My Sustainable PACE “I needed to learn a more flexible way of working. PACE transformed how I approach my work”

Student: Grace Currie

Location: Sydney, Australia

Occupation: Clinical physiotherapist and project officer at the University of Sydney

foundher program: Sustainable PACE and SustainHER 23

“It was honestly the best surprise of the year,” says Grace Currie of her Sustainable PACE experience.

The physiotherapist and researcher wasn’t looking for a productivity course when she stumbled across foundher’s PACE program on social media. But, after listening to Elana’s masterclass on burnout and the urgent need to update our toolkit for the VUCA world we live in, Grace knew PACE was exactly what she needed.

“Everything Elana said was so relevant to what I was experiencing at work,” Grace recalls. “I thought, this is something I should learn more about.”

The message resonated with Grace because she had recently taken on a new role that required embracing a high level of complexity and uncertainty. Rather than following standard clinical trial protocols, as she had previously done, she was now charged with redesigning how research would be performed in a children’s hospital.

“That isn’t a recipe you can follow,” Grace explains. “I found that I was really struggling with the expectations that I had on myself, or that I perceived were on me, as the person to set this strategic program up. I felt like I was really underperforming, because it’s not a role where you can have a lot of tick-box outputs.

“I was just stuck on this hamster wheel. I had so many priorities, and I didn’t know where to even start.”

Reframing productivity

Grace enrolled in Sustainable PACE, foundher’s signature program designed to transform your approach to productivity, expecting “to come out like some ridiculous machine that could just keep going,” she admits.

Instead, she discovered that her tightly held notions of what productivity looks and feels like were holding her back.

“I had this really rigid view of what productivity is,” she explains. “I thought it was just about getting the to-do lists done.”

Throughout PACE, Grace learned that productivity isn’t just about output, but input, too. The program unravels those ingrained beliefs to show that high performance and productivity look different across the day and are unique to each person.

“It’s about finding ways to strategically think about the work that you’re doing and allowing yourself more time to do creative thinking, problem-solving and deep thinking,” says Grace. “Elana also educated us on the importance of re-energising, and that you can’t work at 100 per cent all the time – you have to work on putting something back in the tank. She helped me recognise that the time spent relaxing and energising is just as important as the work that you put in to your job. That was really empowering.”

This shift was huge for Grace. She went from prioritising back-to-back meetings and endless emails to strategically planning her day to include time for creative problem-solving – allowing her to meet the complex challenges of her new role.

A key practice that helped cement this for Grace was the ritual of a morning check-in with yourself.

“I really, really liked the daily meeting with yourself, where you look at the calendar for the day, and you reflect and think about what makes sense and what doesn’t make sense for the day,” says Grace. “I realised that a lot of the meetings that I have don’t actually need to happen, and that it was OK to reschedule them to a time where they made more sense. And so that allowed me to open up my schedule to be able to do the work I need to do on my own.”

Confidence zone

An unexpected benefit of the PACE program for Grace was the impact it had on her self-confidence.

PACE is unique because it addresses the core beliefs that get in the way of high performance and productivity. In Grace’s case, that meant learning to challenge the negative self-talk that was keeping her stuck.

“One of the biggest things that I got out of PACE was going through the beliefs that I had around myself and my productivity, and realising that there was actually quite a lot of negative self-talk in some of those beliefs,” she explains. “When we started challenging them, I realised that I am the right person for this job, and that not knowing the answers all the time is OK. I was able to reframe some of those expectations that I placed on myself, which was so helpful. It made such a positive impact on my productivity because I became more confident in my capacity to be able to deliver what I needed to for this work.”

Confidence wasn’t the only beneficial side-effect – Grace explains that establishing morning and evening routines has helped her tap into the power of presence. These daily rituals are a big part of PACE for this reason. They are deliberately designed to unlock awareness so you can better respond to each day’s unique challenges.

“Since doing the morning and evening routines I can actually remember what I’ve done that day,” says Grace. “I used to get to the end of the day and have no idea what I just did. Now, I reflect on what went well, or what was a challenge. I’m more aware of what I’m doing and why I’m doing it rather than rushing in without much thought and trying to get it done as quickly as possible.”

Common ground

PACE comprises solo and small group learning, along with group and private coaching. The community factor allows you to fast-track your growth by learning from others’ challenges and breakthroughs as well as your own, because what’s personal is always universal.

Grace says she enjoyed getting to know people outside her network in the PACE group calls and private Facebook group, and appreciated the support that created. “It was really refreshing to see how many other people had similar issues, even though we worked in very different fields,” she says.

Elana, she adds, brought a special energy to each call that enhanced her experience.

“Elana is just very passionate about what she does, and she’s very much there to help people improve or find a good pace for their productivity,” Grace says. “I particularly found her knowledge in complexity theory and VUCA fascinating, and it was really interesting to hear all of the work that she’s done around that. She’s really good at listening and understanding and being able to give you solutions and opportunities to implement change. I think that's so important – she doesn't just leave you not knowing or frozen in fear, she actually gives you really practical strategies.”

Next steps

When PACE came to an end after eight weeks of learning, Grace wanted to continue growing. So, she jumped at the chance to join our online mentoring program Sustain.Ability, designed to help PACE graduates stay accountable to their new rhythm and evolve their understanding of modern leadership, productivity and performance.

“I found that I learned so much in the eight weeks that was so valuable for my day-to-day job, so it was something that I wanted to continue to do,” says Grace of the decision to join Sustain.Ability. “But it was also for me to get some accountability. When you start to learn a new skill or a new way of operating, it can be easy to slip into old habits. I wanted to dedicate a time in my calendar that was spent on focusing on and reflecting on my own productivity and the things that I’ve learned in PACE. That way, I am continuing to improve those skills and maintain them, rather than going back onto autopilot.”

Sustain.Ability involves two online group learning sessions each month, including masterclasses with Elana and guest speakers.

“It's time where I think about me and my work and how I can improve myself. And I think that's something that, particularly as women, we don’t tend to do as much,” notes Grace. “It's rare to actually schedule time for yourself to improve yourself. Having that dedicated time was one of the main reasons I wanted to join.”

Grace is now confidently using the tools she learned in PACE to refine her rhythm to suit whatever the day throws at her. Instead of feeling constantly burnt out and insecure at work, she’s confident and calm. That’s the power of Sustainable PACE: it puts you back in the control seat.

“The morning and evening routines are now just a part of my day. I really look forward to my morning coffee and I really look forward to my evening routine, I find it really relaxing,” says Grace. “And, I’m a lot more confident in my own ability to analyse my workload and what I need to prioritise.”

As for her concerns about complexity and uncertainty? That’s had a huge upgrade, too.

“I’m not afraid of uncertainty anymore! It used to induce a lot of fight-or-flight for me, not knowing the answer. And then I would reflect on a core belief of, ‘I’m not capable of actually delivering’. As soon as I started addressing some of those core beliefs and building up some confidence, I realised that uncertainty is not something to be afraid of, and that I actually really enjoy it. Rather than being afraid of that uncertainty, I’m learning to lean into it, and to enjoy the journey of coming up with something that no one has come up with before.”

To design your own success rhythm and experience incredible transformation like Grace, click the button below to learn more about the Sustainable PACE program.