In this episode, I’m digging into why so many of us feel like we have to give 100% to everything—and why that mindset is especially hard to shake in academia. If you’ve read my recent newsletter, you know I’ve been talking about the “B+ mindset,” or the idea of strategically lowering your standards in certain areas so you can protect your best energy for the work that matters most.

Today, I take that conversation a step further and unpack the deeper reasons behind our perfectionism: the A+ student identity many of us carry, the connection to imposter syndrome, and the way academia itself sets us up to feel like we’re never doing enough.

I also talk about who’s most vulnerable to these pressures—early career scholars and those from minoritized identities. You’ll hear examples of what B+ work looks like in teaching, service, writing, and beyond, along with strategies for protecting your time and energy without compromising your career.

My hope is that this episode helps you reframe what it means to do meaningful work in academia—and reminds you that your value as a scholar isn’t measured by how close you get to “perfect” on every single task.

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