🌱Don't Bust the Crust: Why Your Best Qualities Are Keeping You Stuck

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Welcome!

Have you ever felt like you should be further along by now—comparing your timeline to everyone else's highlight reel and wondering why your progress feels so slow? What if the most daring thing you could do right now isn't to push harder, but to protect the fragile growth that's already happening beneath the surface?

In this episode of Dim to Daring, I'm sharing a powerful lesson I learned on a pink Jeep tour in Sedona's red rock desert—about biological soil crust that takes up to 250 years to form but can be destroyed by one careless footstep. It became the perfect metaphor for how ambitious women unknowingly crush their own growth.

From my own erosion season of saying yes to everything and dimming my light, to understanding the power of micro-wins and invisible roots—you'll discover why honoring your own pace isn't settling. It's survival. It's resilience. And it's how the woman you're becoming gets the time and space she needs to fully emerge.

This is your permission slip to step lightly, protect your progress, and trust that slow growth is still growth—whether you're navigating a career pivot or stepping into your next chapter beyond traditional work.

In This Episode, You'll Discover:

• What biological soil crust taught me about fragile growth and why it matters for ambitious women

• How one careless step—literally and metaphorically—can destroy decades of progress

• The hidden pressures driven women face: expectations, self-doubt, comparison, and the voice that says you should be further along

• Why your growth is both more fragile and more resilient than it looks

• The five types of "soil trampling" we do to ourselves (and how to stop)

• My personal erosion season: saying yes to everything and letting myself be walked on

• How patience protects progress—and why stepping back felt terrifying at first

• The power of micro-wins as invisible roots that anchor you through life's storms

• A guided reflection to protect your inner landscape and honor what's quietly forming

• Why the most daring choice is sometimes to stay on the trail and give yourself time

• Our Jeep tour driver Jessica's closing wisdom: "Stay on the trail. Don't bust the crust."

✨ If you've been rushing your growth, judging your pace, or crushing what's still trying to take root—this episode is your reminder that the woman you're becoming deserves the time and space to emerge fully, on her own timeline.

Timestamps:

[01:30] – Welcome! One careless step can destroy fifty years of growth

[03:40] – The Pink Jeep Tour: Discovering biological soil crust in Sedona

[05:47] – Nature's power: Lightning, fragility, and thriving under pressure

[07:19] – Science meets life: Why your growth is more fragile (and resilient) than it looks

[09:32] – Reflection: What subtle shift is quietly growing in you?

[10:07] – The erosion season: When I trampled my own soil by saying yes to everything

[12:28] – Microbursts of growth: The power of small wins and invisible roots

[14:02] – Reflection: What's one micro-win you can celebrate this week?

[14:41] – Guided reflection: Protect your inner soil (close your eyes for this one)

[17:20] – Personal connection: Why growth takes time, rest, and protection

[18:56] – Daring challenge: What one choice can you make to protect your growth?

[20:04] – Wrap-up: Stay on the trail. Don't bust the crust.

Key Points:

• Fragile Yet Resilient — Like desert soil crust, your growth is both delicate and capable of surviving extreme conditions

• Invisible Progress — The most important growth often happens quietly beneath the surface, where no one else can see

• Self-Trampling — Rushing, comparing, judging your pace, or pushing with the same intensity that got you stuck crushes what's forming

• Micro-Wins Matter — Small habits, tiny boundaries, and brave yeses (or intentional nos) are the roots that anchor you

• Patience Protects Progress — Honoring your own pace isn't settling—it's how you build a foundation strong enough to support your next chapter

• Stay on the Trail — Sometimes the most daring thing you can do is give yourself permission to grow slowly, beautifully, and intentionally

Episode Summary:

In this episode, I share a transformative lesson from a Sedona desert tour about biological soil crust—a living layer that takes 50 to 250 years to form but can be destroyed by a single footstep. Through the metaphor of this fragile yet resilient ecosystem, I explore how ambitious women—whether climbing the career ladder or stepping into their next chapter—unknowingly sabotage their own growth by rushing, comparing, and crushing what's still trying to take root.

I get vulnerable about my own erosion season of saying yes to everything, dimming my light, and training people to walk on me. You'll discover why patience protects progress, how micro-wins build invisible roots, and what it means to honor your own timeline in a world that's always asking you to sprint.

Through guided reflections and practical challenges, this episode gives you permission to step lightly around what's still forming, protect your energy with boundaries, and trust that the woman you're becoming is worth the patience—no matter what stage of life or transition you're navigating.

Links & Resources:

📲 Follow Wendy on Social Media:

• Website: Wendy Rimmelspacher

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• Facebook: Wendy Sexton Rimmelspacher

• LinkedIn: Wendy Rimmelspacher

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Remember:

Your growth is happening—even when it doesn't look like much on the surface.

You don't have to be further along than you are right now.

Slow growth is still growth, and honoring your pace is one of the most daring choices you can make.

The woman you're becoming deserves time, space, and protection—not pressure, comparison, or judgment.

And you definitely don't need permission to step lightly around what's still fragile inside you.

Keep protecting your progress.
Keep honoring your timeline.
And keep daring to trust that hidden life is still life. 👠