My Sustainable PACE “I didn’t know another way – now, I’m in control of my time”

Student: Jen Gearing

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Occupation: Transformation lead for an insurance tech company

foundher program: Sustainable PACE and SustainAbility

Before enrolling in Sustainable PACE in 2021, Jen Gearing was stuck on a treadmill of constant meetings and long days. 

“I was consumed by the corporate work environment,” she says. “It didn’t feel right that this is how I was operating, but I didn’t know another way.” 

Feeling unfulfilled in her not so nine-to-five job, Jen was also exploring ideas for a side project of her own that would tap into her passion for sustainable and socially responsible business. But she found herself spinning from idea to idea and struggling to find a clear path forward. 

So, when she heard about Sustainable PACE, Jen was intrigued. 

“Having worked closely with Elana in a corporate environment for several years I knew the hustle and burnout we were both feeling. I admired her for taking the leap to start her own venture, so I followed with interest. I loved the success she was having and also the energy she was sharing and desire for others to be their best too, which is really what got me interested,” Jen explains. 

“Elana described Sustainable PACE as not your ordinary productivity course, and that interested me.”

Making shifts

Jen’s experience coming into PACE is common among our students. They often have a sense that their current operating system isn’t working, but they can’t work out what needs to change. And with a high workload consuming their energy and attention, they struggle to find time to explore solutions. This keeps them in a constant holding pattern of frustration, habits of exhaustion and beliefs of failing the to do list that is never ending .

The PACE program is unlike other productivity courses, tips and hacks because rather than applying a band-aid solution, it begins at the source of the problem: switching off the autopilot behaviours that block our awareness.

In Jen’s case, the breakthroughs began as soon as she was able to see where her time was going. 

“In the first couple of weeks we kept a  Doing Diary. Simple right? That awareness just blew my mind,” Jen recalls. “When you actually write down what you're doing every day, that changes your perception of who you think you are. That, for me, was the catalyst. I thought, well, it’s my own fault that I’m not achieving what I want, because look at how I'm spending my day.”

This was a confronting exercise for Jen, and an empowering one to create change, because it put clarity and facts in her hands

“I was able to identify the pockets of the day where I was wasting time and that became thinking time or creative space.”

PACE’s awareness activities also help students tap into the stories they’re telling themselves so they can challenge them and identify if they’re based in fact or fiction. In Jen’s case, that meant reframing her interactions with colleagues.

“The learning piece around stories was quite powerful for me,” Jen says. “Prior to PACE, when I was having conversations with work colleagues my mind would start to create stories or instantly assume what they were thinking. After learning about stories, I was able to step back and ask questions and pick up on why they might be saying something.

Routines and rhythms play a key role in creating a sustainable pace for work and life because they offer vital time to recharge your inner battery and expand your bandwidth. While Jen was already doing morning movement, the Sustainable PACE Method suggests including other aspects such as meditation and learning. 

“As a result of my morning routines, I’m setting boundaries a lot better. I found I was able to use time with other people more effectively, because I’d already had my morning time. I was like, OK, now I’m ready for the world because I’ve done what I needed to,” she explains.

“Putting structure to my morning and doing the movement, the meditation, the learning – it works. I certainly feel a difference if I don’t meditate. It feels like something’s missing,” Jen says. “I’m conscious it’s not me ticking a box, it’s actually me enjoying it and it’s part of my morning.”

A new framework for success

As the PACE program progresses, students learn how to turn their daily and weekly rhythm into a 90-day plan. 

The program takes them through this process step by step, using the online whiteboard tool Miro to help them clearly map their goals and actions for the months ahead.

It’s not just about tasks you need to complete for others, but scheduling in time for yourself, too. This process really helped Jen grasp our concept that who you’re being affects what you’re doing 100% of the time, giving her permission to carve out time for her best self every day.

“It’s funny, because in my work, I need to be very structured. But, in my personal life, I let all that go. PACE showed me that they can blend together more. I always thought that’s what people who own their business can do, but now I see that I’ve got the power, even though I work for a corporate, to control my time,” Jen explains. 

“I colour-code my diary now. So visually, I can look at my calendar and see, oh, gosh, I've got way too much orange today and orange is work. I’ve got no purple there, so when am I going to have a break? That’s really helped.” 

Sustaining success

When the eight-week PACE program finishes, we invite our graduates to join our ongoing Sustain.Ability mentoring program.

This community meets online each month for masterclasses led by Elana and foundher guests, live 90-day planning sessions each quarter (including a special vision board workshop to kick off the year), and to share support and advice with each other around maintaining their new rhythm. 

Jen has embraced this community and says it’s played an important role in maintaining her momentum. 

“I really like the group coaching format because I like to hear what other people are saying, which inspires my own thoughts, and I like to have a sense of belonging. Sustain.Ability keeps me accountable, and it offers encouragement even if you haven’t achieved what you set out to do. It’s that commitment of turning up.”

Elana’s continual knowledge building is another drawcard for Jen: “Elana’s doing a lot of study herself and she’s sharing that with us, so that gives me new avenues that I can then go away and start to research myself. I’m really enjoying that.”

A year on from completing PACE, Jen has a whole new outlook on her productivity rhythm and goals. 

“I recognise my morning routines are vital. I’ve set boundaries and I’m sticking to them. I’m more calm and accepting,” she says. “Now that I am more ingrained in PACE and Sustain.Ability, I’ve switched my way of working, which has resulted in a change in my ‘being’ mode – and it's such a good feeling. I wish I had a program like this 15 years ago and learned to look after my own needs more and to not sweat the small stuff!”

What’s even more exciting for us at foundher is that Jen has developed a clear vision for the social-impact business she wants to create and is working towards it. She is now enrolled in two courses, the B Consulting program and the Social Impact Hub fellowship program. She credits PACE and Elana’s ongoing support for giving her the tools to challenge the inner narrative that would have held her back from even applying to the programs a year ago. 

“I would have had stories in my head about why I couldn’t do the programs and I wouldn’t have put myself out there,” Jen admits. 

Now, Jen knows exactly who she needs to be to make her goals happen. And that’s exactly what PACE is all about. So you can be somebody who does something about that.

If you’re done with the status quo and want an approach to productivity that works, and lasts, click the button below to take the next step!