High-Functioning Anxiety | The Perfectionism Mask

“I’ve been doing this for twenty years.” It sounds like the end of the conversation, but we think it should be the start of a better one. We explore the uncomfortable gap between time served and learning gained, and why that gap quietly fuels work stress, anxiety, and those moments where you wonder if you’re the only one seeing what’s not working. We talk about experience as raw material and the kind of reflection that turns raw material into expertise: noticing patterns, taking feedback you...

You can be the person who “has it together” and still be one phone buzz away from falling apart. Cheryl Parris sits down with Janice Goldman to name the reality so many people live with quietly: caring for an aging parent while trying to keep your job, your focus, and your composure. That hidden second job does not start at 5pm and end at 9am, it runs under everything, turning ordinary workdays into a constant scan for risk, updates, and emergencies. We dig into why the well-meant phrase “Ju...

Guilt has a sneaky way of sounding like truth. One missed school game, one late night at work, one tense call with a parent, and suddenly the story becomes: “I chose wrong.” I sit down with Janice Goldmintz to challenge that story and to look at what guilt and resentment are really trying to tell us when life feels stretched thin. We start with resentment, including how it can show up after loss and inside everyday work stress. Janice offers a refreshing reframe: resentment often points to h...

Caring for an aging parent can feel like a second full-time job, except you never applied for it and you can’t clock out. Cheryl Parris sits down with Janice Goldmintz to name what so many working caregivers struggle to say out loud: your mind is still “on call” when you’re at work, your attention splits in meetings, and vague support like “let me know if you need anything” can quietly add to your workload instead of easing it. We dig into what’s really happening under the surface: dec...

Your brain can turn a few tough moments at work into one airtight story: everything is awful. We wanted to offer a calmer, more practical alternative, so we tell the story of Marcia at her kitchen table, casually noting what happens during her week and then spotting a game-changing clue, the same Tuesday meeting appearing again and again. That’s the moment work stress stops being a fog and becomes something you can study, understand, and respond to. We walk through how to build an “evidence ...