Getting to Good Enough

This week's episode topic was suggested by a reader who said she she gets distracted by little things when she's trying to accomplish bigger and more important goals. In this episode, Janine and Shannon take you through some strategies for keeping your eye prize and finding time for the things that are important to you. Discussion topics include: • How easy it is to avoid the important items on ou...

Words matter when we talk with other people and language is also important when we're talking to ourselves. This week, Shannon and Janine discuss how the words we use can reveal perfectionism and shifting that language can help us get past it. Discussion topics include: • How words can make a difference in your thinking about yourself • The role of words in helping you let go of perfectionism • Re...

Janine and Shannon are participating in National Novel Writing Month this month, in which we're trying to write a 50,000 novel in 30 days. This month, we thought we'd update you about how this fun adventure is going and what a wonderful time we're having embracing imperfection. Discussion topics include: • How great it feels to get our writing goal accomplished first thing in the morning • What a...

The winter holiday season is underway and we want to help our listeners prepare for an easy one. This week, we're re-running Episode 28, which we originally recorded for the 2018 holiday season. We hope it will help make your holiday season less stressful and more joyful! The holiday season can be really hard on perfectionists, who often want to do it all and do it right. This week Shannon and Jan...

We all experience fear. But some fear is sneaky and can really get us stuck, even if we're not aware of it. In this Halloween episode, Janine and Shannon discuss the way fear is often at the root of perfectionism. And we get into strategies for letting it go. Discussion topics include: • Janine’s antipathy for Halloween • The St. Louis Halloween tradition (it involves jokes)! • The fact that kids...

Perfectionists can be really hard on themselves. But there's an easier way to live. Being kind to yourself is not only more pleasant than being hard on yourself, it's more effective. This week, Shannon and Janine discuss the importance of being kind to yourself--and various ways to do it. Discussion topics include: • Janine’s overeating of potstickers on her recent trip • How overeating something...

Every day you're bombarded by choices, often from the time you get up to the time you go to bed. And that can add stress to your life. This week Janine and Shannon discuss how they make their lives easier by limiting the choices they have to make on a regular basis. Discussion topics include: • The joy of limitations • How having fewer clothes makes getting dressed easier. • Shannon’s strategy for...

November is National Novel Writing Month, affectionately known as NaNoWriMo. In this month-long challenge, participants commit to writing a 50,000-word novel in a month. Shannon and Janine have participated in the past and in Episode 62 we decided to take it on agin this year. (Janine has done this every five years since 2004, so this is her fourth NaNoWriMo novel.) In this episode, we talk about...

If you're feeling stuck or find yourself putting things off or resenting what others say, we have what might be a simple solution: Reframing! This week, Janine and Shannon discuss the power of changing the words you use to describe something. Discussion topics include: • Janine’s excitement over the American Ninja Warrior season finale • Changing what words mean to change your experience with them...

Over the course of this podcast, Shannon and Janine have made some commitments to changing various things in their lives, inspired by insights in various episodes. In this episode, we update you on how (or whether) we've managed to do the things we thought we'd do. Discussion topics include: • A tornado in Portland! • Our (new) commitment to keeping a list of these commitments so we don’t forget a...

For many people social media can be a source of stress (even depression), rather than enjoyment, when it triggers perfectionistic tendencies. But it's within your power to make your social media feed a source of happiness and fun, not feelings of inadequacy or envy. In this episode, Janine and Shannon discuss strategies for making social media more enjoyable and productive. Discussion topics inclu...

Why is that we're so passionate about helping you let go of perfectionism? In this episode Shannon and Janine talk about how perfectionism can get in the way of happiness--and how striving for good enough can lead to a happier existence. Discussion topics include: • Janine’s impromptu visit to Chicago to see the musical Hamilton • Our working definition of perfectionism: Spending more time on some...

Every day, we're bombarded by constant distraction and it can really get in the way of productivity. This week, Janine and Shannon talk about the challenges presented by distraction and some strategies for dealing with it. Discussion topics include: • The toll distractions take on our productivity • Janine’s distracting quest for birthday-gift suggestions • Fun subscription boxes • Open loops and...

Creating daily habits can be the most powerful way to make your life easier. But establishing them can sometimes be tricky. This week, Shannon and Janine discuss the value of daily habits, some strategies for creating them and the importance of cutting yourself some slack if you miss a day. Discussions topics include: • Our love of daily habits • Shannon’s quest for a daily exercise routine now th...

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...