It’s Time to Launch

The Moment of Liftoff

There’s nothing quite like the roar of a rocket.

Several years ago, I had the honor of running a team-building session at a certain national aeronautics and space agency with a catchy acronym. It was a career milestone—and a childhood dream colliding with my grown-up reality. During the mid-session break, our group stepped outside under the bright Florida sun, and right on cue, a shuttle took off into the sky.

We looked up, the kind of looking up that comes from somewhere deep in the chest. And in that moment—one I’ll never forget—I realized I was standing in a fire ant pile. Not metaphorically. Literally. Real ants. Real bites. Real pain.

And I had to play it cool, surrounded by brilliant minds, trying to pretend I wasn’t suddenly doing the most subtle version of the cha-cha in business casual attire.

You can’t make this stuff up.

There I was—living a dream, delivering a powerful session, witnessing a real-time rocket launch… and also mildly on fire. But that’s how launches go. They don’t wait until the moment is pristine. They don’t require perfection. They ask only that you trust the preparation and take the leap.

Because even when the ants bite, you can still soar.

What Launches Really Look Like

There’s a myth that launching happens when everything is finally aligned. The stars. The budgets. The confidence. The calendar. Whether it’s a business project, a personal reinvention, or a brand-new season in your leadership—we tend to imagine there will be a moment when everything makes sense, when the sky is clear and the path is obvious.

But in truth? Liftoff is rarely neat.

Launching looks like chaos wearing courage’s clothes. It looks like a spreadsheet in one tab, and self-doubt in another. It’s clunky. It’s messy. It’s ants in your shoes and fuel lines that took longer to check than expected. It’s multiple delays, revised timelines, and trying to explain to your loved ones why you’re still at the office at 9:45 PM tweaking slides that still don’t feel quite right.

And it’s worth it—because the moment of launch isn’t about everything going perfectly. It’s about going anyway.

It’s trusting the work you’ve done. The fuel you’ve packed. The people you’ve gathered. The systems you’ve tested. And the vision you’ve committed to—not just in strategy, but in heart.

Preparation meets permission. And then… you go.

From Small Steps to New Spaces

I’ve had many launches over the years.

I launched myself from my small town in Florida to live in New York City for college. I launched myself overseas to study Shakespeare in Oxford, England—to dream bigger than I knew how to explain. I followed new adventures to work with incredible athletes, teams, and corporations. I made it into rooms where it happened.

And now, here I am with you.

My most important launch yet.

It gives me perspective on all the ones that came before.

There were big ones—postcards of memory, vivid and defining. And little ones—new websites, new workshops, new partnerships.

But nothing like this one.

This business. This brand. This mission to help the world feel more uplifted.

Leaders Uplifted wasn’t just a project I spun up in a weekend sprint.
It took eighteen months to get here.
And eighteen years before that.

Eighteen months since the idea sparked into life.
Eighteen years of slow, steady learning, leadership in practice, and the experience to know I was ready to take the leap. To launch.

And I wouldn’t trade a single minute of it—especially these past 18 months.

You don’t build a rocket overnight.

You start with belief.
You check your ego.
Then you add the fuel, test the boosters, wait for the right conditions.
And then, one day, you trust yourself enough to go.

The Launch Isn’t Escape—It’s Elevation

Let’s get real.

Sometimes, what feels like a launch—a leap, a next level—might actually come from running away more than running toward. From getting away, not necessarily getting ahead. And that’s okay, too.

But I want to ask you to think at a higher level.

Even if the choice to go wasn’t yours—maybe it was someone else’s actions, a layoff, a betrayal, a door slammed shut—I want you to reframe.

You are the lead engineer now.

Run your calculations. Recalibrate your compass. And remember who’s been acting captain this whole time.

It’s you.

You’ve been steering the ship. You’ve been charting the course. And what’s really changing is your sense of self in this launch. To remember your power—your superpower—to get yourself into orbit. Not just to leave your last situation, but to rise above it.

Sometimes people think launching means escaping their current reality.
But that’s not what this is.

When you decide that your launch isn’t about leaving something behind—it’s about leveling up—you win the game.

You step into your bigger story. You rise to a new altitude. You begin to see your journey differently, clearly, expansively.

Because from up here, you can finally connect the dots that didn’t make sense from the ground.

Launching Leaders Uplifted has given me a 10,000-foot view—on a 10,000-foot view.

Figuratively, sure. But symbolically? I see the signs. I’ve made it to a new level.

And I’m not launching into the void.
I’m launching a satellite—one that stays connected, reflects the learning, and reports back on where leadership can take you.

Here’s to the bird’s-eye view.
The highest level.
The real spirit of how to get uplifted.

OK, Let’s Play

Let’s call this your countdown moment.

You don’t have to build the whole mission today—but you do have to take one brave step toward the pad.

Here’s how:

Ready: You’ve already done more than you realize. Every experience, every detour, every success and misstep has been rocket fuel. You’re more ready than you think.

Set: Support systems matter. Find the crew that can check your blind spots and hype your brilliance. No one launches alone.

Go:

There is no “perfect moment”—only the moment you decide to begin. And even if the fire ants show up, you’ll laugh later. You’ll have the story. You’ll be looking back from a higher perspective.

• You don’t need another degree—you need a place to practice your skills out loud.
• You don’t need the next right answer—you need to start putting yourself out there.
• You don’t need everything to be easy—you need to find ease within the work.
• You don’t need permission—you need to believe your voice is worth hearing.

This Launch Is Yours

Don’t worry—you’re not in the 10-second countdown yet.

But I want you to know: if someone started the timer right at this very moment?

You’re ready. You’re ready enough. You’re more than ready—more than you think possible right now.

And to prove it, I ask you to look back.
Zoom out.
Take it all in from that satellite view.
Because you’ve achieved liftoff before.

And sure, there might be some scorch marks on the bottom of the rocket.
That’s what real liftoff does.
It burns a little.

So do the brightest stars shining in the sky.

That’s what leading at a higher level feels like.
Like achieving dreams that are out of this world.

I’ll never forget that moment—standing beneath the roaring sky, heart wide open, squinting against the sun to see a rocket silhouette.
Knowing I was exactly where I was meant to be.
Fire ants and all.

I’ve been back to Kennedy Space Center since then.
These days, I know better than to step off the sidewalk.
I know how to look up to the skies while keeping my feet safely on the ground.

And I’m always getting ready for my next launch.

With this message to you:

10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
The time is now.

Let’s go.
---


Hey there! I’m Blair Bloomston, author of UPLIFTED WEEKLY and your friendly consultant, facilitator, and game-based educator on-call, bringing a passion and penchant for all things play (I’m also alliteratively all-in). As the founder of Leaders Uplifted, I help leaders like you tap into creativity, connection, and confidence to make work feel less like a grind and more like a game. Keep reading with me— I’m here to be your business best friend. Let's go!