending money that literally, it's hard for me to even wrap my mind around it.

But every time I'm around those people, they stretch me and they make me go, oh, wow.

I thought I was thinking big, but I've actually been thinking really small.

Like, how could I think even bigger?

How could I think even, like, even better?

How could I think even more Excellent.

And I just getting around people and getting in the right environment that like primes you to take that leap and take that risk and like feel confident in it is so powerful.

So find someone to be like your like hype girl or hype man, like whatever if you need to send me a voice chat on Instagram at the Blakely Ramsey.

Now, if you do it, as some of you have found out, I.

As long as it is a.

A positive risk, I'm gonna be like, go for it.

Like, there's no reason why you shouldn't.

So send me a voice chat on Instagram and be like, hey, I'm considering this risk.

I'm kind of freaking out a little bit.

I just need a pep talk.

I will send you a pep talk, and then I'm going to follow up with you.

So be prepared for that, because we like to take action around here.

Even if the action leads to failure, the failure leads to lessons, and then you can reiterate and retry and, man, the next time, you just never know.

Okay, 4.

Reframe your mindset.

View risk as opportunities rather than potential failures.

So this was something that really kind of hit me in the face after I made the initial investment.

Because you're excited, you're hyped up, you're onboarding, you're meeting all the people.

You're like, oh, that's so exciting.

It looks great.

Love my life.

And then panic started to set in.

This was like a week after I invested in these programs.

I was like, what in the world did I actually do?

And I started looking for reasons to justify why I shouldn't have done it.

So, like, an expense, an unexpected expense would pop up.

I'd be like, oh, see, I shouldn't have made that investment.

Or, like, I would lose a client or a deal with fall through or something.

And I'd be like, oh, here we go.

More evidence of why I shouldn't have invested in that program.

I'm going to lose all my money, and I should.

Blah, blah, blah.

You know, I was looking for all these reasons why I should have done it.

I was looking to justify why my risk was a bad decision versus looking for the opportunities.

Thankfully, I caught myself because I journal a lot.

And when you.

For me, at least when I put things on paper, it makes them seem a lot more ridiculous.

And it kind of catches me and slaps me in the face a little bit, and it goes, okay, Blakely, you are.

You need to change your mindset right now.

So I shifted my mindset, and I was like, how can I look for opportunity?

And now when I'm on calls, I am, like, taking everybody's name down.

I'm following them on Instagram.

I'm reaching out with like, hey, I loved your role play today.

Like, you did such a good Job and forming relationships.

I'm building a bigger network.

I am, like, really diving into the material.

I am working on a ton of material ahead of time.

And when I get on my coaching call, like, when it's my turn, I'm, like, taking all of the time that I can.

I'm like, okay, look at this, Analyze this, look at this.

And my coaches are like, okay, hold on a second.

Like, I have turned it into versus something where I was looking for the risk, and I wasn't practicing, I wasn't preparing, I wasn't, like, fully investing.

Now I'm trying to look at it as opportunity, and it has.

It is so much more beneficial for you if you come from an opportunity mindset versus a risk mindset.

And so just think about it in.

Reframe your mindset to go.

Instead of, like, looking for the negatives and looking for everything that could go wrong, look for everything that could go right.

And I know it sounds so simple, and it's definitely not something that's easy to implement, but that something that's super powerful.

And then last but not least, reflect on past risks.

So I recently got called out in a local networking event.

I was.

We were, you know, going around the room being transparent about our current challenges, and I said, you know, I'm just really scared to step into this new version of myself.

And I don't just.

I don't know if I can handle this new identity and blah, blah, blah.

And this girl that I love her to death, she tells it like it is.

I've been friends with her years now, and she looked at me and she said, how many successes do you have in your past?

And I was like, well, you know, she's like, no, how many successes?

Like, how many times have you been successful?

How many times have you tried something and it went really well.

I was like, well, you know, I've got a pretty.

Pretty good history of success.

And she was like, so why would this be any different?

And I was like, okay, truth bomb.

Hold on.

But really, like, it was that one little statement, and it just keeps replaying over and over again in my head.

Like, I see her looking at me dead in the eye and being like, how many times have you been successful?

Okay, why wouldn't you do it again?

Just go out and prove yourself right.

I'm like, whoa, she's so good.

And so just reflect on your past risk.

Think of how many times you have accomplished something.

Think of how many times you have taken risk and it turned out really well.

And focus on those Moments instead of the times that you fail and the times that you fell flat on your face.

Like, think of all the successes that you've stacked up up to this point.

I mean, like, you know what?

I can do this.

And if you want to look at your failures, too and be like, you know what?

I failed and I.

I made.

I'm still here.

I made it through it.

Do that as well.

Like, I just think that.

And that goes back to the reframing your mindset, like, how you look at your experiences and your opportunities and your challenges.

I mean, the way you look at your life really does determine your life.

And through all of this, remember that everybody is going through this and everybody is experiencing this.

That is one thing that I am very fortunate and very thankful that I have gotten myself in rooms where I am the little fish in a big pond.

I'm the little fish.

And there's fish in there that are so much smarter than me, so much.

Like, they move faster, they make better decisions, they, like, challenge themselves more.

Because I've realized that even people that are 10, 20, 100 steps ahead of me emotionally, mentally, physically, financially, they still have doubt.

Like, they still stand up and they go, okay, I have this, you know, struggle that I'm going through.

I have this risk I want to take.

But I don't know, I'm just feeling really self conscious.

And I'll look at them and I'm like, you feel self conscious too?

Really?

Okay.

Because I think when.

When you're, like, in.

At place A, you think when you get to place Z, you're just gonna feel confident.

Like, you're just gonna be like, oh, nothing bothers me.

I'm confident about every decision.

I'm super confident taking risks.

But it's like, no.

Like, you're gonna feel scared and feel nervous and feel uncertain at every single level.

There's like.

And you can look at that as a positive or a negative.

I look at it as a positive because I love playing the game.

Like, I love to see how far I can go.

I love to push myself.

And so thinking of it from, like, okay, if I step outside of my comfort zone, how many times can I step outside of my comfort zone?

Like, how many comfort zones do I really have?

And.

And that gets me fired up.

That literally makes you just, like, want to go jump into action right this moment.

I hope it does for you as well.

I hope all of these podcast episodes just inspire you, and I hope they allow you to just think about how you think.

I think that's so important, especially in this like super fast paced digital world that we live in.

Thinking about how you think is so critical.

It can literally be like a an actual superpower.

And I just, I hope you got some value out of this.

Remember, we're all in this together.

We are all just trying to step outside of our, of our comfort zone and see how much we are capable of and see how much we are truly possible.

Like how much is really possible for us.

But if this episode resonated with you or if someone came to mind and you were like, I think that she really needs to hear this message, please send this episode, share this episode with them and just be like, hey friend, I was thinking about you.

I think this podcast episode is going to be it for you today and hope you have a great day.

Kissy face, heart emoji, whatever it is, like whatever you need to put out there.

I've been disco ball emoji dancing girl here lately.

That's kind of been my go to.

But whatever floats your boat.

And then of course, if you have not, please leave a review of the podcast.

It helps me reach more amazing women just like you.

Follow, like, share all the things.

It means more to me than you could ever possibly imagine.

And with that, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and I will see you in the next episode.

Thank you for tuning in to the Elevated Edit podcast.

I hope you found today's episode inspiring and full of actionable tips.

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Until next time.

Keep growing, glowing and elevating your life.

See you soon.