We’ve spent about four and a half years on this podcast telling you why we’re all imperfect. But on this episode, Dr Emily actually explains why trying to be PERFECT is… well… really bad. And not only why it’s really bad, but why perfectionism’s mere existence is stealing all the good from our lives. 

Take it away Dr Emily……… PSYCHOLOGIST!


To learn more about Lynn Lyon's work around anxiety and perfectionism, follow this link: https://www.lynnlyons.com/
To hear Josh's first VulnerabiliTea House, where he talks about "the notebook" and why he struggles to write music now, follow this link: https://bit.ly/3OsQVj2

The Imperfects is not a licensed mental health service and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice, treatment or assessment. The advice given in this episode is general in nature, but if you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional, or call lifeline on 13 11 14. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Emily - Curb Your Perfectionism

We’re all imperfect. On this podcast, founder of The Resilience Project Hugh van Cuylenburg, his good friend Ryan Shelton, and only one of their brothers, Josh van Cuylenburg, talks to a variety of interesting people who vulnerably share their own struggles and imperfections, or expertly pass on their wisdom on the subject of imperfection. Whether it’s in The Vulnerabilitea House, The Academy of Imperfection, or with our very own psychologist, Dr Emily, The Imperfects are here to find some valuable takeaways we can all apply to our own imperfect lives.

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Taking a risk, by definition, is hard. A lot of us spend most of our life avoiding risks, under the assumption that it’s the ‘safe’ thing to do.
As Dr Em explains, we have an evolutionary instinct for self-preservation; tendencies to overestimate danger and underestimate our ability to cope; and we often have early childhood experiences and messages around safety that can coalesce into ‘playing it safe’ behaviours.
In this episode, Dr Em reveals that paradoxically, if we spend our whole life avoiding risk, then we are guaranteeing a less engaged, less fulfilling, less ‘lived’ life than we are capable of. That in fact, avoiding risk, is the biggest risk of all.
Dr Em, also offers strategies to guide us in the direction of letting a little more risk into our everyday lives.
To watch this full episode on YouTube, follow this link: https://bit.ly/4dMUP0l
There is a lot mentioned in this episode, find it all below:
 


Dr Emily - The Risk of Avoiding Risk

We mean no disrespect to any of our other guests, but when Hugh says that Dr. Kiran Martin, is the most impressive person he has ever met, it’s hard not to agree.
Dr. Kiran Martin is the founder of ASHA in India. It’s a not for profit, that for over 35 years, has provided healthcare and education to millions of people living in slums in India.
In this clip, Dr Kiran tells us of the time she decided to wash the feet of a Dalit woman (an ‘untouchable’ in the caste system of India) in order to demonstrate humility. And it was this moment of true leadership that lead to a feet washing movement throughout ASHA, breaking down caste barriers in the process.
You can learn more, or support Dr. Kiran Martin and ASHA’s work here. https://bit.ly/44Fl1WP.
To listen to the full episode with Dr. Kiran Martin, click here https://link.chtbl.com/OjRxhECI See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

IMPERFIX: Dr. Kiran Martin - Leadership

All too often when talking about infertility, we only tell one side of the story. Traditionally in the public discourse, it has very much fallen into the category of a ‘women’s issue’. However, as our guest this week Reece Conca can all too painfully attest, 40% of infertility issues are actually male factor related.
Reece Conca is a former Australian Rules Footballer, who played over 150 games for Richmond and Freemantle.
When Reece and his partner Bell were finding it difficult to conceive, it took them far too long to discover that Reece has a condition called Azoospermia, which effects 1% of men - a condition where in Reece had no sperm in his semen.
In this Vulnerabiltea House, Reece speaks openly and honestly about the physical and emotional toll of a fertility journey he is very much still on, the hormone injections, the surgeries and much, much more. 
To follow Annabelle and Reece on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@annabelleandreece See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reece Conca - Tackling Male Infertility

In this episode of the IMPERFIX, we revisit our chat with Australian comedian Luke McGregor. Many of us live with Anxiety, Luke McGregor has for a lot of his life. For Luke, his anxiety became so overwhelming that it resulted in him having panic attacks on stage in front of audiences. In this clip Luke explains what anxiety looks like for him and what he now does to manage his anxiety, allowing him to continue to work and to get the most out of life.
You can hear the original episode in full, with Luke McGregor, here https://link.chtbl.com/5Izyw-wD See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

IMPERFIX: Luke McGregor - Living With Anxiety

Every Thursday over 3 million people want to hear what James Clear has to say. They do so in the form of his ‘3-2-1 newsletter’, one of most popular newsletters on the planet. In 2018 James Clear published his book Atomic Habits, a comprehensive, practical guide on how to change your habits and get 1% better every day. And that book has now sold over 15million copies. So you won’t be surprised to hear how excited we were to have Jame Clear as this weeks guest lecturer in The Academy of Imperfection.
In this episode we learn about the importance of habits. Both the good and bad ones. We learn James’s four laws of behaviour change (make it obvious, make it attractive, make is easy, make it satisfying); the value of goals; we discuss Josh, Hugh and Ryan’s own personal history with habit setting; and how small incremental changes to your habits can set you on the path to achieving your goals and ultimately becoming the kind of person you would like to be.
You can purchase James Clear’s best selling book - Atomic Habits here, https://bit.ly/3UKx0in.
If you would like to subscribe to James’ 3-2-1 Newsletter, click here, https://bit.ly/44swR6o.
And you can find James’ habit tracking app ‘Atoms’ here https://bit.ly/4b1Pq41 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Emily - Curb Your Perfectionism

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