Take the Elevator
This podcast is purely about elevating people through individual life stories and experiences in the Elevator. In the Elevator, what's key is maybe changing your perspective; having self-actualization; embracing your purpose; and acting on it as we grow from one another. There is a whole different point of view when you look up to elevate.
Take the Elevator
387th Floor: We Trade Resolutions For Meaning And Gentle Momentum
What if January isn’t the starting line it’s made out to be? We open the door to a kinder New Year by tracing how we got here, from the Julian calendar to Pope Gregory’s fix and the symbolism of Janus, the two-faced guardian of beginnings and endings. That history reframes winter as a season for clarity and hibernation, so if your energy feels low right now, you’re not broken—you’re seasonal.
From there, we shift to the psychology of fresh starts. Temporal landmarks help us reset, but we don’t need to invent a “new you.” We talk about self-regulation as a practical skill—creating space between stimulus and response—and how easing off self-judgment restores choice. You’ll hear the red flags that signal you’re not ready to set goals yet—urgency spikes, over-planning, avoidance, chasing motivation—and how to turn that into information instead of shame.
We also get real about compassion versus comparison. January’s feeds get loud with productivity theater, but invisible wins like healing, boundaries, and recovery count just as much. We invite you to return to your lane and meet the year with honesty, not hustle. Then we pull back the curtain on the Fuzzy Furry Forest: a heartfelt team transition, a rising-star illustrator named Rica joining the series, and new plushie partners bringing characters to life. The next book anchors the world we’re building, and we couldn’t be more excited to share where it’s headed.
To close, we offer three prompts for gentle clarity: what did last year ask of you and how did you respond; what are you proud of that no one saw; what does enough feel like right now. If this conversation gave you a saner way to begin, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a softer start, and leave a review with your one gentle goal for January.
Look up, and let's elevate!
Every day, Gallave. Every day Gallot.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, it's Jen the Builder. And Corey. And hello everyone. And hello, 2026.
SPEAKER_02:Twenty twenty six. What do you know? It's officially here.
SPEAKER_00:It is official.
SPEAKER_02:And Jen, you know what? Um I'm thinking in real time. I think I'm ready to change the intro song.
SPEAKER_00:I love that. I think it's time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. We've had it for some years now. And five years. Five years feels really, really like it's made its point.
SPEAKER_00:That really excites me because I've been thinking that, but I know that this was something that you and Shameless or Danny did together. And you know, I have an affinity towards it, but I definitely feel it's time to for revamp.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Right? It's the new year. Let's go. So that really supports what we're going to talk about today, which is a the new year.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I think this is going to be a lot different than what might be out there as far as podcasts and anything on New Year's because we're going to explore where new year planning came from. So our good old historian Corey is going to give us amazing context. And I know it's going to be um one of those things that are going to get you to think about, oh, that's why we do it, or oh, that yeah, that makes sense. I didn't even think about it that way, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's a pretty intense uh origin story and history lesson.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. And then I'm going to come in, talk about kind of what fresh starts means and um what that looks like. And then we're going to talk about meaning over momentum. And as with anything, it's so important that we, Jenco, Jenny Corey, Fuzzy Furry Forest, um, that we give you some of what's to come this year.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Which we're so excited about sharing. Yeah. So let's talk about the typical reframing of the new year. Right? Some people go all in. I know we we did. Uh, one of the things, if you caught it on a previous episode, I told Corey, well, I found this great tool and we're gonna use it. And we did. We went through it for two days. Uh, we reflected on 2025 and then into 2026. And um, Corey, you're gonna share more about why we do that, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um, so one of the things that we want to elevate you with is that reframing the new year is not meant to put pressure on you, at least not from us. No. Um, the new year should not be about performance, although that's what it has become, especially here in our in our country, and it's not about perfection. So three P's that it's not about pressure, performance, and perfection.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, you did that on purpose, didn't you?
SPEAKER_00:Why? What do you mean?
SPEAKER_02:The three three P's.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and I think where we're going with this episode is that the new year isn't a demand. It, I mean, we can go into all that, but we'd like to think about it this year, especially for 2026, that it's a doorway. So, Corey, let's talk real quick. What are some resolutions or things that you've planned that you've loved that you've abandoned or laughed at? And I know it's fresh into the year.
SPEAKER_02:Um, I haven't abandoned anything yet. That's okay. That's good.
SPEAKER_00:Because this is coming out, what, on the 5th? Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I haven't planned a whole lot. Uh, but I I do hope to be able to follow through with being a good person.
SPEAKER_00:Aw.
SPEAKER_02:And I don't think that's gonna be tough to do.
SPEAKER_03:No.
SPEAKER_02:And and so you you'll hear and learn that my mantra is not about setting goals and resolutions and stuff like that. Because I'm always resetting, I'm always looking to turn a page and and start over and make things uh better. I mean, if you have a bad day or a day that's off, reset. Start over. There's an another tomorrow coming if you if you're still breathing.
SPEAKER_00:I love that. And we're gonna talk more about that. We're gonna give you some suggestions to go from the intense resolutions to the um oh so focused goals. And we're again, we're elevating this this year. It's needed, I feel. You know, it's 2026. There has to be some changes, and there are changes happening, and with that, we've got to rise above it. Yeah, okay. So let's just jump right in, Corey, and talk to us. Oh, you're ready for me? Yeah, we're ready. I'm excited to hear all this.
SPEAKER_02:So we're gonna just dive right into the origin story of New Year's and get a little bit of context of how this all came about and why it came about. So we're all aware of the Julian calendar, which was started in 45 BC by Julius Caesar. Um, that was the calendar that was being followed in the old country. Uh, we are now in the new country, and uh I'm using those terminologies because uh something happened. You know, the great sail boats came over here from Europe and started the new world. And so uh we then entered into, but before we get into the Gregorian calendar, let's talk about how we ended up with 12 months. So we weren't always at 12 months. No, we were actually at 10 months, and then pneumo pompeus. Yeah, let's go with Pompeilius.
SPEAKER_03:Sounds good.
SPEAKER_02:Added two months, which was Januarious and Februarius. Now, January was named January after the goddess or god Janus, and Janus was the two-faced god who had the ability to look in the future and also look in the past. So it was the god of new beginnings and new end or old endings, doorways, and transitions. Mm-hmm. So then we fast forward to 1582 when the Golgorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory, and he had to change the Julian calendar because there was a slight uh problem with that calendar. Um, the way it was set up, they were losing 14 minutes and I mean 11 minutes and 14 seconds. So every 16 every every couple of centuries, they would lose about 15 to 16 days. And so you would literally wake up one day, and if you if it was October, you would have you would miss your birthday. So they had to fix this this issue. So you fast forward till today, and you're asking the question so how did we get Roman calendars in America? Well, Rome uh built a lot of things that we hold true to to this day. And what's the saying? When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um unfortunately, we never came up with another way of keeping track of time or having a calendar. There were other calendars that were introduced. Uh, there was a Christian calendar, an Ethiopian calendar, which the Ethiopians still hold true to to this day. Like they're in a whole different year, a whole different time frame uh in their calendar. So I just wanted to give a little bit of information for people to be able to grab hold to and get an understanding of why why and how we got here.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so is it safe to say then the new year because they added January and February, would have really been in March?
SPEAKER_02:Would have really been in March, absolutely. And it was tradition back then to start the new year in March because that was when all things were uh reborn, rebirthed, growing, and blossoming and blooming. January was in the middle of winter when everything was dead, there wasn't very much movement. Most people were inside trying to keep warm and not doing much uh on the in the outdoors.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. It's interesting that you said that because I've heard that New Year's was really a celebration of seasons. And so when you think about January and February in the season of winter, what happens during winter is what hibernation, right, right, getting clarity, and it makes sense for a new year to be celebrated during spring.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, that's that is really interesting. I encourage anyone to research that more.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, dig deep into that and and find some really good stuff because there's a lot of information out there.
SPEAKER_00:Truly, truly. So let's just go ahead and talk about fresh starts because that's what we associate the new year with, right? Absolutely. These new new pages, new calendars, new journals, new planners, new beginnings, as you've said. So the cool thing about the fresh start effect is what? Is it gives our brains permission to reset. Corey, how important is it for you to have a reset? What does it do to you?
SPEAKER_02:Well, it it almost feels like you have a clean slate. And starting over or starting fresh or new is that permission to your body and to your brain that whatever you did in the past is gone. It's been wiped away. And so, no matter how bad you ate or how bad you slept, or if you didn't sleep at all, or you got to work late 90% of the time, you you're telling yourself, it's okay. All that's in the past. I'm not I'm not looking at that anymore. I'm gonna move forward.
SPEAKER_00:Right. So, would you say that a reset is a new version of yourself?
SPEAKER_02:I wouldn't say that, but that's me. Uh I don't believe in that whole best version and new version, new version, and old version of who I was or am.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I think what it is, for us at least, is it's a just more honest relationship with who you already are.
SPEAKER_02:I I can see that. I look at it more as um an opportunity to wash away. It's almost like taking a bath or a shower. You're just washing away the old skin and dust and dirt that's on you, and and you move on into the new skin, new clean and and bright and washed. Love that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. So one of the things that we did um right before January 1st was we took about 16, 17 days off in a row. And that was that was so our reset. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we do go back to work. So we're trying to cope with that. I'm good with it. So with that, um, I recognize that we practiced and really brought forward some self-regulation. So, what I mean by that is Corey and I had very deep conversations about our internal state and how we're gonna manage that. So, self-regulation isn't about calming down, actually, or staying positive. It's actually noticing what's happening inside you and then responding with intention instead of reaction.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Um, so I just want to state that as we talk about self-regulation. So it's the space really that um it's between what happens to us and how we choose to respond. Right. So there can be right now, as you're planning for the new year, and I know we're into it by a few days, um, just awareness of what's happened last year, what your reactions are. So, Corey, you had mentioned reset is like washing it off, right? Taking a bath, taking a shower.
SPEAKER_02:Taking the trash out.
SPEAKER_00:There you go.
SPEAKER_02:You don't go back to that trash can and try to put that old bag back in. So it's it's forgotten. It's right gone.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And so, with that, I think it's also important to say that um ease up on this self-judgment.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You know, because that happens a lot during this time. Like, oh, I wanted to do this last year and it didn't happen, or I wanted to lose weight and instead I gained weight, or I was supposed to get promoted and instead I got fired. Those are those are huge things, yeah, right? So just be aware of that self-judgment. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna be real. I know we're not into the goals thing, but if you are setting goals, then that's up to you. But if it's making you feel antsy or it feels like criticism, um, or it's stressing you out, I wouldn't do it. Yeah, I just wouldn't do it. Do you do you understand what I mean by that?
SPEAKER_02:Like, yeah, just stay far, far away from the thing that's going to put you in a much worse space, or have you uh repeat bad behaviors or create other bad behaviors.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I love that. So you don't need to solve your whole year today, or your whole life. Yeah. It's okay to do things one moment at a time. And again, that's the regulation that we're talking about, right? So, next, I just want to touch about something that sounds so serious, but I don't mean it to be. It's just your nervous system readiness. So this is not about your capability, but it's about your capacity. Now, I believe that you can stretch your capacity, okay? Like it's not to be used as a crutch, but it's also to be real about where you're at in life right now.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Right. So that's just really important. I've seen a way.
SPEAKER_02:Let me ask a question, Jen, because I I think I understand what you're saying, but I want to give a very realistic um example so that people are really clear on what where we're going with this. Yeah. So you're saying if your goal is to get in shape, making a a marathon a goal within the first couple of months after the new year probably isn't the best idea to have going into the new year, right?
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. Your goals should not feel heavy.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Here's here's the word I propose to you. Let your goals be hopeful. Does that make sense? Like it shouldn't weigh on you. Speaking of weight. So I'll give it for example, and I'm really um excited about this. I have what I'm calling the 101010. Okay, that because that's just how my brain works. And anything that can be done in gamify gamification automatically doesn't feel heavy to me. Am I able to do 10,000 steps, 10 flights of stairs 10 times throughout the month? Heck yeah. Right? That's a third of the month, and that's where I'm starting. My 10, 10, 10. So I know that yeah as I go, if I feel stronger, which I'm I think I will, that'll progress. You see what I'm saying? Oh, yeah. And I think that's that's the cool thing about who I'm becoming. It's not about the checklist, like, oh, I need to do 10, 10, 10. It's I'm gonna be stronger, I'm gonna feel empowered, I'm gonna get confidence, right? Um, for me, it's I get to color a little box in my journal because I hit that, hit that mark.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I like that you give yourself just enough wiggle room, and it's not like barely, but it's enough wiggle room so that you don't just fall flat on your face, you know, the next day or within the next couple of days. You have a whole month to do this, and if you plan it properly, you'll be just fine.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. Exactly. And if friends, if you find yourself like right now, like I just don't feel ready. Here's some signs that you may not feel ready to set goals, to plan intentions and all that. Everything feels urgent, right? It's like, oh my god, I gotta get this done. Not a good sign. You're over planning or you're not planning, you're avoiding it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Right. Um, last is you're chasing motivation instead of clarity.
SPEAKER_02:I like that. I'd like to add one more from my point of view. If you have high anxiety over the thing that you're trying to do, it's probably a red flag.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and a lack of readiness is not failure, it's information. It's telling you, okay, there's something that needs to be done here. And this is what I love, Corey. When you take this part, the possibility of I don't feel ready, it's overwhelming me, whatever those are, if those are red flags that are coming up, guess what? They freaking added two months. Like we human beings were not meant to do this actually until March. So don't feel bad. This is time to hibernate, it's time to get rest, seek the clarity. You know, I'm holding on to that. And I think that's the gift we wanted to give you guys. If you feel like you're out of sorts, I want to say that's pretty normal and natural. They've just kind of changed things up on us. So our brains are having to adjust two months earlier.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, even though it's been, you know, quite a bit of time. Uh yeah, I agree, Jen, 100%. Let's let's just stay in that vein for a little bit longer. If you need more time, again, that's why we don't push this thing that you have to do it on January 1st. And if you don't get January 1st, then you just completely and totally fail. No. Um, you start when it's comfortable for you, and you start when it's necessary for you.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. And that leads me to my next point when it's necessary for you. So this is the act of compassion versus comparison. Because I think, especially if you're one of our younger listeners, by the way, thank you so much for being here. There's this thing that we call social media, and I think comparison. gets really loud in January. It's like that new year, new you messaging, right? Oh yeah. Like, how am I being more productive? And that almost is what gives you worth. That's that productive culture, um, which they want to say equates to worth with output. I just I don't agree with that. I think this is where our focus is is on who we're becoming and how we identify. Right. So um when you're in the area of compassion, you get to soften the inner critic. Like when especially if you're in that comparison mode, it restores your perspective and it just creates safety. So here's um a contrast comparison says I should be further along right I should be where they're at compassion says what makes sense given what I've lived right so it's that question to yourself like what makes sense for me at this time? Yeah. Not where everyone else is at but for me.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah and it's a guarantee that when you take on the latter of the two of those Jen just talk about uh compassion and comparison you will find yourself in a higher or a further along position at something in your life than the next person. So there's really no reason to compare because everyone is up front at some point in time and everyone falls behind at some point in time.
SPEAKER_00:I love that. And you know Corey we've been doing this I think we counted five five and a half years it'll be six months six years in July which is so nuts. Yeah I don't think we've ever given this I want to share um some practical compassion practices real easy. So here's one that's in the form of a context check like if something feels hard to you I might say of course this feels hard look at what I carried last year or look at all the changes I had to flex to last year. You know just really recognizing that. And everyone talks about wins and I want to introduce the fact that there are invisible wins. Invisible means it's not seen by the human eye um especially of the eyes that are around you. So it might be like a win emotional labor healing took place right I set boundaries I survived that's a win. Yeah and so just recognizing those and not making our wins comparable to what everyone else is sharing. Yeah? No I believe that yeah last practical practice return to your lane their timeline is not my assignment right what they're doing is not what I'm supposed to be doing. I know that sounds so basic but sometimes in that dog eat dog world and that productivity you know achieve achieve achieve that's what happens yeah can I give you a personal example please so I I'm on a whole nother clock than a lot of other people and so I find myself doing things at a hyper fast rate and I'm pushing I'm growing I'm stretching but that's my time frame that I'm working within and so if someone were to watch what I'm doing they may find that wow he is able to do this or do that or accomplish so much that that's my timeline.
SPEAKER_02:That's what I'm working with and that's how I'm used to working and so if someone comes along and notices that there's a big difference in their timeline and in my timeline don't let that confuse you because I'm doing something totally different for completely different reasons than most people and and I'll go again this is not me but I'm gonna go a little bit deeper. Some people know that their time here on earth is short. So they're working at a hyper speed and again this is not about me but uh some people are working at a hyper speed because they know their timeline is very short. And so for you to get on that timeline you may miss some things that you're supposed to be doing.
SPEAKER_00:So true so true. I love that it the the question that comes to my mind in that is what would it look like to meet this year with honesty instead of hustle because to your point Corey we don't know why people are in that hustle. Right. Right so just approaching that with honesty um I love that so as we're talking about the doorway this is going to segue into um some of the things that we're doing in the fuzzy furry forest is that Corey and I have intentionally chosen how we're gonna step through into 2026 um being that we have five books out already. Warms my heart doesn't it though and we've written the sixth book and we're in the process of doing that. And so as we walk through this door we know that we have eight more books and this is the beauty about making decisions and owning your projects and your work is being intentional. Yes you're allowed to realize that change some change needs to happen sometimes literally right in the middle of it. So Cray I'm gonna ask you to share what we're doing differently this year and what we're excited about.
SPEAKER_02:So we started this journey with a team of people that we felt very strong with at the time of the start and it was strong up until the moment that any team member had decided that they needed to move on and we always encourage when you feel like there and and if you if you can't make that decision then we're glad to help you make that decision as well because we don't want anyone to show up with us unhappy. And so I said that to say this uh earlier in the year we lost our vendor for the plushie maker uh and her name was Vanessa I won't say her last name but um we lost her and she wanted to go back to school she wanted to do some different things and so we supported that 150% and we there were talks about maybe doing a little bit of work on the side but we were we were definitely in the vein of no go be happy do what you gotta do we will be okay and so we had literally been looking for a plushie maker for uh quite a while um although we did have other vendors that were making other parts of our merch we were still in the market for a plushie maker um kind of the same thing has happened with our illustrator um Vanessa Montano and uh she's been on the show she's been a very intricate part of the development process of the fuzzy furry forest for uh four or five years now and so it it pains us to to see her go a different direction but that's what was needed and we encourage that we want everyone to be in of healthy sound mind when they move forward uh but in that happening we've been tremendously blessed to have another illustrator come on board almost immediately and um this is going to be a big change for us and the fuzzy furry for a series and we're so happy Jen I'm I'm I I just dug the hole you can plant the seed okay um while you were digging the hole I wanted to say that there were there was something happening parallel and I'm sharing this because there are times that we go through life and we feel like we're on this trajectory and then something your gut is just speaking to you and you're like oh no no no no no because this is just smooth this is how it's supposed to be I don't want to have to go with something new or you know or someone new so there were already things that were stirring up and I had just shared you know to my own self and I whispered it to you Corey I think maybe once twice and I said something soft like wouldn't it be nice if we had this for illustrations and I dropped it because we we have uh we had a great relationship with Vanessa loved her work and just wish her nothing but the best and um during this transition right at the beginning of January I mean right at the beginning had a conversation with a good friend who was retiring it came up organically she knew someone I said oh there's a need because we were already starting to connect with other illustrators and throw some lines into the water so I'm excited to announce and we met with her and we're currently in the works her name is Rika and um she is a new and upcoming rising star of an illustrator her work is so darn cute and just so relevant to where we're gonna go with a fuzzy furry forest so I can't we can't wait to introduce her we can't wait for y'all to see her work. We can't wait to see what she's gonna do with our next book this book is if you thought certain other characters were main characters to me this character is the one the one I'm just gonna say that and um and you're gonna hear a little bit if not a lot of bit about this character because this is what's really going to pull and tie together the entire fuzzy furry forest and it just makes so much sense. So for the kids or parents that have kids uh this adventure has just begun it's only just begun and we can't wait to introduce you to all this good stuff and and I can't let it in there I gotta say one more thing because we met an amazing plushie maker. I mean this this this family it's a family of of people yeah we're building this team our our family yes uh uh that are making these plushies and they are so incredible and we we may have an opportunity to bring uh one of them onto the podcast if not we'll figure out how to get more information about them but I just want you to know we are going to be seeing some amazing plushies for the fuzzy 44s coming out really really soon here so just buckle up and know it's it's some big stuff coming yes and there and there are actually two people we're working with for that so again guys this all happened in like within the last two weeks yeah so we're floored we're floor at how quickly this is happening um we want to I want to gift you if you don't mind Corey with some guided questions that have really helped us in the process and we want to make sure to share them with you so um if you're taking notes great because here they are um what did last year ask of you and how did you respond?
SPEAKER_00:What are you proud of that no one else saw what does enough feel like to you we have a bunch of other questions but hopefully that gets you started as you're seeking clarity um and we definitely want to end this episode with just a heaping load of gratitude for who you've become as you've continued to ride on this elevator um we're going into the 400th episode so thank you for listening for giving us feedback for becoming for taking these moments of reflection and just growing with us yeah and just know this when you guys reach out to us or text or call or stop us when we're you know passing by one another and and even for the people that we don't know are listening to the podcast it means so much to us for you to reach out to us and let us know that you enjoyed an episode or you got something out of the episode it's one of those things that we we're we're just doing what we do.
SPEAKER_02:And so we don't know if it's affecting everyone or just one person uh that says something but when you reach out to us or when you stop us in passing and you say hey I really enjoyed that episode it means the world to us because it it just shows us that we're we're doing something that people really like or people really enjoy. And don't get me wrong it's not that we don't know people are listening. We see the download so uh that that's cool too but it's even better when we we can have that brief conversation about it.
SPEAKER_00:For sure well happy new year everyone and you know us to take the elevator we say look up and let's elevate every day elevate every day elevate every day elevate every day
