Getting to Good Enough

Sometimes it can be hard to restart a stalled or dropped project out of feelings of perfectionism or the pain of looking at past mistakes. This week, Janine and Shannon discuss how Janine recently faced down her many abandoned knitting projects and how rejuvenated she was by the process. She's excited to get back to regular knitting after letting go of less-than-fulfilling works in progress libera...

We can all use a little help in succeeding. And you're the best person to provide that help! This week, Shannon and Janine discuss simple ways to set yourself up for success and how easy fixes can sometimes get rid of barriers to starting. We also talk about the importance knowing what success means to you and creating different levels of success for yourself. Discussion topics include: • A recap...

What are tolerations? They're those little things you put up with that bug you. The squeaky hinge. The dirty eyeglasses. You get the idea. This week, Janine and Shannon discuss tolerations and why we should think about addressing them (without letting perfectionism get in the way). Discussion topics include: • Janine’s wine- and potsticker-centric vacation • Some examples of tolerations • A classi...

It can feel uncomfortable to let something be good enough, particularly if you have a tendency toward perfectionism. This week, Janine and Shannon talk about how getting comfortable with that discomfort can improve your life. We discuss various strategies for getting past the discomfort and we even invite you to join us in writing a novel this November! The varied discussion topics include: • Gett...

Do you stress about feeling behind? This week, Shannon and Janine discuss how feeling behind isn't productive--it can be stressful and lead to mistakes. We talk about how rather than stressing you, feeling behind can serve as a prompt to step back and rethink how you're doing things. Discussion topics include: • How feeling behind tends to lead to mistakes • How when you feel behind it's a good ti...

Labels on bins are great. Labels we give ourselves can be limiting. This week, Janine and Shannon talk about the problem with negative labels we apply to ourselves, along with the benefits of positive labels. We also discuss some of the labels  we're trying to shed in our own lives. Discussion topics include: • Words matter: By talking tendencies, not labels, we allow ourselves room for chang...

It's summer in the U.S. and both Shannon and Janine are traveling. Janine has just returned from a genealogy research trip to Kentucky and Shannon is anticipating an Alaskan cruise. In this episode we discuss some "good enough" strategies to make travel more enjoyable and less stressful. Discussion topics include: • How Janine let her recent genealogy research trip be easy • The benefit of buildin...

This week Shannon and Janine sit down with Geralin Thomas of Metropolitan Organizing in Cary, N.C., a rock star in the organizing world. She's not only famous for many appearances on the Hoarders tv show, she's known for her generosity in sharing her business acumen with other organizers (including Janine). Geralin is a business coach for entrepreneurs, particularly professional organizers, and in...

Do you think there's a right way to some things? And that all the other options are the wrong way? That thinking might be holding you back. This week Shannon and Janine discuss how moving away from the right-way or wrong-way thinking can help you let go of perfectionism. It's liberating! Discussion topics include: • How right-way thinking fuels perfectionism • That the more we can get away from th...

Change can be hard, especially if we hang on to regret or wistfulness about the way things used to be. This week Janine and Shannon discuss letting go of emotions surround the past so that you can move forward to a better future. Discussion topics include: • Poodle encounters in Portland • The value of looking to the future rather than spending time regretting the past • How this applies to moving...

Janine's four favorite words are "Let it be easy" and she says them to anyone who will listen (including, frequently, Shannon). This week, Shannon and Janine discuss the value of that mantra and how we try to let things be easy in our lives. And, as usual, we discover that it all boils down to knowing what's important to you. Discussion topics include: • How Shannon and Janine spent time together...

None of us is getting any younger, right? This week, Janine and Shannon discuss this natural process and letting go of perfectionistic feelings about how we should look or feel or function as we age. Discussion topics include: • Why this week in particular we’re feeling our age • How old are we, anyway? • Shannon’s reluctance to get hearing aids, even though her need for them has nothing to do wit...

In past episodes, Shannon and Janine have discussed how to deal with overwhelm. This week we're talking about how to prevent feeling overwhelmed in the first place. Discussion topics include: • Learning to say no • Knowing what is important to you so that you know when to say yes • Janine’s strategies for saying no (she’s getting really good at it) • Recognizing that by saying no to an opportunity...

Since this is the 52nd episode of the podcast, Janine and Shannon are celebrating a year of podcasting and discussing what it's been like living with a "good enough" mentality for a year. (Spoiler alert: It's been great!) Discussion topics include: • Some things we’ve learned from a year of living the “good enough” mentality • How Shannon is more okay with good enough now than she was a year ago •...

Is it better to take care of regular tasks daily or let a backlog build up and then take care of it all at once? You probably won't be surprised by the answer that question: It depends. This week, Janine and Shannon discuss their ideas around which tasks are better handled daily and which can be batched. Discussion topics include: • Tornadoes in St. Louis • Taking care of things every day versus l...

We can't let it be so easy that we never do anything that's difficult. But we can introduce ease into difficult situations to make them easier. This week Shannon and Janine discuss introducing ease into even the most challenging scenarios. • How some difficult things can’t be made easy, but that doesn't mean there can't be ease • Debunking the idea that if something isn’t hard it doesn’t count • J...

Perfectionism can be paralyzing. This week, Janine and Shannon discuss why it can be hard to get started, along with some techniques and strategies for making it easier. Discussion topics include: • Using a timer to help you get started on a task • Janine’s microwave timer method of getting stuff done • Limiting the number of resources you explore before starting something • Mark Forster’s trick f...

Perfectionists tend to have high standards. And that's okay. But when those high standards are very rigid, life can become more difficult. This week, Shannon and Janine discuss the benefits of being more flexible and how go about building flexibility into your high standards. Discussion topics include: • How we've embrace flexibility in our podcast recording schedule • Tangent #1: Janine and Shann...

There are lots of little ways we can practice being good enough, rather than perfect. In this episode, Shannon and Janine pick two areas little areas for putting good enough into practice: recycling and making phone calls. Discussion topics include: • Getting to Good Enough's big milestone: 50,000 downloads! • Janine’s recent encounter with a GTGE fan • A good enough approach to recycling: Err on...

Relaxing is so important. Even during our busiest times, taking time to relax can keep us more productive. This week, Janine and Shannon talk about the importance of relaxation, how they relax and how perfectionism can get in the way of relaxing. Discussion topics include: • How Shannon and Janine relax • The challenge in prioritizing relaxation • Reading as relaxation • Janine’s love for Yogi Soo...

Even when you're in the groove on a new habit it can be so easy to hit a snag and get completely derailed. In this episode, Shannon and Janine discuss planning ahead for these derailments to make it easy to get back on track. Discussion topics include: • The emotions that come up over not having stayed with something that make it harder to get started again • The difficulty of restarting a chain o...

Giving yourself permission to fail can make it easier for you to succeed. This week Janine and Shannon take a deep dive into this liberating concept, one that was pretty foreign to happy-go-lucky Janine. Discussion topics include: • Janine’s “good enough” perspective on failure • Whether failure is within your control • How, for perfectionists, failure can feel more imminent and threatening • Chan...

Money. It's not a topic many people feel comfortable talking--or even thinking--about. It can be particularly hard for perfectionists to address issues with money. In this episode Shannon and Janine talk about some strategies for getting past perfectionistic barriers to having a good relationship with money. Discussion topics include: • How money can be fraught with emotions • How perfectionism ca...

There's so much to be grateful for. And expressing that gratitude not only helps you, it helps others. This week, Janine and Shannon talk about the importance of gratitude and ways to express it. Discussion topics include: • The gratitude that Shannon and Janine feel for you, our podcast listeners • The value of keeping (and reviewing) a kudos file • The impact of expressing gratitude to others •...

Janine lives by the words "Let it be easy." But can something be too easy? Shannon and Janine discuss that possibility and how it relates to various aspects of life, including genealogy research. Discussion topics include: • Is it possible for something to be too easy? • How technology has made it possible for genealogy research to be too easy • How rigor can contribute to reliable genealogy resea...