This episode will teach you how to be perfect in all things, at all times, in all ways. Your listening experience will be perfect. Your fingers will glide across your iPhone with ease, your forefinger will touch every button correctly the first time. Your mind and spirit will be perfectly calm, you will comprehend every word spoken and be able to recite it with perfect recall on the first listen.

Sounds a little cray cray, right? If that were the expectation, you probably wouldn't want to listen at all.

So why do we expect things to be perfect in other parts of our life?

For Brant Hansen, perfection prevented him from writing his first book. But then it occurred to him, that he couldn’t write the perfect book anyway. Once he accepted that reality, he made the decision to go ahead and start by committing to write at least one chapter.  

Brant discovered that those perfectionist tendencies enabled a bad habit of procrastination.

One of the cures for this? Live radio. You can't procrastinate when the little red light is about to turn on in 3 seconds. What comes out of your mouth is what you've got to give in that moment. If you're terrible - or worse, mediocre - you just have to suffer through it and live to suck another day.

Brant is a devoted follower of Jesus, and by his own admission, one who is perfectly “imperfect.”

He came to realize that being "perfect" is not about being without sin, or fault. It means endeavoring to use our gifts to build His kingdom here on Earth to the best of our ability. Not to have our identity wrapped in these gifts, but in Him, now and forever.

In our conversation with Brant, you'll hear:

-Why not shipping your product is hidden protection for the ego...3:15

-How live radio is a panacea for procrastination...8:20

-How perfectionism plays out in Brant's relationship with his children...10:15

-Brant's spiritual journey...15:20

-Why perfectionism may be a mental illness...21:05

-What to do with the phrase "Be ye perfect" in the Bible...24:55

-How Brant has used his "handicaps" to his advantage...29:50

-How not to be an "analytical Christian"...35:40

-One thing you, dear listener, don't know about Brant...39:30

-Wendie and Todd's takeaways from the episode...42:30

branthansen.com

Lynchpin by Seth Godin

Unoffendable by Brant Hanson

Blessed are the Misfits by Brant

The Truth About Us by Brant

BIO:

Brant Hansen is an author, nationally syndicated radio host, and advocate for healing children through CURE International.

He’s won national “personality of the year” awards for his work on his offbeat and quirky radio show, which airs on more than 200 stations. His podcast with his friend and radio producer, Sherri Lynn (“The Brant and Sherri Oddcast”) has been downloaded more than 10 million times.

He leverages his radio platform to advance the healing work of CURE, which provides life-changing surgeries for children with treatable conditions.

His first book, Unoffendable, has prompted a national discussion on the idea of forgiveness, and our culture’s embrace of self-righteous anger.

His second book, both provocative and very personal, is Blessed are the Misfits: Great News for Those Who Are Introverts, Spiritual Strugglers, or Just Feel Like They’re Missing Something. In this book, Hansen addresses his own, and many others’, inability to “feel God’s presence”, and how God might Himself feel about that.

His latest, The Truth About Us: The Very Good News About How Very Bad We Are, hit bestseller lists in spring/summer of 2020.

Brant speaks to groups/conferences/churches when his schedule allows.

He has written for CNN.com, The Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Relevant, and numerous other outlets on matters as varied as public policy, culture, sports, Asperger’s Syndrome, and faith. He’s been a game inventor, fronted a modern rock band, and still dabbles in singing and songwriting.

He’s traveled extensively throughout the world for CURE and other groups, including multiple trips to CURE’s hospital for women and children in Afghanistan.

He has been married for 30 years to Carolyn, and they have two grown children.