Are You Getting to Good Enough?

Janine Adams and Shannon Wilkinson don’t know it yet, but I’ve become obsessed with their podcast, Getting to Good Enough, which recently aired its 52nd episode! That’s a whole year of 30-minute weekly episodes of “a podcast to help you let go of perfectionism so you can do more of what you love”.

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It still seems new to me, though. I listened to a few episodes several months ago, got busy with other things, and only recently returned to it. At first, I thought: This is fun! Two knowledgeable, longtime friends chatting amiably about the concept of “good enough”, and how they apply it to all facets of their own, and their clients’, lives. When I listen, it really feels like I’m sitting at a kitchen table with the two of them, chatting over a cup of tea, or a glass of wine. When they are amused/impressed/intrigued/sympathetic with each other, I too am amused/impressed/intrigued/sympathetic. At the same time, though, I thought: Is it only fun because I know Janine? And do I really need to spend my time listening, since they’re talking about things that I, too, already know, write, and talk about? And is it worth telling others about?

The answer turned out to be YES. The feeling is similar to when I first discovered NAPO, and APPO, and found “my people”. Or, whenever you discover you have something in common with any new friend. You DO want to talk about it! Like Shannon’s kitty, Chloe, who made herself comfortable in episode 27 (although it was a different episode in which I heard her purring), I find the podcast to be very soothing. It’s soothing to listen to their voices. It’s soothing to know that they agree with me on so many things. It’s soothing to be reminded that I can give myself a break more often.

Binge-listening is like listening to an audio book

I started binge-listening, and, once I got over feeling like a stalker, I realized it was really no different from listening to an audio book, which I do all the time, mostly while doing all sorts of physical things that require few brain cells, like loading/unloading the dishwasher, and brushing my teeth. (Wink, wink, Janine and Shannon.) In this way, it didn’t take me long to completely catch up.

Like Janine, a professional organizing colleague in St. Louis, Missouri, I consider myself lucky enough to be naturally good at good enough. Shannon, a life coach in Portland, Oregon, refers to herself as a recovering perfectionist who’s getting better at good enough. But the more they talk, and the more I listen, the more I recognize just how many life situations there are, and how many occasions per day it would be helpful to remind myself: “You can stop now.” Or, “Don’t worry about that.” And, “It’s good enough!” Also, I’m realizing, I go through phases where I’m harder on myself than at other times. So I need reminding. You too?

Org4life is all about Good Enough

After each episode Janine and Shannon ask for listeners to contact them to provide feedback and/or to ask questions. So, I kept a few notes while I listened, which was hit and miss since I was multitasking (Episode 26). There were many episodes where I thought, “Not only do I agree, but I wrote a blog post about this!” I searched my blog for “good enough”, “perfectionism”, and other related terms and came up with several of each. But not all of the applicable posts used those phrases, so I’ll just link to a few of them for you below.

Here are some Org4life blog posts that relate to Good Enough episodes:

Ep. 6: Task Management — Why You Need a Project Box & a Master To-Do List

Ep. 12: Procrastination — Plan, Don’t Procrastinate (Read This Now!)

Ep. 18: Prioritizing — Yes, you really CAN afford it, and you really DO have the time!

Ep. 20: Genealogy — Genealogy Resource Roundup

Ep. 24: Start Where You Are — Think of your Future Self as a Dear Friend

Ep. 27: The Thrill of Done — Climbing your never-ending family tree

Ep. 28: Letting the Holidays Be Easy — Organizing to De-Stress Your Holidays (all of them)

Ep. 39: Making Work Fun — The 21 Day Habit Myth (Don’t Break the Chain!)

Ep. 43: Money — Money Mondays: Are You Paying Your Money Enough Attention?

Ep. 45: Getting Back on Track — Getting Back on Track

Ep. 53 Preventing Overwhelm —  Just Say No…Here’s How and Why

A few topics that come up a lot, and rightly so:

Yoga — (Ep. 34, 36, 44, 45, 46 — Yoga is a great way to relax, and also something that some people strive needlessly to be perfect at.) — All I Really Need to Know About Organizing I Learned in Yoga

TV — (Ep. 16, 46, and various references in other episodes to individual shows — TV is another way to relax, but can also be fraught with decision making dilemmas! Janine: I would be hard pressed to say what my favorite TV show was too!) —  Guilt-Free TV

Cleaning — (Ep. 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 51 — Shannon: I, too, love my Dyson! Janine: I, too, occasionally have organizers over to my house. Ack! Lol!) — How clean does your house really need to be?

Words Matter — (like “evening routine” vs “putting the house to bed” ) — Those Magic Little Words (that help you get organized)

What’s most important to you? – I got overwhelmed when searching my blog for priority/priorities/prioritize/prioritizing/prioritization (and realized for the first time that my website search engine does not use Google-style wildcards, e.g. “priorit*”), so you’ll just have to trust me there are a LOT of posts about how YOUR priorities are what matter — and keeping them in mind can keep you on the path you want to be on — not mine or anyone else’s.

My To-Do List:

  • Check out the podcast show notes on http://gettingtogoodenough.com
  • Look into YNAB: https://www.youneedabudget.com/
  • Ask Shannon about her e-bike
  • Ask Janine about her new monitor
  • Try Yoga with Adriene (YouTube videos)
  • Look into Boring Change and
  • Send this post to Janine and Shannon with kudos and thanks.
  • Suggest that they edit out all the intros and outros and turn it into an audio book. For real. (Keeping the lovely intro/outro music for the beginning and end of the book, and using the shorter version for segues between chapters.)

This post isn’t perfect

Part of me regrets not having taken better notes, or having started taking them sooner. Who knew I would want to write about this podcast? There are MANY MORE observations I could have made, and MANY MORE blog posts of my own I could link to, and MANY MORE good ideas they had that I could pursue for myself or give them feedback about.

So, this post is not perfect.

(I invoke the law of diminishing returns.)

But you know what? It’s done.

 (How do I know? Because I can finally read it through without cringing.)

And it’s good enough!

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Are YOU a recovering perfectionist? Are you naturally good at good enough?

Have you listened to the podcast? Do you think you’ll try it? (Let me know if you do!)

Why not join the conversation by leaving a comment?

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Copyright 2019 by Hazel Thornton, Organized for Life.
I welcome social media links directly to this page!
Please contact me for other types of reprint permission.

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10 Comments

  1. Shannon Wilkinson on June 2, 2019 at 2:50 pm

    Hazel, I can’t express how wonderful it feels to read this post. Thank you for being such an attentive, thoughtful and generous listener! I’m so happy that you’ve gotten so much out of our weekly chats, even if it’s just to say, hey, me, too! Thank you for sharing.

    • Hazel Thornton on June 6, 2019 at 7:07 am

      Awww, thanks for chiming in, Shannon! I hope you realize I’m just a fan, and not a stalker, lol!

  2. Seana Turner on June 3, 2019 at 6:55 am

    I haven’t listened to the podcast, but it sounds terrific! I love listening to audiobooks and podcasts and sermons. I just like having something my brain can “park on” while I’m performing mundane tasks. Good enough is a very important concept, deceptively so. Working has shown me how paralyzing perfectionism truly is. Finding that line where we can celebrate progress and simply be content is a terrific life skill!

    • Hazel Thornton on June 3, 2019 at 7:05 am

      Everything you have just said, Seana, tells me you will love it! Report back, OK?

  3. Linda Samuels on June 3, 2019 at 7:15 am

    Kudos to you for putting this post together. And I have to say that it was better than “good enough.” Don’t get me wrong. I’m an advocate of good enough. We can make ourselves crazy with our search or need for perfection. It can negatively affect us and those around us. I operate somewhere between good enough and being my best self. I qualify “best,” not to mean perfect, but to be as good as I can be with all the factors going on at a particular time.

    I’m convinced that adopting a “good enough” philosophy is directly connected to our ability to let go and or lean in. Both of those I’ve gotten better at over the years, but they don’t come to me naturally.

    For many of my clients, the “good enough” conversation is something we regularly have.

    I’ve heard of Janine and Shannon’s podcast, but have never listened to it. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were their marketing manager. You’ve got me curious now, and I will listen to it. Thank you for pointing me in their direction.

    • Hazel Thornton on June 3, 2019 at 7:18 am

      Nope. They had no idea I was listening! You’ll love it!

  4. Nancy Haworth on June 3, 2019 at 5:05 pm

    Thank you for making me aware of this podcast. I haven’t listened to it yet, but it looks like there are lots of interesting topics. I look forward to listening to it while walking or running soon.

    • Hazel Thornton on June 6, 2019 at 7:06 am

      Let me know what you think of it, OK?

  5. Geralin Thomas on June 10, 2019 at 4:53 am

    Hazel,

    I too very much enjoy the Getting To Good Enough podcasts. I find myself nodding in agreement as Shannon + Janine discuss topics near and dear to my heart and humming along to the theme music as I find it very pleasant!

    Thanks to Janine, I’ve become a fan of Yoga with Adrienne, a few new TV shows, and, I’m now experimenting with audio books.

    BTW, Janine’s blog, Peace of Mind Organizing, is also worth a little link-love because her posts are short, to the point, and, very conversational in tone. But, I’m sure you already know that! 🙂

    • Hazel Thornton on June 10, 2019 at 7:27 am

      Actually, no, I haven’t read Janine’s Peace of Mind Organizing blog! (I will now.) But I do follow her terrific Organize Your Family History blog. That girl gets around!

      BTW, Geralin, I love that you refer to Janine as “an indoor kitty” (which she reported in one of the blog episodes). So funny + sweet!

      Thanks for dropping by my blog!

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