Photo by Masood Aslami

I never planned to record 100 episodes of a podcast. I planned to record one.

That’s the truth behind Mothering Ourselves Mindfully hitting its 100th episode this week, and it’s the whole reason I wanted to write this post instead of just moving on to episode 101 like nothing happened. Because something did happen — not the number itself, but what it took to get here, and what it says about how change actually works.

I Don’t Batch. I Just Show Up.

If you’ve been listening for a while, you know I’m not someone who sits down and records ten episodes in a weekend. I record one podcast at a time, one week at a time, usually while I’m walking outside, often with barely any lead time for my very patient team. That’s not a flex — it’s just honest. And it’s also exactly why I got to 100.

If I had sat down at episode one and thought about recording 100 episodes, I would have been paralyzed. A swirl of overwhelm, as I said on the walk. Instead, I just committed to recording one. Then, a week or two later, another one. That’s it. That’s the whole system.

The Perfectionism Trap Most of Us Live In

Here’s what I’ve noticed, both in myself and in the women I work with: we are often really successful, really capable people who don’t like to half-ass things. Which sounds like a strength, until you realize it’s actually what keeps us from starting anything at all. If I can’t do it at 100%, what’s the point? If I can’t get an A+, why bother?

That mindset doesn’t just apply to podcasts. It’s the workout you don’t start because you can’t commit to five days a week. It’s the boundary you don’t set because you can’t hold it perfectly every time. It’s the book you don’t write because you can’t guarantee it’ll be good. We tell ourselves we’ll do it “when” — when we have more time, more support, a new job, a new nanny — and there’s always another “when” waiting behind that one.

Letting Go of Doing It “The Right Way”

I also avoided starting this podcast for a long time because I didn’t want to do it the way everyone else was doing it — the polished interviews, the same guests circulating through the same shows, the snazzy microphone and the trimmed-up editing. It felt boring to me, honestly, and I didn’t want to add another polished, overwhelming thing to an already overwhelmed mom’s plate.

So I let that go. You hear my feet on the trail. You hear me out of breath. You hear me say hi to dogs and occasionally mention a snake. That’s not a compromise — that’s what makes it fun for me, and that’s exactly why I’ve kept going for 100 episodes instead of quitting at ten.

Start With One

If there’s a message I want you to take from this milestone, it’s this: you don’t need to overhaul your whole life to create change. You need to do one thing. One pushup. One evening with your phone charging in the kitchen instead of your bedroom. One lunch away from your desk.

Set the bar so low you can trip over it. Just one.

And when that voice shows up — the one telling you it doesn’t count unless it’s every day, unless it’s perfect, unless you’ve already failed so there’s no point trying again — that’s worth noticing. That voice usually isn’t coming from a grounded, healthy place. It’s often fear wearing the costume of high standards.

Why Community Changes Everything

The other piece I can’t leave out is community. I’ve learned about myself that no matter how much I care about something or how motivated I am, having people around me who are doing it too — or holding me accountable — is non-negotiable. It’s not a character flaw that I need that. It’s just how it works for me, and probably for you too.

I think about the “plank club” a colleague and I started years ago at a job I had — two one-minute planks a day, which somehow turned into a 3pm ritual with people showing up from other offices to join in. We felt so accomplished doing something so small, together. That’s the model. Not willpower in isolation. One small thing, done in community.

What’s Next

As we move into the new school year, I’ll be recording a series of episodes about what we’re opening the doors to here in the Home of Mothering Ourselves Mindfully. This 100th episode is really just the doorway into that. So if you’ve been putting something off, waiting for the “right” conditions or the perfect plan, consider this your nudge: stop kicking the can. Find your one thing, and start.