It's a myth that almost everyone that I work with believes, this idea that stress is just the

price of success. And if you want to be successful, there's going to be stress. And the more successful

you are, the more stressed you are. But the problem is there becomes a tipping point where when

there is so much stress, it doesn't feel like success anymore. And we've got data to prove it. We've actually got data to show

that when you have higher levels of stress, it doesn't feel like you're being successful.

So to name that and call that, and I'm excited about your new adventure. So I think the key is to go

into it. I know you're already doing this, but to go into it really thoughtfully of what

do I want to get out of this? And how will I know if I start to get to that tipping point of

stress? This is Diane Bowden, and you're listening to the minimalist moms podcast. What if stress

isn't the price of success, but the things stealing it? In today's episode, I sit down with

leadership advisor,

Amy Linnaker, to unpack a refreshing and much-needed perspective. Stress isn't the price of success.

It's the thing quietly stealing it. Drawing from her new book, Cheers to Monday, Amy shares a simple,

actionable framework to help you break free from the cycle of overwhelm and start

leading and living with more clarity and joy. We talk about how stress has become normalized in our

culture, often disguised as ambition or resilience, and why so many high-achieving individuals

are often feeling exhausted before the week even begins. Whether you're leading a team, managing

a household, or simply trying to show up

with more intention in your daily life, this conversation offers practical tools to help you move

from survival mode into something far more sustainable. But quickly before we get there, I want to share

a minimalist resource with all of you. I know I recently shared a post that I had seen on Instagram,

and I found another one that I'd love to share with you today. So I'll go ahead and play it here, and then I'll summarize. This little thing I do, basically the four categories in your notes app would be thought, feeling, impulse truth. So what I'll do is, if I'm freaking out about something, I will just write down, I can't believe I said that, why am I such an idiot? They're going to hate me, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then I go to feelings and I write down shame, fear, sadness, regret, whatever. You know, impulse, smoke a cigarette, go on TikTok, have a Coke, whatever. And then you write down the truth. And so what that does is you are able to acknowledge the thought and then see it on paper for what it is, acknowledge your feelings, so then you process the feelings, right? You're naming them and they're being released. And then you're keeping track of what that's leading you to do and stopping yourself in the tracks. And then you affirm the truth, which is like, I love them no matter what, or there's still time to make this right, or whatever that is.

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