Why I Disappeared | Letting Go of Perfectionism and Starting Again

In this solo episode, I’m back behind the microphone after taking an unexpected break from the podcast. I share why I stopped recording, how perfectionism quietly held me back, and what I’ve learned about the pressure to get everything "just right."

I talk about the ways perfectionism can keep us stuck and what it eventually costs us. This episode is a reminder that sometimes the hardest part isn't starting...it's giving yourself permission to keep going before everything feels perfect.

✨ This episode is for anyone who has been putting something off because they don't feel ready, who struggles with perfectionism, or who needs a reminder that progress will always matter more than perfection.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello everyone and welcome to Migrant Munch. My name is Dr. Sharika Senamiratna and I'll be your host on this podcast. Let's dive into today's story. Hi there and welcome to this episode of Migrant Munch. My name is Dr. Shurika Senamiratna, and I'm an organizational psychologist based here in Melbourne, Australia. So it's been a while since I recorded an episode for Migrant Munch, and there is a reason behind that. I've been sort of battling with why I initially started Migrant Munch and where I wanted to take it forward basically. The reason for that is because I started to feel like I couldn't figure out the purpose behind the podcast anymore, and that was giving me a lot of grief in terms of what was motivating me to keep recording. When I started Migrant Munch last year in May, the idea was to have a podcast where I would capture the stories of migrants from all across Australia who were doing insane things and going on these crazy adventures. And I honestly loved it because I was able to build a platform where people would come on and they'd talk about all of the things that they've been doing, that'd reflect on the lives that they'd lived as well. And it was great. Lately, though, I was starting to feel like I was struggling to find people whose stories I could connect with. And I was starting to feel a little bit out of sorts with the effort and the time and how much was required of me to produce a high-quality podcast episode. So part of the reason for that is because I place very high expectations on myself when it comes to literally anything that I do. And so I wanted to take some time to step away, reflect, and live life and do lots of other things that I've been very busy with, but also think about migraine munch at the back of my mind and also consider what it was that I wanted to get out of it moving forward. And this is the conclusion that I've come to. I want to continue using Migra and Munch as a platform to showcase stories, but I also want to make it more authentic and real to who I am and the things that make me really inspired to continue doing this. So what that means is that I will be moving to do more unedited episodes. I'm going to take away the perfectionist in me from re-recording and from editing for days, for hours of weeks spent literally doing so many edits, and I'm going to be launching more unedited episodes where I would reflect on things that have happened in my life, things that I've seen, things that I've heard, and how that will then encompass what it means to be an organizational psychologist, and also what it means for other migrants around Australia as well. Hopefully, it's a way for you to learn a few things around the experiences of migrants, um, the things that literally go unsaid, and also a way for you to take away something from an episode that you listen to and go, okay, I can actually use this in my life. So that's the future of Migrant Munch, and I will try to make more sense of it as we go along, but hopefully it gives you some sort of value in terms of the things that I discuss and the stories that I share. To start with today, I want to focus on the story of perfectionism. As I mentioned before, Migra Munch became not so fun for me anymore, and that's because I put a lot of effort into editing. And I'm talking editing out for hours and hours of days and days of like an episode that was probably like an hour long. That was because I was trying to hold on to what it meant for it to be super perfect, and by that I mean taking away even little filler words, taking away any sort of breaks, and just making it super super clear what the story was. I'd have lots of conversations with people, and then I would watch an episode, I would listen to it, I would edit it, and then I would come back to it a couple days later, which meant that I was constantly thinking about it while I was also doing other things. This is just one way where I would basically showcase my perfectionist tendencies. Being a perfectionist is really hard because I want everything to be super perfect. I've been asked by people before whether I want to help with things, like even with podcast editing, I'd get asked by people who would be selling services where they can edit my podcast episodes. And my answer is no because I wanted to maintain control over the story and what went into the podcast and what the final product would be. Essentially, I was being picky. Now it's good to be picky because it shows that you are clear on what you really want, but at the same time, it means that you're taking on a lot of work that could easily be done by someone else for lesser time. If you think about the world that we currently live in with AI coming into play, lots of people are moving to use AI to maximize productivity and efficiency, and to also just basically do a lot of the work around stuff that takes time to do. That's become very, very common, and it actually does break my heart because people are less, I guess people are not using their brains as much as they used to because they're letting a machine think for them. I would say a smarter way to use AI, which I've seen a lot of people doing as well, is for you to generate the idea first and then put it into AI if you want to, to help you make sense of it. Now, even when I was thinking about migrant munch and what to do with the future of migrant munch, I felt like I'd come to a standstill around what next for migraine munch. And the perfectionist in me was sort of going, no, it has to be perfect, it has to be a very clear idea. But then I started using AI to brainstorm ways around what would bring me joy and what would also be valuable to society. And this is where I ended up thinking about doing unedited episodes that maybe will make sense sometimes, maybe will not make much sense at other times, but it's still a way for me to start to think about the messages that I want to share with the world. It also required me feeling okay with not having all the answers. Part of being a perfectionist is that I need to have all the answers, I need to have all the control, and that's not healthy for me, and that's not healthy for others either. A lot of people like me are also perfectionists and will try to do their 110% to get the results that they want. What that means though is that when things don't go to plan, you get disappointed, you get frustrated, you get angry, and you feel like things are just spiraling. In actual fact, maybe it could just be a moment that you just can't control. And so learning to let go, learning to understand that you can only control what you can control, and not that not, I guess, not really focus on what other people are doing and what other people have within their control is this is the starting point. It's where you can start to then figure out, okay, what is it that I can focus on and what do I need to let go of? It's very hard to do as a perfectionist, trust me. I've tried and I continue to try doing it because I know that that's the only way that I can start to let go and feel okay with things not being super perfect in a world where things are not generally perfect. So, my lesson for you today is if you're like me, if you're a perfectionist, this is a call to you to think about ways when you can just let go a little bit and feel okay with something not being completely perfect, because there is beauty in something that is not a perfect product and not something that you have spent hours and hours building, and also knowing that sometimes things don't always go to plan, and so if something happens, you're not going to be completely distraught by it. That's my ramble for this episode of Migrant Munch. Stay tuned for more stories along the way. And if you're a guest, we'd love to come on board and have a chat. And if this resonates with you, and if you're someone who is a perfectionist, please get in touch. I'd love to chat more and hear about any strategies that you might be using to help you overcome the perfectionist in you. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time. Little bit concern on Thanks for listening to this episode of Migrant Munch. If you really liked what you heard today, uh reach out to us, get in touch, tell us what really inspired you, and we'd love to connect with you and hear more about your story.