508: When Doing Less Isn't the Answer to Your Overwhelm // Stacey Mork Collins
3 in 30 Takeaways for MomsSummary
Mothers often face the challenge of balancing a busy life filled with responsibilities while maintaining their sense of self and joy. Stacey Mort Collins, a certified life coach and mother of four, emphasizes that feeling overwhelmed does not necessarily mean one must simplify their life. Instead, it can indicate a need to understand the underlying values and tensions at play. By diagnosing the root causes of their feelings, mothers can find ways to manage their busy lives without sacrificing the aspects they cherish.
Collins shares her experience with the tension between wanting her children to look good and the reality of their messy, active lives. She advocates for a values-based approach, suggesting that understanding what truly matters can help mothers make informed decisions about where to invest their time and energy. This leads to the concept of "A-level work," where mothers can choose to focus their best efforts on specific areas while allowing for less perfection in others, ultimately fostering a more sustainable and fulfilling life.
The conversation also touches on the importance of practicing decision-making without the pressure of certainty. Collins encourages mothers to shift their focus from seeking the "right" answer to considering how they can approach situations with love and clarity. This mindset can significantly reduce feelings of overwhelm and help mothers feel more present in their lives. For those seeking guidance, Collins offers free discovery calls to help women untangle their feelings and explore coaching options.
Show Notes
For years, the most common advice I’ve heard (and given) to overwhelmed moms is some version of “do less,” and I still believe in it for so many of us. But some women hear that advice and feel a pang of loss, because the full, busy, people-filled life they’ve built is exactly the life they love, and they just wish they didn’t feel so stretched thin all the time.
Maybe that’s you, and you don’t want to give up the volunteering, the hosting, the garden, or the creative projects that make you feel most like yourself. That tension is real, and it deserves a better answer than “just cut something.”
This week’s guest is Stacey Mork Collins, certified life coach and my longtime Self-Assured Motherhood co-teacher.Stacey shares why overwhelm isn’t always a sign that something needs to go, and how getting curious about what’s underneath it can help you hold a big life with so much more ease.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
🌻 The one day a year Stacey cares what her kids wear (and why every other day they’re in stained hand-me-downs), because understanding what you value can turn a constant source of friction into a choice you feel good about
🌻 How Stacey pulled off a farm-to-table dinner for 100 people that raised over $10,000 for her kids’ school, and what her own family ate for dinner that week, because not every area of your life needs your best effort at the same time
🌻 The question Stacey asks every client who says “I don’t know,” because you often have more wisdom than you’re giving yourself credit for
So here’s to keeping the big, beautiful lives we’ve built, and to learning to hold them with a little more ease and a lot more self-trust.
For full show notes, including takeaways, click here.
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Announcements:
Connect with Stacey Mork Collins, who coaches moms with so many good things in their lives who still can’t figure out why it all feels so hard.
Related Episodes:
446: Is Perfectionism Good or Bad? // Katherine Morgan Schafler
334: 3 Ways to Lighten the Load of Parenthood // Greg McKeown
435: How to Make Decisions Without Overthinking // Kendra Adachi of The Lazy Genius
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