Progress Over Perfection For Overwhelmed Moms

Feeling overwhelmed as a mom often comes with the sense that everyone else has it figured out. This talk offers a gentler measure: progress over perfection. Sabrina Ragan, child psychologist and mom of three, shares why comparing yourself to the highlight reel on social media leaves so many parents feeling like they're not enough, and a simple daily practice for tracking your own small wins instead. This is a practical way to celebrate progress with your whole family. For moms who are doing more than they realize and who are ready to measure themselves by their own growth.

Transcript

Let's focus on progress and celebrating small victories, Small wins forward for both you and your child. We're always striving to learn more, To do more, To be better, But celebrate that progress of moving forward. By focusing on our progress and moving forward, Even if it's just small steps, There's something to celebrate. There's this energy that goes with it and it makes you feel more positive and excited. Social media has created the standard of expectations for us as parents, That people always post the positive pictures, The exciting moments, The smiling kids, But then we don't see the other side, The struggles that moms go through, The burnout, The lack of energy for trying to do everything and be everything for everyone in their family and their friends and their work. And so there's this lopsided focus of other moms can have it so perfect. Other moms can have kids that are happy and smiling listening all the time. So why can't I? And it leaves us feeling inadequate. And so I feel like it's so important to track progress. One of my favorite ways to do this is to take a calendar or journal, But I like a calendar because it's on the wall and it's visual and you can see it. And at the end of every day, Write down the progress that you made, The little wins towards that goal, No matter how small, What's changed for you. And by doing this then, You can track how the changes are happening, All the progress that you're making, And then when there's a speed bump or an extra challenging day or an extra challenging moment, You can go back and look at the calendar and think, Oh my goodness, I am changing, I am progressing, And it creates an incredible amount of momentum forward. Even if we hang on to just the tiniest little positive things, It changes our outlook in that moment and for the day, And when we feel more positive and we feel that there's progress moving forward, Then it propels us even farther to be like, Okay, I can do this. I can take one more step and one more step. Small progress forward, But every step counts. I want to make sure that we're shifting our mindset, Especially when we're going through challenging moments, Especially when there's something that we need to learn or our kids need to learn, That every movement forward counts and is worth celebrating. Another way to do it, I like to create a wall of fame, Especially for the kids, But everyone in the family. Family needs it. What you powerful that one positive experience is. I want to leave you with the thought that there is no win too small that's worth celebrating. It all counts. Make sure that you write down one small win that you had today. And then take a moment and celebrate. Celebrate with yourself. Celebrate with your family. Your kids love celebrating. This is also another bonding activity. I love attachment. I love anything that can deepen that relationship with your kids. One, Because it brings so much joy, But two, It makes parenting so much easier. So go celebrate. Go have a party in the kitchen. Put on some music and dance together and get excited for these changes that you're making.