Do you feel like you have too much stuff? A cluttered space isn’t just inconvenient - the truth is: it’s hard to lead a joyful, purposeful life when you’re drowning in possessions. That said, decluttering is more than just getting rid of the stuff you already have. To make a real change in your home, you need to examine how these excess possessions got there in the first place. Returning for her second appearance on the Minimalist Moms Podcast is author and professional organizer, Tracy McCubbin. She’s here to discuss the acquisition cycles that keep our homes overcrowded and distract us from going after the meaningful things we really want in our lives.

Have you ever felt like your habits are more like a ball and chain? Do they restrict you, keep you confined, or keep you from growing in the ways you really need to? If so, it’s time to recognize that you may need a different approach. Here to discuss flexible goal setting is host of the About Progress podcast, Monica Packer. On this episode, you’ll hear how Monica overcame a perfectionist mindset through flexibility and consistency - realizing that the two don’t compete with one another, rather they make each other possible. Monica’s approach to successful habit formation has allowed her to continually pursue goals while adapting to the various seasons of life: habits can be successful by doing your best, most of the time, over time.

Back for her third appearance on the Minimalist Moms podcast is creator of 1000 Hours Outside, Ginny Yurich. Ginny believes that the premise of spending 1000 Hours Outside each year is simple (with a profound impact) but it’s easy to feel ‘stuck’ or unmotivated, so today Ginny is here to offer us prompts and ideas for how to reach one thousand hours - even getting ourselves outside during the cold, winter months. This episode is full of seasonal activity prompts to help motivate you on those days where you need a little boost! No matter where you live I’m confident you’ll find this episode a worthwhile listen as you make getting outdoors a priority this year!

Do feeds showing picture-perfect rooms make you second-guess your abilities to make changes in your own home? Everywhere we turn, someone is trying to show or outpace the latest trend, and soon we’ll start hearing about 2023 Color Of The Year. I want to invite you to leave all that behind and start looking at your surroundings with a more holistic approach, one with intention, a deep sense of self awareness, and based on a vision of the type of home-life you seek. My guest is Jessica Velazquez who is an interior designer, a firm believer that our well-being is inseparable from our environment, and host of her Instagram live show, My Very First Home.

You know those awful, terrible, sucker-punch moments in life? The ones that knock you down, burn you up, or make you cringe so hard you wish it was all a bad dream? Probably–because we all do. These epic, messy, oh-no-oh-crap moments of chaos are just part of life–yet, as Dr. Neeta Bhushan shows us, they're also beautiful opportunities for change. In today’s episode, Neeta explains why it's so hard to get back up when stuff goes down, and how to navigate the five stages of the Fly Forward Framework: Falling, Igniting, Rising, Magnifying, and onto Thriving.

Who do you talk to the most? Maybe you’re thinking: “my spouse, my kids, my friends, or my coworkers.” This may surprise you but the answer is none of the above. On a daily basis, the person you talk to the most is, without question, yourself. We each have around 70,000 self-talk thoughts a day. And here’s the problem—80% of them are negative. When we hear a steady barrage of negative words from the person we talk to by far the most, life becomes anything but simple. Disempowering thoughts (I’m a bad mom, I’m a mess, I’m so overwhelmed, This day is terrible), especially when repeated often, drag us down and complicate our lives. These thoughts distract us from the present moment, keep us from meeting our goals and stop us from fully living our lives; however, what if we could apply the idea of decluttering to this area of life? Joining me today to encourage us as we ‘declutter’ negative self-talk is Julia Ubbenga, voice behind the popular social media account and blog, Rich in What Matters. Today Julia will take us through her process of forming better habits around the way we speak to ourselves.

Busy moms often have trouble with their digestive health. What could be a possible culprit? One possibility is the pantry. We find ourselves running into issues: feeling bloated, uncomfortable in our favorite clothes, and left not knowing how to navigate this health space in a way that works for our bodies. On today’s bonus episode, Leeann Rybakov joins me to discuss ways that the pantry is contributing to digestive health issues and how to swap out for healthier options! Even just "minimizing" the ingredients (knowing what should stay and what should go) list can be a game changer!

Joining me today is host of the Thriving in Motherhood Podcast, Jessica Jackson. After years of struggle Jessica realized there are simple, practical things she can do to stop living in overwhelm and find meaning and joy in everyday life. She loves empowering other mothers to create lives they are excited to wake up to each day. Today, our conversation will focus on creating a vision for the new year!

Angela Lyons is a minimalist mom and avid traveler who loves to chat about finding balance, slowing down, and living an intentional life. Her family has undergone a few significant changes over the last few years at the hands of minimalism which has allowed them to embrace what is most important to them. As a part of this, Angela extensively decluttered her items, sold her house, elected to go part-time at her company to spend more time with the girls, and packed up the family for a 3-month trip to Peru. She is passionate about minimalism as a means to achieve her family's goals - which includes a bigger focus on travel, and less of a focus on all the "stuff". Today she’ll be sharing her story and best tips for simplifying your travel experience.

Amber O’Neal Johnston, a homeschooling mother of four, shows parents of all backgrounds how to create a home environment where children feel secure in their own personhood and culture, enabling them to better understand and appreciate people who are racially and culturally different. She’ll be joining me today to discuss her new book, A Place to Belong, which provides parents with the tools to empower children as they embrace their unique identities while feeling beautifully tethered to their global community.

Joining me today is business strategist & productivity coach, Brittany Dixon. Although she is a practicing minimalist, Brittany's family owns ninety board games! The reason behind it? Family connectivity plus weekly game time helps teach strategy and critical thinking. Her hope is that listeners walk away with light-bulb moments that game night can actually teach tangible life lessons (plus a lot more about the practice of minimalism and tips such recommends from her own life!)

Joining me today is Mari Collins. She and her husband created an app, called Ketshop that helps teach kids to prioritize things they really love - and learn to save towards those special purchases. Her hope is to change the way families shop - to focus on quality, educational items that kids buy for themselves, rather than a million knickknacks destined for landfill. Today, our conversation will focus on: intentional consumption, choice overload in children, teaching responsibility and accountability to younger kids and more...

Joining me today is parenting coach, Emily Hamblin. Emily is here to encourage listener's who struggle to find confidence when navigating their children's sibling rivalry. From decluttering our thoughts, to being intentional with our reactions, to simplifying our responses - Emily guides us through specific examples of how we can improve our responses and, ultimately, provide a stronger connection that our children both need and are looking for...

Joining me today are relationship experts and founders of Marriage365, Casey and Meygan Caston.  Casey and Meygan Caston were the couple least likely to succeed in their marriage. After meeting in college, they fell in love fast and then said I do. But after only three years, they were headed straight for divorce. They placed blame on each other for their bad marriage. But one thing they did agree on, they both didn't want to become another American divorce statistic. The Castons began searching for ways to do marriage right. They surrounded themselves with healthy couples, experts, books, and got therapy to make a relational transformation. But they admit that it was a long and really difficult process to find resources that were affordable and convenient, so they decided to do something about it and founded Marriage365. On today’s episode, Casey and Meygan discuss: How couples can focus on being intentional with their relationship and time together, simple ideas for emotionally connecting with your spouse, areas that couples need to de-clutter the most and have a minimalistic marriage and more…

Joining me today is psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker Shonda Moralis. Her goal is to help women reclaim their peace of mind by centering themselves in the present moment, even while they’re being pulled in eighty different directions. Today, Shonda shares insights to help take a much-needed break, teaching you to be mindful and helping you to empower themselves, leading to a calmer, more fulfilled life. We chat about the basics of meditation, how the ‘impossibility of balance’ is untrue and actually possible, antidotes to burnout, how mindfulness has influenced her motherhood and more…

Anyone who has ever set a goal or resolution knows how hard they are to keep. No matter how good your intentions are when you establish them, it's tough to get changes to stick. If you have yet to meet your goals, you are not alone. Plans get derailed – even the best-laid ones don’t always work out. We always have a choice when this happens: we can stress about it or we can keep moving forward. Joining me for the second time on the show is author, Tanya Dalton. Today Tanya will encourage listeners to consider: WHY? Why do we make the choices we do? WHAT? What are the choices we want to make? HOW? How do we move forward on the choices we’re making? WHAT IF? What if I get off track? This episode will start as a inspirational starting point as you begin to think of the changes and habits you want to create in the upcoming year!

Whether your family has been doing devotions together for years or this is your first time introducing them, Building a Family of Faith is just what you need to help your family connect with one another, grow in faith, and learn how physical activity can influence your relationships and your faith. Who better to guide you than Andy Dooley--a passionate leader, pastor, social media influencer, fitness professional, and father of four who has worked with families for more than eighteen years through sports, fitness, and ministry. Andy was a joy to speak with and I think this episode will serve as an encouragement for those of you who are looking to reignite the time spent with not only your family, but God, too!

Just like there is slow food, slow parenting, and slow entertainment, friluftsliv is a form of slow nature. An outdoorsy cousin of hygge, friluftsliv ('free-loofts-liv') is what Nordic people do outside all day before they cozy up in front of the fireplace with their wool socks on and a cup of hot cocoa. The concept is humble, but revolutionary: Live simply. Go outside often. Be kind to the earth. Friluftsliv can be as simple as an evening walk around the neighborhood or as advanced as a multiday backpacking expedition in the remote wilderness, or anything in between. Joining me today is Swedish-American writer, Linda McGurk. You likely know Linda from her bestselling book, There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather. She joined me back on EP158 and totally we’ll go deeper with her new book, The Open Air Life.

Screen time doesn't necessarily have "one-size-fits-all" prescription; however, what does a realistic approach look like? What does the research actually suggest? How can we encourage the growth of imagination? How can we find more time for play? Joining me today to discuss all of this and more is the creator behind the popular account @playmore_techless, Abby Lynch.

All parents want their children to thrive, but what does that actually look like? And what does it take to get there? In her new book, The Whole and Healthy Family, Jodi Mockabee shares her parenting philosophy, one that encourages the equipping of each unique child to be able to function as a whole person so that they can enter adulthood as physically, spiritually, and mentally healthy individuals. Today we'll be discussing how to create a simple home environment, staying active as a family, serving together and more...