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If you wake up every morning already knowing how the day is going to go, bracing for the same feelings, the same version of you, the same feeling as the day before, this episode is for you. You haven't run out of options. You've run out of permission slips. And that's exactly what we're talking about today.

EPISODE SUMMARY: What if the thing keeping your anxiety alive isn't your schedule, your relationships, or your past — it's the version of perfect you've been quietly chasing since someone else decided what that meant?

In this episode, Sari shares what an unexpected movie day with her daughter taught her about optimism, worthiness, and how deeply we shrink ourselves to fit into someone else's idea of who we're supposed to be.

She gets real about waking up as the anxious version of herself: the one who started bracing for the next panic attack before her feet even hit the floor. She talks about what it looks like to break that pattern, not with a 10-step routine, but with 1% of willingness to do something different.

If your anxiety is wrapped up in perfectionism, needing approval, or a quiet belief that the way you are just isn't quite right.... this one will open something up for you.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why waking up expecting the same day keeps you locked in anxious patterns
• How perfectionism and anxiety are more connected than you think
• What your need for control is actually trying to protect you from
• Why your uniqueness isn't the problem, it might be the exact thing that sets you free
• Whose rules of "perfect" you've actually been following (and where they really came from)
• The 1% shift that can start changing everything — starting tomorrow morning

TIMESTAMPS:

00:02 — Sari opens: being human and using her tools every single day

01:27 — Letting her youngest take a mental health day; the STAAR test; being in her luteal phase

03:54 — The UglyDolls movie story begins; why she said no to it years ago

06:19 — Waking up expecting the same anxious day; bracing for panic attacks before getting out of bed

07:18 — The optimist UglyDoll character; being a pessimist from anxiety and stagnation

09:20 — Judging by the outer layer; how control showed up in a simple parenting moment

11:57 — Reflection: how did you wake up this morning?

12:48 — You get to decide right now; shaking up your morning

15:16 — Are you willing to stand up and do something different?

15:26 — Worthiness of a new experience; the perfect doll vs. the ugly doll

17:50 — How anxiety shows up when you feel like you don't fit in; birthday suit metaphor

19:54 — Stop being ashamed of how you look

20:13 — Question what perfect even means

20:18 — Changing your idea of perfect = a permission slip to be yourself

21:43 — The insecurities behind the people who built these standards

22:15 — Finding real freedom by letting go of what other people think

23:51 — How perfectionism kills your ability to have fun; the painting class story

25:15 — Your uniqueness is what makes you shine

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

• Where in your life are you waking up expecting the same thing — and quietly believing you're not worthy of something different?
• Whose definition of perfect have you been carrying around that was never yours to begin with?
• What would it look like to give yourself a 1% permission slip today?

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