January comes with a lot of pressure. New habits. New goals. A “new you.”But what if the work this year isn’t about fixing yourself at all?
In this episode of Masks Off for People Pleasers and Perfectionists, Kim Gross invites you to step off the self-improvement hamster wheel and into something far more powerful: self-awareness.
If the start of the new year leaves you feeling heavy, behind, or already failing — this conversation is for you. Kim unpacks how hustle culture, vision boards, and endless goal-setting often carry a subtle message that who you are right now isn’t enough. And for people pleasers and perfectionists, that message hits deep.
Through personal stories and gentle truth-telling, Kim explores:
Why January can feel emotionally overwhelming
The difference between growth and self-fixing
How perfectionism disguises itself as “motivation”
The masks we learned to wear to feel safe, loved, or accepted
Why awareness — not improvement — creates real change
This episode is an invitation to stop becoming someone else…and start waking up to who you already are.
✨ New year. Same you. But this time, you’re awake.
00:00 Introduction & the January blues
00:35 The pressure to reinvent yourself
02:29 When self-improvement becomes self-rejection
06:20 Growth vs. fixing yourself
06:58 An invitation to radical self-honesty in 2026
10:07 Understanding the masks we wear
13:02 Personal story: where people-pleasing began
16:57 Reflecting on the cost of constant improvement
23:39 Choosing awareness over achievement
30:32 Closing reflection & invitation to connect
🎧 If this episode resonates, please follow, rate, and share it with someone who’s tired of trying to become “better” and is ready to be real.
#MasksOffPodcast #PeoplePleasers #PerfectionismHealing #NewYearReflection #SelfAwarenessJourney #InnerLiberation #AuthenticLiving #PersonalGrowthWithoutPressure #HealingJourney #Unmasking
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