Getting to Good Enough

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...

This week we're debuting the A/V Club, in which Janine and Shannon will periodically talk about things we enjoy watching and/or listening to. This first A/V Club is a discussion of the podcasts we listen to. But first we kick it off with an unrelated anecdote about accidentally eating dog food. Discussion topics include these podcasts: • Stand Out (from the National Association of Productivity and...

Do you have fun at work? We sure hope you do. If work can sometimes be a drag, this episode is for you. This week, Shannon and Janine talking tips and strategies for making work fun. Because, in Oscar Wilde's words, "Life is far too important to take seriously." Discussion topics include: • How are perception of our work has everything to do with how much fun our work is • How perfectionism can pl...

If you feel you operating at 100 percent capacity, you're not doing yourself any favors. This week Janine and Shannon discuss personal capacity and how making sure you're giving yourself plenty of room capacity-wise can help you be happier and less stressed. Discussion topics include: • How personal capacity is like the memory capacity of your computer or phone - when you fill it up, everything sl...

We're thrilled to welcome Laura Roeder, founder of MeetEdgar, the social-media marketing application that changed the way many people post to social media. Shannon and Janine talk with Laura (a naturally good-enough person) about how she deals with perfectionism on the part of her team members and customers, how to know when something is good enough to launch into the world (before it's perfect) a...

Feeling satisfied--even when something isn't perfect--allows you to embrace a good-enough mentality. This week, Janine and Shannon discuss the importance of finding (and recognizing) satisfaction. Feeling satisfied doesn't lead to complacency--in fact, it's life enhancing. Discussion topics include: •Janine’s shocking (to Shannon) inability to tell a joke • How feeling satisfied is an importa...

Perfectionism can get in the way of starting or enjoying hobbies. This week Shannon and Janine talk about  their hobbies (and attempted hobbies) and share strategies for getting past perfectionism so you can enjoy your hobbies. Discussion topics include: • How every hobby Shannon’s had has been marred by perfectionism • How perfectionism can get in the way of starting and enjoying a new...

Janine and Shannon are experts in letting go. Janine helps people with tangible stuff and Shannon helps them with intangible stuff. So we have a lot to say in this episode about the benefits and process of letting go! Discussion topics include: • How January is a great time for letting go • That Janine rarely, if ever, regrets having let go of something (and neither do her clients) • How the vario...

Most people we meet have more clothes than they wear. When closets are crammed with unworn and unloved clothes, getting dressed is difficult. In this episode, Shannon and Janine talk about curating your closet so it's a pleasure to use and contains only clothes you love. This is a long episode--we just had so much to say! Discussion topics include: • How most people we meet have some sort of strug...

Now that the holidays are over, it's a good idea to focus on taking care of yourself. This week Janine and Shannon discuss the importance of self care and what self care means for us. Discussion topics include: • The fact that self care means something different to everyone • Shannon and Janine’s favorite self-care activities • The joy of floating in a flotation tank • The importance of creating t...

We're taking the holiday week off! Instead of a new episode, we're presenting our very first episode, Done Is Better Than Perfect. Enjoy! Our first episode! Shannon and Janine talk about a basic tenet of embracing good enough: the idea that done is better than perfect. We talk about how getting started and finishing something--even if the result is less than perfect--is so much better than waiting...

It's the end of the year and time to talk about goals and resolutions! In this Good Enough in Practice episode, Janine and Shannon talk about setting realistic, good enough goals. Way back in 2009, we created a teleclass and workbook about resolutions and we're revisiting it in this episode. (The messages of the teleclass will feel very familiar. They've stood the test of time!) Discussion topics...