In this episode, Mike and Lindsay discuss some of the mental roadblocks that come up when we are trying to do something difficult. Why do people think that if they mess up that's it? Why do they think, "Oh, I'll start this tomorrow, so I'd better have that 'Last Meal' tonight!" These are ways of self-sabotaging yourself and your goals. Mike and Lindsay discuss how to get over those things and they discuss their own goals and how to stay accountable for them. Finally they discuss how a promise to yourself needs to be just as important as a promise to someone else.

Mike and Lindsay talk about their ideal life and what their goals are for the future. They also talk a little about being happy with where they are and how even just a little bit of progress is still progress and is worth celebrating. Life doesn't always go exactly how you plan, but that's okay. You can still be proud of yourself for what you've accomplished already and look forward to what you're continuing to do.

Mike and Lindsay discuss the importance of not "losing yourself" when you are a stay-at-home-parent. They discuss creative ways to find time for yourself when your kids are young and how to receive help from others. It doesn't even have to be a spouse...it can be friends, neighbors, and family, too. 

They discuss the benefits for both parents when each of you feels like you have time for yourself. They also discuss the importance of planning out the week and communicating with each other about what both of your expectations are.

In this episode, Mike tells his version of the night his house blew up and burnt down. Even after twenty-two years of hearing this story, I never get bored of it. You can also read it in more detail on our website here. Friends, miracles happen and in a moment your life can change. Your perspective can change in an instant, too, if you let it. Whether the catalyst is small or huge, your life will take the direction it needs to take. You just have to trust in the powers that be (I believe our Heavenly Father is in charge) and look for the beauty in EVERYTHING. Sometimes the most wonderful things come from the hardest circumstances.

In this episode, Lindsay and Mike discuss the tendency of mothers to make themselves feel guilty if they aren't living up to their own expectations, or those of others. They also discuss giving and receiving guilt trips from spouses and other people in our lives. What can we do to avoid this trap? 

Mike and Lindsay share some funny stories from their childhood and traveling disasters their parents had to deal with. They also discuss things they've learned over the years that work the best for making road trips as enjoyable as possibly, whether short or long. They discuss a few tips for airline flight as well.

Mike and Lindsay discuss how to navigate marriage when one of you has depression and the other doesn't. What causes it? What can be done to help? They discuss a few things they've dealt with over the years, ways they've learned to understand each other and encourage others to do the same. Lindsay also wrote about this on her blog and you can read it here.

Mike and Lindsay discuss the importance of teaching your child about money and why earning it is important. We have a post on this topic as well that you can access here. We discuss our thoughts on giving our children an allowance vs. having them earn their money for the things they want.

What about you? Do you give your kids an allowance, and if so, why? We'd love to hear other people's thoughts on this topic! Go to our website and you can leave a comment on the blog post linked above, or you can leave a comment on our podcast page.

When you were young, who helped shape you into the person you are? Of course, your parents had a huge hand, but who else? Mike and Lindsay talk about who made an impact on them during their childhood and the effect they had on being the people they are now. However, not all people leave a positive impact, which also shapes us. Mike and Lindsay also talk about not assuming anyone is a lost cause. Never brush someone off as impossible to reach, because you never know what their future holds. This week's challenge is to think of someone who had a positive impact on you growing up, and reach out to them to express your gratitude and share with them the impact they had on you.

Are there days when you just can't take it anymore? Like you, Mike and Lindsay deal with this a lot! In this episode, they talk about five ways to deal with those feelings of stress and overwhelm. They talk about how to decide what's essential and what's not (with a little help from an amazing book, Essentialism, by Greg McKeown); how to use exercise and moving more to help destress; how to figure out what is stressing you out and how to make progress toward getting rid of it. 

Everyone has times when life can feel like we aren't getting anywhere, but believe it or not, we are making progress, even if it's just a minimal amount. Even the smallest amount of progress is still progress! Hopefully some of the steps Mike and Lindsay talk about in this episode will help you in destressing in your life!