469: How to Lighten the Load of Motherhood // Greg McKeown

A few years ago, I read a book that made me think it was reading my mind. In the introduction, the author asks: Do you ever feel like you're running faster but not moving any closer to your goals? Do you want to make a higher contribution but you lack the energy? Are you teetering right on the edge of burnout?

I wrote, "Yes, yes, yes!" next to each question in the margin of my copy.

The book is Effortless by Greg McKeown, and it's the follow-up to his first book Essentialism, which I talked about in last week's episode. In today's episode, Greg talks about how we can lighten the load of motherhood without burning out.

Greg acknowledges that life is genuinely hard—raising children is hard, paying the bills is hard, strained relationships are hard—and he's not promising to eliminate those hardships. But he does offer tools that can help lighten the load, and that's exactly what we talk about in this episode.

In this episode, you'll learn:

💜 Why striving for 100% effort actually makes you less effective—and the optimal pace that will help you go further without burning out

💜 The question Greg asks when everything feels overwhelming (hint: it's not "what can I cut?" but something far more freeing)

💜 What radical gratitude actually means—and why it's the only thing powerful enough to counter the suffering we all experience in motherhood

If you've been running on empty, if the mental and emotional load feels crushing, or if you're wondering how to keep showing up when everything feels so hard, this conversation will meet you right where you are.

For full show notes, including takeaways, click here.

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Announcements:

My Declutter Your Motherhood audio course walks you through the exact process I use to release the "shoulds" that don't fit me anymore and make room for what actually brings me joy.

Related Episodes:

468: Stop the Runaway Train: How to Get Back to What Actually Matters

412: How to Overcome Overwhelm

401: How Radical Gratitude Can Change Your Life // Dr. Tanmeet Sethi

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