High-capacity humans often confuse preparation with perfection. This episode shows how to break the loop, move with presence, and lead from alignment — even when it feels awkward or incomplete.

Perfectionism doesn’t protect your credibility — it prevents your momentum. In this episode of Identity-Level Recalibration, Julie Holly shares how perfectionism becomes a form of emotional self-protection and how you can gently recalibrate through presence, not pressure. You’ll learn how your nervous system, self-talk, and brain wiring all contribute to the loop — and how to shift with identity-aligned movement.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why perfectionism feels protective — but keeps you stuck
  
  
  
• How to move forward without “feeling ready”
• The science of neural efficiency and how habits are formed
• The connection between your nervous system and the fear of exposure
• How perfectionism masks procrastination
• What self-leadership actually looks like
• A powerful story of Brené Brown’s recalibration
• A Micro-Recalibration for progress over polish — including a tip for leaders

Today’s Micro-Recalibration:
Ask yourself:

• What have I been perfecting instead of releasing?
• Where have I confused excellence with safety?
• What would a 70% version of this look like today — and would that be enough?

Then take the step — publish the post, make the offer, show up raw.

If you lead others:
Where might your pursuit of perfection be creating pressure instead of permission?

Give your team the gift of your humanity. Let them see progress — not just polish.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Episode 31: The Power of Pattern Interrupts
• Episode 35: How Your Self-Talk Shapes Who You’re Becoming
  
  

Explore Identity-Level Recalibration
→ Join the next Friday Recalibration Live experience

→ Take your listening deeper! Subscribe to The Weekly Recalibration Companion to receive reflections and extensions to each week's podcast episodes.

→ Follow Julie Holly on LinkedIn for more recalibration insights

→ Schedule a conversation with Julie to see if The Recalibration is a fit for you

→ Download the Misalignment Audit

→ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter

→ Books to read (Tidy categories on Amazon- I've read/listened to each recommended title.)

→ One link to all things