#129 A World Record Breaking Joggler Teaches Us How to Move Past Fear of Failure

Sep 25, 2025

Hi! New here? I've spent the last 20 years at the intersection of behavior change research and coaching. On The Uplifters Podcast, we share diverse stories of trailblazing, change-making women who are doing big, brave things in the second half of their lives, and showing us how we can too!

Listen to this episode if...

You’re tired of talking yourself out of opportunities before you even start
You’ve ever wondered what would happen if you said yes to something that sparked your curiosity (even if it seemed completely random)
You want to hear how someone transformed their relationship with failure from their greatest fear into their most powerful teacher
You’re looking for practical ways to build self-awareness and emotional regulation
You need proof that it’s never too late to completely redefine what you think you’re capable of

This Week’s Featured Uplifter: Karly Swaim

Karly Swaim hadn’t exercised since college graduation and now, at 40, she’s an (unofficial) world record-holding athlete.

When Karly took up joggling (yep, I mean joggling) she learned a lot more than how to keep multiple objects in the air. She found something far more valuable: a safe place to fail. Surrounded by encouraging instructors and fellow beginners, she found what had eluded her for 32 years: permission to be imperfect while still being in motion.

Karly is currently the only woman known to juggle four balls while jogging an entire mile. She’s found a global community of passionate jogglers, participated in 28 different running groups, and transformed from someone who quit everything right before the finish line to someone who literally crosses finish lines while keeping four objects in the air.

Karly’s story isn’t really about juggling at all. It’s about what happens when we finally find an environment where our messy, imperfect, gloriously human attempts at growth are not just tolerated but celebrated. It’s about learning that the voice that whispers “you’re not ready” isn’t the voice of wisdom, but the voice of fear wearing a really convincing disguise.

Her Courage Practice

For three decades, Karly lived with a built-in defense mechanism she couldn’t control. When stress hit, she would unconsciously drift into daydreaming—sometimes for five minutes, sometimes for thirty. She had no idea when it started happening, which meant she had no way to stop it. At work, this translated to performance issues she couldn’t explain or fix.

Then came juggling. Every time those balls hit the ground, it was because stress had triggered her escape mechanism. For the first time in her entire life, she had an instant, physical cue that showed her exactly when her mind was checking out. “I would recognize it was happening and I would be able to stop it within a few minutes,” she explains. “Now it doesn’t happen at all.”

This practice of using physical feedback to build self-awareness became the foundation of everything else. Today, when unexpected challenges get thrown her way (literally and figuratively), she’s learned to catch what she can and pick up what she drops, all while staying present in the moment.

The ripple effects have been profound: eight years at her current job with two promotions, people coming to her for guidance, and a level of professional confidence she never thought possible. All because she learned to read her own cues and respond with compassion instead of criticism.

5 Ways Karly Shows Us How to Build Our Courage Capital:

1. Turn “Am I Ready?” into “What’s the Next Small Step?” Instead of waiting for perfect conditions, Karly learned to break down big scary goals into manageable experiments. When she realized she was terrible at juggling while running, she didn’t quit. Instead, she joined a Couch to 5K program to learn the running part first. (Revolutionary concept: we can learn two hard things at once if we approach them systematically.)

2. Seek Out Environments Where Failure is Celebrated When the instructor at her first juggling workshops threw unexpected objects at students without warning, it wasn’t to create chaos but to build resilience. Look for communities, classes, or groups where stumbling forward is valued more than standing still in perfection.

3. Use Physical Cues to Build Self-Awareness Karly transformed an unconscious coping mechanism into conscious self-management by finding a physical mirror for her mental state. Consider: What activities give you immediate feedback about where your mind is? Running, dancing, playing music, drawing? Find your version of dropped juggling balls.

4. Turn Fear-Based Questions into Curiosity-Based Actions When self-doubt creeps in, Karly asks: “Is this a legitimate feeling for what I’m trying to do, or is this some caveman ‘you’re going to die from a dinosaur’ response that’s no longer relevant?” She’s learned to distinguish between present-moment assessment and old programming that no longer serves her.

5. Make Growth a Game, Not a Grind Karly’s scavenger hunt to find every running group in her county wasn’t just about fitness—it was about turning the scary prospect of being “the new person” into an adventure. By creating challenges that felt playful rather than punitive, she built courage muscles while actually having fun. (Imagine that!)

Lift Her Up:

If Karly’s story inspired you to try something new (juggling, running, or just saying yes to that random interesting opportunity), share it! Forward this to a friend who needs permission to be perfectly imperfect while pursuing their dreams.