This episode comes to you in real time recording from way up in the mountains. It’s mainly about letting go of perfection, but also some interesting things about my vacation. Enjoy!

Listen on the embedded player below, or on your preferred podcast player. If reading is your jam, then scroll down for the transcript. Enjoy! 🙂

“By nature, I’m not a perfectionist. That’s the problem, a lot of us, we think we’re not perfectionists, but there are some little ways in which these expectations sneak in.”

Susmitha Veganosaurus – The Feel Good Factor Podcast

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Transcript: Done is better than perfect, solo travel, relaxing holiday

(gently edited for a better reading experience)

Helloooooo. I’m sitting here early in the morning, well, early by my standards, before 8 am, on top of a mountain in this lovely, quiet little getaway.

So yes, this podcast is not going to be perfect because I’m recording in real time. I did not bring my computer, my equipment, nothing. I’m recording directly on the phone and sharing it with all of you.

Initially I was wondering if I should I do this because there’s not going to be an intro-outro music, I don’t have anything available for any of that. And the sound quality isn’t going to be as perfect or as great as it normally is. So I was hesitating. I’m like, “should I even do this? Should I pre-record some episodes and list them up for auto publishing before I leave from Bangalore?” I had all these thoughts in my head.

There’s no way I can remember the, stutters, remem… See?! Haha There’s no way I can remove all these things that I’m saying like “ums”, and stutters, and mistakes. Everything is going to be right here on the episode!

But I reminded myself of the saying, “Done is better than perfect”

If I go trying to chase perfection, then I probably won’t get things done. I was really busy before I left Bangalore to come here. And I didn’t have the time to pre-record the episodes and get them set up, and all those things. I just didn’t have the time.

So I’m like, “you know what, I’m not going to leave it either.” Because I love talking to all of you every week. And I know some of you, you know, so diligently wait for my episodes and listen to them each week. I didn’t want to just let you down out of the blue. So I’m like, “let me just do this.”

“I’m gonna record on the phone and post it. If the episode needs all the cleaning, and the addition of the intro-outro, blah, blah, blah, all these things I’ll do it later. I’ll go back home and then edit it and repost it. But for now, let it be here.”

And it’s been a really good lesson for me in learning to let go of perfection

This is something I’ve been trying to practice for a long time. And by nature, I’m not a perfectionist. That’s the problem, a lot of us, we think we’re not perfectionists, but there are some little ways in which these expectations sneak in.

Especially if it’s work that you know we put our heart and soul into normally, something we care about and create, then more so without even realising, we want to be perfect at it. We want to be really, really good at it. And sometimes you can’t, you can’t do that.

First of all, you can’t always be a hundred percent perfect. But even vying for that perfection, that doesn’t work. Sometimes that doesn’t happen.

And when the choice is between us being really perfect and putting really great work out there, and not being able to do it because of that, versus, just putting maybe not that great, maybe a little mediocre, you know, less than perfect, not your normal standard of quality of work out there, but actually getting it done, well, always “done” is better than “perfect”, right? So yeah, here it is.

It’s been a lovely trip!

The journey was a wee bit haranguing for me. I don’t like certain stretches of the road, especially while coming up the mountain and there are all these curves and stuff. That wasn’t nice.

But I came, I decided… This is how I do holidays! I don’t like to visit a hundred different places and rush everywhere.

Holidays for me are meant to be more of relaxing and recharging

Seeing things and experiencing a place slowly, and going deep instead of wide. So I’m not going to do a lot of touristic places and things like that. At least, I’m not going to start my trip with that.

Instead, I’m going to visit a few of the places which seem interesting, and then the rest of the time I’m going to wander and read, eat… Eat of course! There are so many really nice cafes here with a lot of delicious vegan food.

I’m going to tell you all about the place, the actual place I’m at, once I go back home, because for safety reasons I don’t want to publicly reveal the exact location I’m at right now. But you bet I’m gonna tell you all about it later anyway! Anyway, there are all these delicious vegan options in a variety of cafes. And that’s been nice to go and explore.

The first day I came here, of course I rested a hundred percent

I said I’m not going to go out, because that was a long overnight journey of flying, and driving, and waiting at the airport. There was a lot of that and no sleep. And the tiredness… so I did not want to jump right into even a little bit of exploration.

So all I did was just relax in this place and just eat. They also have a nice in house cafe. And they’re very sweet people. So I just chatted with strangers. That was nice.

That’s something fun when you travel solo, you end up chatting with a lot of strangers versus when you’re travelling with somebody

For me, the first part of the trip, the travel and the first day, that was me doing it alone. And then later from the second day onwards my friend joined in.

So that’s been nice, you know, it’s been a nice combination of being alone and chatting with strangers, and just feeling that solo experience after a long time. And then having a friend, somebody I enjoy spending time with, and just chatting and planning our days and doing stuff together. It’s been a nice combination of the two.

Yeah, so this is what I wanted to share. Today’s episode is super short, just to give you an update and also to tell you, don’t be obsessed with obsessio… stutters laughs

Don’t be obsessed with perfection!

It’s okay, sometimes you just do things to get them done, to put them out there. And you can think about editing things… not just editing, I mean if they need any kind of work, you know, smoothening things out and updating the quality, do it later if you need to.

But most of the time, your audience, the people you’re serving with your work, or you know, friends, family, whoever… people would rather have you in whatever form you’re in, would rather have your work in whatever form it’s in than not have it at all, because you want to be too perfect at it. So this is my reminder for today.

Next week also, I’m going to still be here in the mountains and you’re gonna get a similar podcast episode

Take care, have a lovely, lovely week. And yes, because there is no intro-outro music, you are listening to The Feel Good Factor Podcast. I’m Susmitha Veganosaurus.

And it’s always a pleasure to chat with you, listen to you, hear back from you. Really, I love my podcast community! Thank you and take care. Bye!

Transcribed using Otter