When did being human become one enormous continuous improvement project?

Get up earlier. Exercise more. Eat better. Learn AI. Be more productive. Build your personal brand. Be a better leader, partner, friend and human being.

It’s exhausting just thinking about it!

I’m a huge believer in personal growth, but I’m increasingly questioning the pressure to constantly become the best version of ourselves.

Because life has seasons. And sometimes, with work, family, health challenges and everything else competing for our attention, operating at our absolute best simply isn’t realistic.

In this solo episode of Leading You, I explore why our expectations need to change when our capacity does, and why good enough really can be enough.

In this episode, I explore:

• Why constant self-improvement can become another source of pressure
• How social media can create unrealistic expectations
• Why different seasons of life require different expectations
• The important difference between doing your best and being at your best
• Why ambition and relentless self-optimisation aren’t the same thing
• How being the CEO of You helps you make conscious choices about your time and energy
• Three questions to help you reassess what you actually need right now

Perhaps your next chapter doesn’t need another habit, goal or skill.

Perhaps it needs some editing.

You don’t have to be at your best every day to be doing your best.

And sometimes, giving what you reasonably can with the resources available to you is enough.

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to Leading You
00:47 Tired of Self Optimisation
02:14 Social Media Wellness Trap
04:42 Seasons Change Capacity
06:19 Personal Story Overload
09:06 Doing Best vs Being Best
10:41 Her Next Chapter Invite
11:42 Ambition vs Pressure
13:04 Stop Stacking Start Living
15:18 Be the CEO of You
16:47 Three Reflection Questions
19:00 Closing Permission to Choose