Woman Uncaged

Rethinking Perfectionism

Laura Gates-Lupton and Linda Katz Season 2 Episode 9

Send us a text. We'd love to hear from you!

Welcome to episode 9, season 2 of the Woman Uncaged podcast! This week's episode was inspired by the book The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control by Katherine Morgan Schafler. This episode is especially for you uncaged women out there who have ever been called "perfectionists" (and not in a positive way) or who have struggled with letting go of this aspect of yourself. What if you didn't have to?

We dive into:
- What if perfectionism isn't an obstacle that we need to overcome?
- How men are rarely, if ever, called perfectionists in a derogatory way
- How perfectionism relates to exceptionalism and how our society tells women it's better to embrace being mediocre
- Maladaptive vs. adaptive perfectionism
- How perfectionism can be a strength, if we work with it
- What is needed for those who have experienced or seen their perfectionism as an obstacle to transform it into an ally?
- Setting intentions vs. goals and why we need both
- How society benefits from maintaining our focus on end goals and ignoring the pleasure of the process
- The 5 different types of perfectionism as identified by Ms. Schafler
- The importance of creating nourishing structures in our lives
- The problem of seeing maladaptive perfectionism as a immutable identity
- Why both Laura and I hate the idea of "how you do one thing is how you do everything"
- How Laura's new offering of Stop Hitting Snooze with Laura and Suze is perfect for perfectionists who struggle with starting or finishing new projects

Resources:
The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control by Katherine Morgan Schafler: https://www.amazon.com/Perfectionists-Guide-Losing-Control-Peace/dp/059332952X

Ira Glass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91FQKciKfHI

Laura's New Offering:
Finisher: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uF_cdWN_nrV2Crtk3ry6TOFaoyHQaeIXw6Etg0FWCoc/edit?usp=sharing

~Linda's book: Homecoming: One Woman's Story of Dismantling Her Inner Cage and Freeing Her Wild Feminine Soul ~Laura's Monday Missives: https://goodwithmoney.substack.com/

People on this episode