Grow the Good
Grow the Good, formerly The Sonya Looney Show, is your guide to continual personal growth, meaningful connections, and positive impact in the world. Challenge the idea that you are broken or need fixing. Instead, discover how to cultivate the good that already exists within you and amplify the strengths and potential you may not yet realize you have. Grounded in the science of positive psychology and guided by the pillars of purpose, vitality, resilience, hope, and connection, each episode is packed with tools, stories, and evidence-backed insights to help you create a more authentic and flourishing life.
Grow the Good
Mindfulness in Action: Redefining What It Means to Get Better
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In this Mindfulness in Action episode, I’m recording on a trail run and thinking out loud about something I’ve been re-examining in my own life: the pressure to constantly optimize and get better.
We hear it everywhere: be more productive, improve every day, maximize your time. And while growth and striving for excellence matter, I’ve been noticing how easily that mindset turns into pressure, guilt, and a constant feeling of not doing enough.
In this episode, I share how I’ve been unlearning that pattern, what it actually means to “strive well,” and why doing less can sometimes lead to better performance, creativity, and well-being.
I also guide you through a simple mindfulness practice you can do while moving to help you notice:
- Where you’re putting pressure on yourself
- The inner voice telling you to do more
- How to reconnect with contentment in the middle of effort
The goal isn’t to stop growing, it’s to redefine what getting better actually looks like. If you’ve been feeling stuck in the cycle of always needing to do more, this one’s for you.
Other meditations:
- Slowing Down the Rush
- How to Regulate Your Emotions for Resilience and Performance
- How to Combat Self-Criticism
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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.