SLT073: Simplifying Simple Life Together

Okay, folks. We had intended this episode to be more of a “finality”. It was supposed to be more of a “farewell” episode and post. But the truth is, we’re having trouble with this because Simple Life Together is such a big part of our life. If it sounds like we’re waffling a bit, that’s because…well, we are!


So I guess you could say that we’re simplifying Simple Life Together. We should just jump right into the dirty work and break it all down for you…  Read More…

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Topic:  Simplifying Simple Life Together

It Hasn’t Been an Easy Decision to Simplify Simple Life Together!

On the last episode and up until we went to SimpleREV in Minneapolis we intended for this episode to be our last for quite a while. Here’s why:

  • What started off as us documenting our journey to simplify our lives, turned into something more…something better than we expected!
  • We unexpectedly built an amazing community of supporters and like-minded people in 154 countries.
  • We’ve gotten and continue to receive such heart felt support from that community…especially when we shared some of our toughest challenges.
  • We’ve also made some amazing friends along the way.
  • We were blessed with opportunities to speak about our life and our podcast at different conferences and on different podcasts.
  • We’ve been blessed with the opportunity to meet many of the people who inspired us both personally and professionally on our journey. Folks like Leo Babauta, Joshua Becker, Patrick Rohne, Mohammed Tohami, The Minimalists, Joel Zaslofsky, Dan Miller…just to name a few. Some of them have become good friends.
  • Even better…we’ve gotten to meet some of our loyal listeners and supporters…how cool is that? And, we’ve helped others in the community who are just starting out and making a real impact; folks like Dave & Sheryl Balthrop, Chris & Sarah Wehkamp, JF and Cheryl Moreau, Lara Blair, and others.
  • We were blown away by the amount of positive feedback about the show and how we influenced others to simplify their lives too. Feedback that brought us to tears. We never thought we could impact people the way that we did…and be impacted by them, as well.
  • The podcast helped us to really focus on what was important to us…and solidified our passion for simplicity and to live more deliberate and meaningful lives

But Producing the Show Isn’t All Sunshine

Although we love sharing and teaching others, over time, the success of our podcast led to the feeling of obligation of having to produce awesome content ALL the time. And let’s face it…our lives just aren’t THAT interesting that we have some type of major topic to talk about for 40 minutes each week. Still, we started realizing that the show was shifting from documenting our journey to “having” to produce good educational content each and every week, then every two weeks. Some of which took a lot of time to either research or compile coherent thoughts.

And we started to feel the pressures of the podcast from:

  • Coming up with content
  • Arranging our week to fit in research, recording and editing
  • Dealing with tension between the two of us...running out of content, waiting until the last minute to produce, the time obligation, defining roles and expectations, mistaken assumptions of who should do what, etc.

We get along really well and, for the most part, what you hear on the show is what you get with us. But every once in a while, working together on the show stretched things a little bit. Not too often, but definitely more so when we started feeling like we HAD to do a show as opposed to the times when we just couldn’t wait to share something. Hopefully, those tougher times were transparent on your end and you weren’t any the wiser. They weren’t often, but hey, we’re human, you know?

But that’s not all…we’ve also reached a part of journey where it made sense for us to pause the podcast a bit and shift from regularly scheduled content to “targets of opportunity-type” content…at least for now.

We’re Coming Into a Time of Refocus

The cool thing is that we’ve reached an important waypoint on this part of our journey, and now it’s time for us to refocus and work toward that end. But just like in any journey, when it comes to careers there are breaks along the way…if you’re lucky that is.

Back in our military days…during patrolling, we would occasionally take breaks on our mission called “SLLS Halts” (pronounced ‘sils’) that’s an acronym for Stop, Look, Listen, and Smell. Those halts would let you take things in and sense what was going on at that point in the operation. A time to just focus. I think we need to do that with life, too, and I feel like this SLLS halt I’ve taken has really refocused me on what I love and what I excel at. And that’s being in a leadership position with a team.

Wrap Up:

So this is what we’ve decided: Keeping in mind our original goal of the podcast and in light of our new focus in life….it’s not the end the end of Simple Life Together! As we have things to share, we will. That’s what we started out to do and that’s what we want to continue to do. Just not on a regular scheduled basis. So we’re simplifying a bit. But the sharing will continue. And I think it will be a better quality because it’s not rushed, forced, or done out of a sense of obligation…but from a point of sharing and community.

Many many thanks to you! We can’t thank the community enough for your constant support of SLT and hope you continue to support us when we do decide to pop in from time to time!

We are blown away at the community on Edit & Forget It Facebook Page and plan on keeping it going and participating as long as the group is active. We’ll pop in from time to time, but the really cool thing is that it’s really at a point where it’s a bunch of great folks that have a ton of advice and support to offer.

Question:

So does simplifying the show sound okay to you? A little less of us…a little less predictability…but still here to share our journey? We’d love to know.  Let us know what you think in the comments below. 

Announcements:

SimpleREV!

  • SimpleREV was amazing!  We’ll have more about it soon, but I just have to say…it really exceeded expectations. So much so that I actually tweeted this out:

 

SimpleREV Tweet

Project 333

If you have questions or just want to learn more about Project 333 or Courtney Carver’s Dress With Less microcourse. You can learn more about that at SimpleLifeTogether.com/dress.

Edit & Forget It Challenge

Finally, sign up for the Edit & Forget It Challenge! If you’re already on our Edit & Forget It Challenge email list, that’s great. If not, you can sign up here.

Shownotes:

You can download a PDF of our show prep, too.

Resources and Links:

Photo Credit: Modified Photo From Ken Conley

Please note: We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

12 thoughts on “SLT073: Simplifying Simple Life Together

  1. Great update! I totally understand – producing a podcast about simplifying life that makes your life suck seems to defeat the purpose, right? We’ll be here ready to listen whenever you have something to say and time to share it! 🙂

  2. We love the show and it’s one of our go to shows as we hit the road and travel around in our teardrop trailer. It has inspired us to simplify our lives. On Oct 1, we made a commitment to get rid of 100 things by the end of the year. We are at 85 things donated or sold and it’s only been 10 days! I love the tips and tricks and assortment of stuff you talk about. As ex Air Force I relate to a lot of things and my wife and I often find similarities to your journey. I completely understand on the difficulties it can bring. We find it hard just to cooperate on doing a few blog posts after a trip, let alone a whole show. I would love to see more episodes, even if they don’t fit a certain mold or are just a few things here and there. Sharing the tips, tricks, thoughts and knowing that we aren’t alone is fantastic! Thanks for all you have done!

    • John-
      I hope your travels and simplifying are going well! Drop another note to update us when you can.

      I just wanted to let you know we FINALLY got around to doing a couple of update episodes to Simple Life Together. Episodes 78 & 79 are loaded on the site and in iTunes. Thanks so much for your note!

  3. You guys have done a great job with your podcast. I’m disappointed that there aren’t going to be new podcasts on a weekly basis, but completely understand the complexities of life (We all do that’s why we listen to your podcast!). I’m happy to hear the two of you will continue to on occasion do podcasts, and I will continue to listen. Many thanks!!

    Jack

    • Jack-

      I just wanted to let you know we FINALLY got around to doing a couple of update episodes to Simple Life Together. Episodes 78 & 79 are loaded on the site and in iTunes. Thanks so much for your note!

  4. Hello Dan and Vanessa,
    As you are departing from your regular weekly podcasts I want to say thank you for serving as my walking / hiking companions the past couple of years. Indeed, I am retired, a professional ‘volunteer’ now and 65 years old. I take daily walks in the neighborhood or on nearby hiking trails and I am so happy I discovered your podcasts back in the early times of your podcasting adventure. I still remember clearly a very cold winter day I was walking on a wooded hiking trail and I listened to you for the first time. I enjoyed the listen and I was pretty hooked. . Your manner of relating to each other and your consistent , essential message is what kept me downloading your next one and your next one. You two are nice to listen to and I am grateful to you both for how much I have learned , had reinforced for my own life choices and for all the resources you helped me uncover.
    You two deliver good stuff.

    As much as I will miss your regular new podcasts, I totally understand your life choice. Your listeners would want nothing but what is best for you. I frankly was concerned for a while when you were doing 2-4 podcasts per month. Concerned that you may reach your own tipping point where your show no longer felt like an adventure , but rather an obligation. But now, you are role modeling for us how the “Simple Life Together” philosophy and values can manifest.

    God bless you both, I will look forward to some of your future efforts , whatever they may be, and I am grateful I have many archived podcasts you are leaving behind , so I can start over and listen again.

    Bill from
    Holland , Michigan

    • Bill-

      I saw your comment when I logged in today. We just released a couple of “update” episodes and when I went in to post them, I saw your wonderful comment. You must think I’m incredibly rude for not replying sooner. All I can do is offer my sincerest apologies! Thank you so much for taking the time to write. I feel terrible for not having seen it and replied sooner. I wish I could join you on one of your morning walks and express to you myself my thanks for your note. It means the world to me and Vanessa. I hope you can forgive me for not replying sooner. -Dan

  5. Hallelujah! I’m so glad that you are going to continue podcasting, however irregular. In the last 6 months I’ve listened to most of your podcasts clear from the beginning. I’m a natural organizer who has gotten lazy from having my house in a state of constant remodel in some area (windows, roofing, new insulation, new wiring, framing, etc…pretty much all new inside the existing shell, but nowhere near done) and all your simplifying ideas and downsizing suggestions have been a breath of fresh air for me. This past year has been especially hard with some difficult curveballs being thrown my way and you have helped me in thinking more positively than I otherwise would’ve been. Thank you, Dan, for your jokes and Vanessa’s laughter reminding me that there is still a reason to enjoy life in the midst of chaos.

    • Thanks so much, Angie!! I’m so glad we could bring a little something to help brighten your day! With comments like yours it’s too hard to stay away from the show for too long. I hope 2015 throws some much better pitches your way so you can knock them outta the park! 😉

  6. i just want to say that how wonderful it is to see you both modeling the self-care that is vital to avoid burnout BEFORE things spin out of control.

    You’ve given whole heaps of good stuff to the community. Now that it’s time for you to give back to yourself, it’s inspiring to see you not only recognize that, but act on it.

    Thank you for all that you’ve done and will continue to do (but in your own time!). You guys rock my socks. May this lead to many wonderful adventures!

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