Permission to Be a Work in Progress: You’re Not Behind – You’re Becoming

SHOW NOTES:

On this show… we’re giving ourselves permission to embrace progress—not perfection—as we unpack what it really means to be a work in progress. That nagging feeling that you’re somehow behind in life? Yeah, we’re going to challenge that head-on. Because maybe you’re not off track at all… maybe you’re right on time for your own becoming.

Have you ever looked around and thought, “Wait, am I the only one who doesn’t have this whole life thing figured out?” If so, you’re in good company. Today, we’re tossing out the illusion of perfection and replacing it with something more honest—grace. We’re rewriting the script that says we have to have it all together by now. Growth is rarely a straight line, and often looks like detours, backtracks, and a lot of figuring-it-out-as-we-go. And you know what? That’s progress too.

Let’s start with the pressure-packed elephant in the room: the idea that by a certain age, milestone, or calendar year, you should have it all figured out. You know—career locked in, relationships thriving, finances flawless, personal growth tied up with a vision board and a bow. But here’s the thing: that timeline? It’s mostly made up. There is no one-size-fits-all path to life, and the myth of “being behind” is usually just a snapshot of comparison dressed up as truth.

At its core, being a work in progress means allowing yourself to exist in a state of growth—unfinished, evolving, and completely valid. It’s understanding that who you are today is not the final version of you, and that’s not a flaw… it’s the point. But we often confuse progress with perfection—as if our worth hinges on having reached some invisible finish line. The truth is, progress is messy. It’s filled with doubts, mistakes, detours, and sometimes a hard reset. But it’s also evidence that you’re showing up, learning, stretching, becoming.

Let’s define a few key terms that will guide this conversation:

• Progress: A forward or onward movement toward a destination—even if that movement includes baby steps, backslides, or breathers.
  
  
• Self-compassion: Treating yourself with kindness when you fall short, instead of defaulting to criticism.
  
  
• Reinvention: The courageous act of choosing again. New path. New dream. New you.
  
  
• Comparison trap: That sneaky voice whispering “you should be further along” based on someone else’s highlight reel.
  
  

It’s all about embracing grace. The grace to change. The grace to learn. The grace to say, “I’m not where I want to be…yet—but I’m still becoming.”

Progress Not Perfection Is a Reasonable Goal

Stop Comparing Yourself Negatively to Others

This is a Poem about Perfectionism by Ginelle Testa

The Problem With Perfect - Motivational Video

CHALLENGE: Trade perfection for progress and meet yourself with grace in the messy middle. Don’t wait until you feel “ready”—start now, with what you have, and who you are, because the journey only begins when you do.

I Know YOU Can Do It!