Course Overview
Overview
Four weeks of source mapping — the teacher who shamed you in fourth grade, the parent who edited your homework with red pen, the early review that landed wrong, the workshop comment you still remember verbatim. We trace your perfectionism back to where it was installed. Then we walk you through writing new operating instructions for yourself. Less therapy session, more software update. The course is precise, slightly cold in places, and engineered for the brain that doesn’t respond to affirmations. Four weeks. Twenty lessons. By the end you’ll have a written Replacement Script you can re-install whenever the old operating instructions reassert themselves.
What’s inside
- 4 modules, 20 lessons + replacement scripts — analytical, source-traced, no positive-thinking required
- Mindset Maven Test that names YOUR perfectionism’s specific installation source
- 4 guided meditations averaging 9 minutes — slow, careful, designed for old wounds without being therapy
- Toolkit: the Source Map Template + the Replacement Script Worksheet
- Lifetime access, unlimited retakes — re-install the script when the old patterns flare
- Companion blog post per module — public, perfect for the friend whose perfectionism has a clear origin she’s never named
Who this is for
- The memoirist whose perfectionism traces back to a parent who graded her elementary-school essays
- The poet who can name the teacher whose comment she still hears in her head when drafting
- The songwriter whose first vocal coach said the wrong thing at thirteen
- The lyricist whose perfectionism showed up overnight after a specific 1998 critique
FAQs
Is this therapy?
No. It’s source-mapping followed by operating-instruction replacement. Therapy works on the wound. This works on the protocol the wound installed. Both useful; this is the second.
What if I can’t pinpoint a source?
Module 1 covers the no-single-source pattern (slow drip, multiple small sources). About 30% of writers find one big source; about 70% find a cluster. Both are workable.
Why ‘software update’ instead of ‘healing’?
Because the course is built for brains that find ‘healing’ language vague and frustrating. Software-update language is more useful for analytical brains, neurodivergent brains, and writers tired of generic self-help framing.
What’s the Replacement Script?
A written set of operating instructions you compose to REPLACE the perfectionism rules that got installed. Three to five sentences. You memorize the script and deploy it in moments of perfectionism flare-up. Sounds odd. Works clinically.
Will this fix my perfectionism forever?
No. It will give you a script to re-install. Perfectionism re-asserts itself; the script can be re-installed. Different goal than ‘fix forever.’
Can I retake?
Yes. Unlimited. Re-installations are part of the practice.
What one student said
★★★★★
“I am ADHD and skeptical of any course that uses words like ‘source.’ I bought this because the operating-instructions framing in the marketing copy did the work — ‘software update’ not ‘therapy session’ is exactly how my brain prefers to be addressed. The source map turned out to be a fifth-grade music teacher who told me I had no ear. The replacement script took twenty minutes to write and approximately a year to install. Two-thirds installed and counting. Best $147 I’ve spent on my creative practice. Also, the meditations are short, which respects my brain.”
— Nayeli H., songwriter, ADHD
Curriculum
- 4 Sections
- 16 Lessons
- Lifetime
- Module 1: The Source Map (Tracing the Perfectionism Back)Week one we trace. Most perfectionism has a source — a specific teacher, parent, early reader, workshop, or moment where the rule got installed. Some perfectionism is a slow drip from a constellation6
- 1.1Module 1: Overview20
- 1.2Mindset Maven Test: Where Was YOUR Perfectionism Installed?3 Questions
- 1.3Meditation: Tracing the Installation Date (a Slow Audio for Old Material)11
- 1.4Writing Prompt: Module 130
- 1.5INSPIRATION: The Fourth-Grade Teacher Who Installed the Rule I Carried for Thirty Years15
- 1.6Companion Blog: Your Perfectionism Was Installed by Someone Specific. Name Them.10
- Module 2: The Operating Rules (Articulating What's Currently Running)Week two we name the rules. The source installed specific operating instructions — 'never submit until it's perfect,' 'rewrite until the teacher would be impressed,' 'no draft is good enough,' etc. Th6
- 2.1Module 2: Overview20
- 2.2Mindset Maven Test: What Rules Are YOU Currently Running?2 Questions
- 2.3Meditation: Hearing the Rules (a Listening Audio for the Inner Voice)12
- 2.4Writing Prompt: Module 230
- 2.5INSPIRATION: The Eight Rules I Was Running Without Permission (and the Day I Wrote Them Down)15
- 2.6Companion Blog: Write Your Perfectionism’s Operating Rules in One Sentence Each. Read Them. Wince.10
- Module 3: The Replacement Script (Writing New Operating Instructions)Week three we write the new code. For each of the operating rules you articulated, you'll write a replacement instruction — what you want running INSTEAD. The replacement isn't an affirmation. It's a6
- 3.1Module 3: Overview20
- 3.2Mindset Maven Test: What Replacement Instructions Will YOUR Brain Actually Accept?2 Questions
- 3.3Meditation: Writing the Script (a Slow Audio for Drafting the Replacement Code)15
- 3.4Writing Prompt: Module 330
- 3.5INSPIRATION: The Replacement Script I Wrote in 2020 (Still in Use in 2024)15
- 3.6Companion Blog: Write a Replacement Script for Your Perfectionism. It’s Code, Not Therapy.10
- Module 4: Installing the Script (The Long Game of Operating-Instruction Replacement)Final week. The script is written. Now we install it. Installation isn't instant. It takes 60-90 days of consistent deployment for a new operating rule to fire automatically. This week we cover the in6
- 4.1Module 4: Overview20
- 4.2Mindset Maven Test: What Installation Cadence Will YOU Actually Keep?2 Questions
- 4.3Meditation: Closing Audio: The 90-Day Installation Commitment13
- 4.4Writing Prompt: Module 430
- 4.5INSPIRATION: The 90 Days That Replaced Thirty Years of Operating Instructions15
- 4.6Companion Blog: It Takes 90 Days to Install New Operating Instructions. Here’s the Installation Protocol.10