Why Good Enough Is Good Enough
A small confession about perfectionism, burnout, and why I’m choosing a more humane way to work.
I did something this week that I didn’t plan to do in the first season of the podcast.
I recorded a solo episode.
Originally, I imagined this season being all conversations with brilliant people who are trying to change the world without burning themselves out. And that is still the vision. But life had other ideas for a few weeks. So today’s episode is just me.
And honestly? It felt like the most honest thing I could do.
When Real Life Interrupts the Plan
After the podcast launched on January 1st, a few things happened in quick succession.
First, I discovered just how much work it actually takes to produce a podcast. I love doing it—the conversations energize me—but the editing, production, graphics, uploads, show notes, and distribution add up quickly when you’re doing it all yourself.
Then, three days after launch, my computer died.
It took nearly three weeks to finally land on a replacement that would actually work for what I needed. During that time I borrowed a computer and kept the absolute essentials moving, but a lot of the momentum I had planned for January simply disappeared.
And then there was winter.
If you live somewhere cold, you know what I mean. When it’s gray and icy and dark, your body just doesn’t want to sprint. Several guests on the podcast have talked about this too: our energy is seasonal whether we acknowledge it or not.
Between the technical issues, the learning curve, and the season itself, something had to give.
Choosing the Work That Matters Most
Instead of scrambling to keep the podcast perfectly on schedule, I shifted my focus to something else that needed attention.
I spent time reimagining and rebuilding my community, which is relaunching as the Calm Calendar Club. I cleaned up parts of my website, set up some automations and tackled a long list of small backend projects that will make things easier going forward.
None of that was the plan.
But it was the right work for that moment.
Sometimes the most humane choice isn’t sticking rigidly to the original plan. It’s asking: What actually matters most right now?
Letting Good Enough Be Good Enough
Somewhere along the way, I made a quiet but important decision.
I stopped pressuring myself to do everything. Instead of trying to catch up perfectly, I chose to let good enough be good enough. Not forever. Not because I don’t care about doing things well.
But because perfectionism — the idea that everything must be done to attain a mythic ideal — is one of the fastest paths to burnout.
New things take longer than we expect. Life interrupts. Energy changes with the seasons. Plans evolve. And that’s not failure. That’s being human.
In This Episode, I Get Real About:
Why the podcast briefly disappeared from your feed
The hidden workload behind producing a podcast
How perfectionism quietly fuels burnout
What happened when my computer died right after launch
Why winter and life seasons naturally slow us down
Creating more humane systems for getting things done
Why I’m choosing “good enough” instead of perfect
Why I’m Still All-In on This Podcast
Even with all of the bumps in the road, this podcast is honestly one of the best things I’ve started in a long time. I love having deep conversations with people who are trying to change the world without burning themselves out. People doing the work of liberation, resistance, care, and community while still trying to live fully human lives. Those conversations matter to me.
Which means this podcast will keep going — even if the rhythm is still evolving and season one is a little messy while I figure things out. Perfection is not required.
Want to Go Deeper?
Paid subscribers of the Rest Rebel Collective receive After the Mic — a reflection and resource post I share the day after each episode drops. It’s where we slow down, integrate, and explore what rest actually looks like in real life, not just in theory.
If this conversation resonated and you’re longing for rest that helps you stay human in inhumane systems, will you join this growing movement of Rest Rebels.
Rest isn’t a retreat from the world. It’s how we learn to build a better one.