Does life ever feel like an endless to-do list? Like if you could just wake up tomorrow with a little more discipline, you’d finally master your schedule, achieve balance, and feel…enough? 

On today's episode, Oliver Burkeman (bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals) and Kate unravel some of the beautiful lies we cling to about time and control, the fantasy of hyper-efficiency, and what it might look like to embrace the limits that make us who we are. 

In this conversation, Kate and Oliver discuss: 


Some of the most common self-help myths that stand in our way


Why the relentless pursuit of self-improvement often leaves us feeling empty, anxious, and overwhelmed. 


How embracing our limits can lead to more contentment

This is a conversation about limits—not as something to overcome, but as a doorway to something richer, deeper, and (dare I say) more human.

If you liked this episode, you’ll also love: 


Katie Couric on The Courage to Try (and Wisdom to Know When to Let Go)


Susan David on Toxic Positivity


Samantha Irby on Doing My Best (Life Now)


Elizabeth Gilbert  on Why Your Creativity Matters

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here.

Subscribe to Kate’s Substack for blessings, essays, and reflections that hold what’s hard and beautiful. 

This episode originally aired December 2024.

Does life ever feel like an endless to-do list? Like if you could just wake up tomorrow with a little more discipline, you&rsquo;d finally master your schedule, achieve balance, and feel&hellip;enough?&nbsp;
On today's episode, Oliver Burkeman (bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals) and Kate unravel some of the beautiful lies we cling to about time and control, the fantasy of hyper-efficiency, and what it might look like to embrace the limits that make us who we are.&nbsp;
In this conversation, Kate and Oliver discuss:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Some of the most common self-help myths that stand in our way
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Why the relentless pursuit of self-improvement often leaves us feeling empty, anxious, and overwhelmed.&nbsp;
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
How embracing our limits can lead to more contentment
</li>
</ul>
This is a conversation about limits&mdash;not as something to overcome, but as a doorway to something richer, deeper, and (dare I say) more human.
If you liked this episode, you&rsquo;ll also love:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://katebowler.com/podcasts/katie-couric-the-courage-to-try-and-wisdom-to-know-when-to-let-go/">Katie Couric</a> on The Courage to Try (and Wisdom to Know When to Let Go)
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=kate+bowler+Susan+David&amp;sca_esv=076c6e27218f3cb7&amp;rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS985US985&amp;ei=KBhXZ5rhOJa5wN4P4dW6mAY&amp;ved=0ahUKEwialZqji5uKAxWWHNAFHeGqDmMQ4dUDCA8&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=kate+bowler+Susan+David&amp;gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiF2thdGUgYm93bGVyIFN1c2FuIERhdmlkMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAFIswNQwgFYwgFwAXgAkAEAmAF6oAF6qgEDMC4xuAEDyAEA-AEC-AEBmAICoAKFAcICDhAAGIAEGLADGIYDGIoFwgILEAAYsAMYogQYiQXCAgsQABiABBiwAxiiBJgDAIgGAZAGBpIHAzEuMaAHzAM&amp;sclient=gws-wiz-serp#:~:text=Search%20Results-,Toxic%20Positivity,https%3A//katebowler.com%20%E2%80%BA%20Podcasts,-Meet%20Dr%20Susan">Susan David</a> on Toxic Positivity
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://katebowler.com/podcasts/samantha-irby-im-doing-my-best-life-now/">Samantha Irby</a> on Doing My Best (Life Now)
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://katebowler.com/podcasts/why-your-creativity-matters/">Elizabeth Gilbert </a> on Why Your Creativity Matters
</li>
</ul>
<hr>
Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by <a href="https://katebowler.com/podcasts/new-year-same-me/">clicking here</a>.
<a href="https://katebowler.substack.com/" data-start="2069" data-end="2132">Subscribe to Kate&rsquo;s Substack</a> for blessings, essays, and reflections that hold what&rsquo;s hard and beautiful.&nbsp;
This episode originally aired December 2024.

Are you living your best life now? Not always? This is a podcast for you. Duke Professor Kate Bowler is an expert in the stories we tell about success and failure, suffering and happiness. She had Stage IV cancer. Then she didn’t. And since then, all she wants to do is talk to funny and wise people about how to live with the knowledge that, well, everything happens.  Find her online at @katecbowler.

Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media https://lemonadamedia.com/

Are you living your best life now? Not always? This is a podcast for you. Duke Professor Kate Bowler is an expert in the stories we tell about success and failure, suffering and happiness. She had Stage IV cancer. Then she didn’t. And since then, all she wants to do is talk to funny and wise people about how to live with the knowledge that, well, everything happens.  Find her online at @katecbowler.
Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media <a href="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-stringify-link="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">https://lemonadamedia.com/</a>

Honest conversation about life's less-shiny moments.

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