“I'm all for letting go of perfection, but we've somehow conflated order with being fake. I want to stop applauding chaos as the only indicator of vulnerability. You can be real when life is in order and falling apart. Life is beautifully both.”
The Lazy Genius Way sounds too good to be true. Much like other books in the "self-help" section, The Lazy Genius has thirteen principles to help guide you through how to be a genius about what matters, and lazy about what doesn't. It sounds an awful lot like those articles I can't help clicking on that say things like "10 things successful people do in the morning while you're still snoring in your bed, you useless slob." The Lazy Genius is not however, too good to be true. This book completely delivers on its claims, and then some. The Lazy Genius is the most feel good, gentle and helpful self-help book I have ever read. The 13 principles Kendra has written in this book can be customized to help you calm even the craziest of crazy in your home or work life.
A lovely friend of mine was listening to me describe some kind of recurring madness that was currently sucking my will to live out of me one painful moment at a time, when she asked me if I had heard of The Lazy Genius Podcast. She explained someways The Lazy Genius had helped her with the recurring chaos in her own home and so, OF COURSE, I had to check it out. The first thing I listened to on the podcast was about how to clean your kitchen and keep it clean. I don't know about everyone else, but the difference between my being a very Zen Mother who says things like "how about we have a picnic in the backyard for lunch while we finger-paint" and the kind of mom who yells "EITHER HELP ME CLEAN OR FIND SOMETHING TO DO AWAY FROM MY BODY", is a clean kitchen. If the kitchen is clean I'm so much better at handling all the other craziness of my life.
Kendra would call my need for a clean kitchen and my making it a priority "naming what matters." This idea of naming what matters is a big part of her book and you guys, naming what matters is so simple but, it never occurred to me to do this. So often I spend time doing crap that doesn't even matter. I legit organized my kid's stash of construction paper by color the other day. Guess how much that matters to me... I'll give you a hint: it doesn't matter as much as having laundry off the couch so I can sit down and rest between being a pro-bono personal chef to three bottomless pits!!!! I spent actual time of my life making sure the construction paper was ordered in ROYGBIV instead of clearing off my couch full of unfolded laundry.
Not only are Kendra's principles GENIUS, they are so gentle. Often, self help books leave me feeling less empowered and more discouraged. The Lazy Genius Way left me feeling like I could crawl my way out of this endless pile of unfolded laundry for the first time since having kids. I loved the practical help inside the pages of this book, but I also loved that the 13 principles also included chapters about scheduling rest, letting people in, and being kind to yourself. I have never read a self help book chalked full of as much practical help as heart.
This book has been such a gift to me. I can't recommend it enough. Everything I have implemented from it has been a sweet saving grace that has allowed me to choose connection with my family instead of getting caught up in the swirl of overwhelm and urgency. This is not just for stay at home mom's or people with kids. If you are writing a book, starting a blog, moving cities, setting up a community block party for the first time, trying to take baby steps towards a big dream, project, or career goal, this book can help you. You can apply all the advice in this book to literally anything that feels hard and overwhelming. You will love Kendra! She is funny and kind, grace-filled and non-judgmental. Clear the clutter in your house, in your mind, calm the crazy, and start choosing based on what matters. I promise you will leave feeling better about yourself and your crazy.
PS. I told someone they could borrow this book when I was finished but I CANNOT REMEBER WHO THAT PERSON IS! If it was you shoot me a message or text or somthing!!!
PPS: go follow Kendra on Instagram @thelazygenius and check out her podcast here and her super helpful blog here
5/5 stars
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