What is a Good Life? #57 - Balancing Effort & Letting Go with Dr. Bettina Palazzo

On the 57th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Dr. Bettina Palazzo. Bettina is a business ethics expert, a lecturer at the University of Geneva, and the creator of The Ethics Gym program, demonstrating how leaders can be credible ethical role models.

In this conversation, we delve into the question Bettina is presently contemplating in life: how does one balance making an effort and letting go? Bettina shares the challenges this represents and also reflects on the role social media plays in making us believe we have an immediate solution for every problem in life.

We explore the role of our natural selves and curiosity, noting how fear and perfectionism affect our capacity to handle uncertainty. Simultaneously, we observe the role that compassion for ourselves and others plays in our ability to handle uncertainty and develop more trust in the unfolding of life, whether this is cultivated through community groups she has created or by being attentive to the stories we tell ourselves about other people’s behaviour towards us.

This episode will give you much to contemplate regarding our attempts to control and our relationship with uncertainty. Bettina also shares in such an authentic and relatable manner that her reflections provide really interesting insights and nuance into the challenges we face in our culture with letting go.

Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.

Contact me at [e-mail] to book a free consultation (30 minutes) for one-on-one coaching programs or to hear about corporate workshops I am offering around this question.

Running Order:

02:45 How do we find the balance of effort and letting go?
07:45 Knowing and accepting the limits of your control
12:07 Giving space for our nature or consciousness
19:15 Realising the fear in perfectionism and accepting risk
24:15 Contentment in handling complexity, uncertainty & doubt
28:28 Pleasant surprises in what we can’t control
33:03 The importance of supporting others & community
37:31 Ideas from Aikido in relating
42:01 Realising compassion for each other
47:06 The connection of compassion and letting go
50:15 What is a good life for Bettina?

For further content and information check out the following:

- For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos

- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/

- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/

- Bettina's Website: https://bettinapalazzo.com/en/home/

- Bettina's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bettina-palazzo/

What is What is a Good Life??

Over the last three years I've interviewed over 200 people around the question of "what is a good life?". I am not trying to find or prescribe universal answers to this question, instead to prompt your own inquiry into what constitutes a good life for you. While I am also trying to share more genuine expressions of the human experience, beyond the masks that we wear.