

About Progress
Cloud10
All the self-help extremes out there seem designed for perfect robots. But what if progress doesn’t require perfection? Welcome to your gentle self-development hub: About Progress, a podcast and community devoted to progress made practical. Join host and coach, Monica Packer, and her special guests to get the hug AND kick in the pants you need to do something and grow in ways that stick.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 27, 2023 • 44min
AP 549: Ways to Simplify AND Have More Fun this Holiday Season || with Brooke Romney
Does the overwhelm of the holidays ever force you to choose between going all in, or doing nothing at all? Maybe you're somewhere in the middle, but overcomplicating it for yourself and not even enjoying any of your traditions, or the relationships around you. Today Brooke Romney joins me to discuss the importance of simplifying holiday traditions.Brooke shares her insights on the challenges of overcomplicating the holiday season and how she has navigated this in her own family. Some specific examples of simple yet meaningful holiday traditions, are their "Best Lights Award," a candy bar gift exchange, and a dollar store gift exchange.We lean into the value of creating traditions that align with the core values and feelings each family member associates with the holiday season. Brooke also encourages you to communicate with your family members to identify what makes Christmas feel special to each individual and overall, offers practical tips and inspiring ideas for creating a more joyful and simplified holiday experience.
Finding Me Academy
My FREE DSL Training
My FREE habits class
Full Show Notes
Sticky Habit Method
This episode is brought to you by Vionic Shoes (use code PROGRESS) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 23, 2023 • 31min
AP 548: How Do You Become an Ultra Runner, Even as a Normal Person || with Sid Garza-Hillman
Is there something that has made you think other people can do that, but not me? This episode is part of a monthly series to convince you otherwise. These episodes feature real people who are answering the question “How do you…?” about their various passions and pursuits.Sid Garza-Hillman is an author, stress and habit coach, running coach, nutritionist and repeat guest on the podcast who decided to go from recreational runner to ultra runner. He explains what exactly ultra running is, and why he now describes it as "life-altering." As well as the culture he has encountered, and why he believes it's actually more approachable for the average person. If this is something that has ever piqued your interest (or does after this episode!) he has several tips to encourage you to start small to set you up for success and huge internal accomplishment.
Finding Me Academy
My FREE DSL Training
My FREE habits class
Full Show Notes
Sticky Habit Method
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 20, 2023 • 37min
AP 547: Coping with Criticism that Feels Personal || special interview with Monica by Julie Rose of Top of Mind
I was interviewed by Julie Rose for her "Stick With It" series where I open up about my personal journey of facing uncomfortable situations, particularly one where my identity as a feminist conflicted with my role as a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I share the emotional and challenging experience of reaching out to someone within my faith for an interview, only to be rejected based on my online writings.The rejection not only felt personal but also challenged my sense of belonging within my faith community. I describe my initial gut reactions, the subsequent email exchanges, and the ultimate resolution between us. This episode explores the complexities of identity, stereotypes, and the power of having difficult conversations. I hope listeners feel inspired to confront discomfort, seek understanding, and bridge gaps in their own lives.
Finding Me Academy
My FREE DSL Training
My FREE habits class
Full Show Notes
Sticky Habit Method
This episode is brought to you by Vionic Shoes (use code PROGRESS) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 16, 2023 • 34min
AP 546: 7 Things You Don't Know About Me for the 7 Year Anniversary of the Podcast
In this special episode to commemorate seven years of the podcast (!!!) I'm sitting down and sharing seven things you might not know about me from listener submitted questions. I cover a little bit about my childhood, how me and my husband met, some of my parenting ideas, how I'm balancing adding our fifth baby to the mix, some rapid fire questions about my favorite things, and more. Tune in to get to know me a little bit better as I make personal development just a little more personal.
Finding Me Academy
My FREE DSL Training
My FREE habits class
Full Show Notes
Sticky Habit Method
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 13, 2023 • 52min
AP 545: You Don’t Need to be Fearless: How to change your relationship with fear || with Farnoosh Torabi
Unfortunately, fear cannot be avoided. But for so many of us, it can become an all consuming emotion, especially in certain circumstances. Farnoosh Torabi, a renowned expert in personal finance and author, shares her origin story about fear, and how it shaped her entire life. Now, she makes the distinction between understanding and embracing fear as a natural emotion, rather than viewing it as an enemy.Farnoosh emphasizes the need to have a constructive conversation with fear, allowing it to provide valuable insights for personal growth and decision-making. We also explore two common fears: fear of uncertainty and fear of failure, plus practical strategies to navigate through them. Ultimately, we have to learn to make room for fear and find strength in vulnerability.
Finding Me Academy
My FREE DSL Training
My FREE habits class
Full Show Notes
Sticky Habit Method
This episode is brought to you by Vionic Shoes (use code PROGRESS) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 9, 2023 • 11min
AP 544: Sometimes, it's just a bad day || Growth Spurt
After sharing about a recent disappointment, I received a flood of messages that led me to realize there is this common misconception that we're alone in our feelings of being stretched too thin. After reading through them you can trust me, you are not the only one dealing with the weight of mental and physical exhaustion. Today I'm sharing more about that personal experience that left me feeling pretty upset, and questioning how I will ever be able to keep up with all of the demands of my life.As we each navigate the universal struggle of trying to balance it all, I hope I can offer some practical strategies for finding balance, acknowledging limitations, and seeking support. It's okay to ask for help and know that you have the power to rewrite our own narratives.
Finding Me Academy
My FREE DSL Training
My FREE habits class
Full Show Notes
Sticky Habit Method
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 6, 2023 • 57min
AP 543: How Distraction Works + How to Get Better at Doing What You Say You’re Going to Do || with Nir Eyal
Nir Eyal, author and behavioral designer, has spent years researching habit formation - specifically teaching tech and product companies how to get users hooked. He has a refreshing take, though, and discourages the all-or-nothing abandonment of your smart device for a 1990's flip phone and typewriter (from personal experience, seriously). Instead, Nir teaches 4 techniques that are really mindset shifts to address the 3 biggest reasons you're getting distracted.If you've been here for any amount of time you'll recognize many of the things we discuss: values, discomfort, taking action, even time management. Tune in and you'll feel encouraged to take action on the attributes of the person you want to become and be equipped to become indistractable.
Finding Me Academy
My FREE DSL Training
My FREE habits class
Full Show Notes
Sticky Habit Method
This episode is brought to you by Vionic Shoes (use code PROGRESS) and by OneSkin. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code “PROGRESS” at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 2, 2023 • 25min
AP 542: Taking more fall family adventures, garden update and learning to can vegetables, some business-related lows, adding piano playing back to my list, and a kitchen tool that I'm loving || Messy Middle November 2023
This monthly series features an episode sharing my recent highs and lows, how my habits are going, a Do Something List update, plus what I'm loving lately and my commitments for the upcoming month. I hope this glimpse into my life, my family, my work, and my own self development encourages you in your own journey.Around here the goal is never perfection, just to keep trying, even if in very simple ways. I think you'll see that with all of the big changes going on for me, taking the smallest of steps has helped to keep me afloat and feeling like myself. As always, I encourage you to get messy, too!
Finding Me Academy
My FREE DSL Training
My FREE habits class
Full Show Notes
Sticky Habit Method
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 30, 2023 • 49min
AP 541: REGULATION 101: What Your Nervous System Has To Do With Your Emotions (AKA: Information that Literally Changed my Life)
Even if you never had the exact word to describe it, I am sure you have found yourself overwhelmed, overstimulated, or overreactive, and ultimately you were dysregulated. Being in a regulated state allows us to respond to situations with calm and intention, while dysregulation can lead to reactive behavior. My guest, emotional development expert and author Alyssa Blask Campbell, explains that regulation involves the ability to cycle through different states in our nervous system with ease, how our nervous system reacts to different stimuli, and how we can use tools like deep breathing to regulate it.Alyssa also introduces the concept of sensory systems and how being aware of what drains or recharges our nervous system can be a powerful tool for self-regulation. And she emphasizes that emotions are not inherently bad, and that it's crucial to acknowledge and validate all emotions. Tune in to this eye-opening interview to learn more about yourself, as well as a simple practice that can serve as a starting point for building self-awareness and regulation skills.Host a Tricks and Treats gathering!
Finding Me Academy
My FREE DSL Training
My FREE habits class
Full Show Notes
Sticky Habit Method
This episode is brought to you by Vionic Shoes (use code PROGRESS) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 26, 2023 • 48min
AP 540: BONUS: How PROTEIN and AMINO ACIDS are essential to helping you feel great in your body as you age || with Angelo Keely of Kion
Are you aging? If so, what’s changed for you about your energy, your mobility, your strength, and even your soreness scale?Many of us are starting the aging process or are smack dab in the middle of it, and have been for decades. Talking about bodies and aging can be a can of worms. We have a lot of layers—socially and commercially—that influence the ways we see and value women’s bodies, and degrade this value as those bodies age. That’s a very important topic; but, it’s not the one we’re covering today.Instead, we’re tackling a question I’ve faced as I’ve noticed more signs of aging in my body: can I focus more on nutrition and movement with the goal being to help increase my longevity without it becoming an unhealthy obsession?In this episode, you'll hear about how I went on to answer that question via an experiment I conducted to meet one specific need I've faced with my nutrition: protein.To help, I needed more education--and I get to share that education with you today.I interviewed Angelo Keely about how protein greatly impacts the aging process in ways we may guess--from muscle tone to metabolism--but in ways we may be surprised by, too--from hormones to brain fog. Angelo shares how protein and amino acids work together to create a body that's functioning and a mind that's working clearly, AND how to add more protein to your diet, especially if you're not much of a meat eater (like me!).We also chat about the complications of the wellness industry, how Angelo functions within it with progress being the focus, and how the important relationships with his mom and wife have impacted his life and work.Angelo Keely is the co-founder and CEO of Kion, an active lifestyle, supplement and functional food company dedicated to helping people fully experience a fun and active life by providing pure, energy-enhancing solutions. Kion is the sponsor for this special bonus episode.I hope my conversation with Angelo can help answer some questions you may be facing about your own aging body, and assist you as you move forward with your own experiments of balancing caring for that body outside of perfectionism. Host a Tricks and Treats gathering!
Finding Me Academy
My FREE DSL Training
My FREE habits class
Full Show Notes
Sticky Habit Method
This episode is brought to you by Kion. To save 20% on monthly deliveries and 10% on one-time purchases, go to www.getkion.com/progress Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices