The mindbodygreen Podcast

671: Is being “good enough” the secret to longevity? | Matt Bloom, Ph.D.

The mindbodygreen Podcast

Show Notes

“Small steps add up over time to the big changes that we seek,” says Matt Bloom, Ph.D.

Bloom is a professor emeritus of business at the University of Notre Dame. He has a PhD in psychology from Cornell University. For nearly thirty years, he and his research team studied the well-being of people who work in the helping and healing professions including physicians, humanitarian workers, clergy and public school teachers. Matt is cofounder of Ritual, a mobile app that offers a living library of evidence-based well-being practices created in partnership with wise guides including Barbara Brown Taylor, Kate Bowler, Steve Kerr, Nedra Glover Tawaab, and Anne Lamott.

00:00 - Why small habits beat big overhauls

05:05 - The 5-minute worry window

07:24 - Lessons from high-stress professions

13:32 - Radical acceptance & psychological flexibility

15:32 - An exercise for hard experiences

17:33 - When resilience through becomes self-destructive

20:22 - Why you need an accountability partner

24:57 - Practice over perfectionism

28:16 - Balancing great & good enough

31:48 - Burnout & finding your core values

34:34 - His Wall Street wake-up call

35:37 - Achieving personal & professional alignment

40:15 - Science that stands out

42:11 - Children & grandchildren

Referenced in the episode:

Visit Bloom’s website: https://mattbloom.org/

Buy Bloom’s new book: https://www.amazon.com/Lasting-Wellbeing-Science-Based-Tranquility-Authenticity/dp/1637748787/ref=sr_1_1

For more about the worry window, visit Elissa Epel’s website: https://www.elissaepel.com/

For more about radical acceptance, visit Steven Hayes’ website: https://stevenchayes.com/the-bittersweet-art-of-acceptance-2/

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