Stay ConnectedTHE podcast for parents with big dreams who want to create an EXTRAORDINARY lifestyle but feel stuck.
Greg and Rachel Denning are parents of 7 children whom they’ve traveled with to 60+ countries on 5 continents — all while homeschooling and building a multi-six-figure location independent biz.
Let them show you how to finally break through what’s holding you back so you can achieve your biggest dreams — even with a family!
Copyright: © Greg & Rachel Denning
Have you ever thought of chores as child abuse? I haven’t either. But I shared a post on Instagram about our system for organizing chores and I was shocked at the number of NEGATIVE comments I received from people who believe that giving your children chores is akin to child labor and abuse.
One comment said, “Parents who want to do less [sic] things by dumping it on kids should be ashamed of themselves. Kids do not need to have regular chores in order to learn responsibility and you know it VERY WELL… you aren't teaching, you are USING kids!”
Another comment said, “There is plenty wrong and abusive in making children feel they must contribute to the household. Why? Because it's putting undew [sic] pressure on children, pressure that they should not have.”
One more states simply, “Children should not be made to do regular chores.”
And finally, “CHORES FOR KIDS? More like mom and dad don't want to do their household duties!”
This concept wasn’t entirely new to me. I had come across it in some out-of-the-way literature. But I hadn’t ever come across anyone who actually believed it. It seems common sense to most parents that using chores can help their children learn responsibility.
In this episode, we respond to these comments (since responding to them on Instagram was limited by space) and philosophize on chores, and debate both sides of the argument.
When can doing chores be detrimental to a child? In what circumstances do chores become child abuse or child labor? If parents decide to do chores, what is the best way to go about doing them? How do you teach your children the underlying philosophy or archetypal reasons for doing chores so that they feel self-motivated to do them?
We discuss all of this and much more in this lengthy but entertaining and enlightening discussion.
RESOURCES:
Let us help you in your extraordinary family life journey.
How We Raised 7 Well-Adjusted Kids - Without Yelling, Tantrums, Punishments or Power Struggles (+ get THE CHECKLIST: Things We Do Every Day to Raise Well-Adjusted Kids)
Rachel’s Must-Read Booklist for Well-Read Moms
Follow us on Instagram: @worldschoolfamily or @greg.denning
Enrollment is open for the Extraordinary Parent Mentoring Method!
Get Rachel's Family Systems & Charts
Join the Do More With Less Stress Workshop Series for busy moms
Join Greg’s 7-Day Challenge
JOIN GREG'S 90-DAY HEALTH & FITNESS CHALLENGE!
Gather with us at the World School Family (Beach & Farm) Resort in Portugal
When Greg Denning was out on his own as a teenager it wasn’t difficult for him to realize that his life sucked… but he desperately wanted it to be better and different.
Nobody wants to live a sucky life and stay there. But it was so interesting to him to watch people live a sucky life — and stay there. They would keep doing the same things that would produce the same sucky results.
As a 16-year-old he was able — miraculously enough — to look around and say, “Dude, stop doing what you’re doing and you’ll get different results.” It was just easy for him to see as a teen, even though he wasn’t yet able to articulate it into something we live by — “Nothing in my life will get better until I get better.” Greg came to realize — then experience — then teach thousands of people on five continents that when YOU get better, everything else in your life gets better too.
In today’s episode, we are discussing how this applies to parenting. Many parents keep doing things that are producing sucky results and unnecessary pain and suffering in the form of bad behavior, rebellion, tantrums, fighting, yelling, and more.
NONE of this is going to get easier or better until YOU get better as an individual and a parent.
The problems you’re facing as a parent ultimately stem from your own inabilities or lack of skills & awareness. It’s not your fault, but learning to be aware of them is key to changing everything and solving your problems. If you are a parent or know a parent, you don’t want to miss this!
RESOURCES:
Let us help you in your extraordinary family life journey.
How We Raised 7 Well-Adjusted Kids - Without Yelling, Tantrums, Punishments or Power Struggles (+ get THE CHECKLIST: Things We Do Every Day to Raise Well-Adjusted Kids)
Rachel’s Must-Read Booklist for Well-Read Moms
Follow us on Instagram: @worldschoolfamily or @greg.denning
Enrollment is open for the Extraordinary Parent Mentoring Method!
Get Rachel's Family Systems & Charts
Join the Do More With Less Stress Workshop Series for busy moms
Join Greg’s 7-Day Challenge
JOIN GREG'S 90-DAY HEALTH & FITNESS CHALLENGE!
Gather with us at the World School Family (Beach & Farm) Resort in Portugal
You may have seen or heard that we’re planning a move to Portugal — and hoping to travel while making the transition. We received some questions about this:
“We would love to travel more, even long term, but I am getting more hesitant because of predictions about downturns in the economy, warfare, etc. I see a lot of people encouraging self-reliance and preparation at this point in time (ie growing and storing your own food). This seems like it would be hard to do while traveling. I want to protect and provide for my family, but I also see the amazing benefits of traveling as a family. What is your take on these predictions and what does your family do to prepare for potential crises? Should these things be taken into consideration when considering where to travel and when? Things have changed so much in the world in just a couple of years!”
We also had some Instagram followers and podcast listeners asking, “How do you decide where to travel or where to LIVE? And how do you go about getting a visa to do that? And didn’t you want to live in a Chateau in France? What happened to that?”
In this episode, we’re going to discuss travel, living abroad, making decisions about WHERE and HOW to live, being safe and preparing for worst-case scenarios, and why ‘following your heart’ (and what that means) is a key piece to this whole life puzzle.
Life IS risk. If you’re going to be alive there is risk in living. You might as well make the most of the risky life you already have. You have to get ‘boots on the ground’ and touch, feel, and experience YOUR LIFE. Truly Live Your While You’re Alive!
But we’re also not promoting unsafe or stupid behavior. So where is that balance found? How do you find the middle ground between risk-taking and being safe and prepared? That's what we discuss in this episode that you don’t want to miss!
This episode is sponsored by our Trips & Adventures. Travel with us to cool destinations like Jordan, Norway, Egypt or Greece. Past trips include riding dromedaries in the Sahara desert or hiking to Macchu Picchu, or sailing around the Galapagos. We lead trips and retreats for teens, couples, families, and men.
Visit extraordinaryfamilylife.com and click the link at the top for the Adventures to get notified about upcoming trips, retreats, and adventures!
https://courses.extraordinaryfamilylife.com/pages/trip-updates-announcements
See what countries are open at joinsherpa.com/map
We all have blind spots. We all have things we’re doing (or not doing) that are causing or contributing to our own problems.
In our coaching, we often work with people who keep doing (or not doing) the things that are keeping them miserable and unhappy. If they could just STOP then they could drastically change their life.
Of course, this is easier said than done, otherwise, you would ALREADY have stopped or started the things that need to be done and wouldn’t be suffering from the current challenges you face.
In this episode we dive into specific strategies for DOING what MUST be done -- the things that IF done will change everything — improve your marriage and parenting, help you make more money, or to achieve that big goal or dream that’s been locked away somewhere in your soul.
It can be difficult to make the effort or find the courage to do these things. We acknowledge that doing them is hard and that you might not feel ready to do them.
But the only way you will GET ready IS by doing them. As the Stoics say, The Obstacle IS the Way.
Listen now to this episode to learn how to do what MUST be done before it’s too late for you to make the changes you need to make to have the kind of life you want to have.
RESOURCES:
Let us help you in your extraordinary family life journey.
How We Raised 7 Well-Adjusted Kids - Without Yelling, Tantrums, Punishments or Power Struggles (+ get THE CHECKLIST: Things We Do Every Day to Raise Well-Adjusted Kids)
Rachel’s Must-Read Booklist for Well-Read Moms
Follow us on Instagram: @worldschoolfamily or @greg.denning
Don’t miss out on the Extraordinary Parent Mentoring Method class!
Get Rachel's Family Systems & Charts
Get Rachel’s Extraordinary Family Life Planner
JOIN GREG'S 90-DAY HEALTH & FITNESS CHALLENGE!
Understanding YOURSELF and the other human beings around you is one of the trickiest and most complex aspects of life and relationships —
Your personality begins to form from conception, in the womb, and as you grow as a child. You don’t start to become aware of this until much later in life (and some people never gain awareness of who they are and what makes them do the things they do.)
For a long time, Greg and I were not fans of personality tests — until Jordan Peterson’s Big 5 Personality Test. They felt too confining and victimizing, labeling you as a certain color or number. They weren’t holistic. Human beings are more complex than that. This personality test is different and has been peer-reviewed and works across cultures.
Greg and I analyze our personal levels of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. There’s a lot of laughing at ourselves through this process. :D
In this episode, we walk through (and psychoanalyze) our personal results on the Big 5 Personality test — in order to help you understand how these play out in yourself, your relationship, and in your parenting.
We also give a quick answer to a question we received regarding sex and conversation — the cycle of intimacy — after this spouse listened to Episode #174 Marriage Q&A. We address falling in and out of love, major reasons for divorce, and deepening the intimacy in your relationship by making deposits instead of just withdrawals. We also cover why your wife cries and wants to talk while you just listen because she needs a mental and emotional outlet. A woman wants her man to be someone who will listen to her. Without this emotional vulnerability, she will never be able to open up sexually.
Stick by the woman when she ugly cries and she will love you even more. :D
This is a very insightful and informational episode that will give you the vocabulary and words you need to articulate what is happening in your marriage and life.
This episode is sponsored by our Best Self Bundle. This bundle of courses gives you all the tools, resources, and strategies that you need to reach upward and become your best self — to develop your personality into what you would like it to be instead of accepting what you currently have even if you don’t like it.
Visit extraordinaryfamilylife.com and click the link at the top for the Best Self Bundle and start today learning simple strategies you can use right away that will create powerful positive transformations in your personality.
RESOURCES:
Let us help you in your extraordinary family life journey.
How We Raised 7 Well-Adjusted Kids - Without Yelling, Tantrums, Punishments or Power Struggles (+ get THE CHECKLIST: Things We Do Every Day to Raise Well-Adjusted Kids)
Rachel’s Must-Read Booklist for Well-Read Moms
Follow us on Instagram: @worldschoolfamily or @greg.denning
Don’t miss out on the Extraordinary Parent Mentoring Method class!
Get Rachel's Family Systems & Charts
Get Rachel’s Extraordinary Family Life Planner
JOIN GREG'S 90-DAY HEALTH & FITNESS CHALLENGE!
Gather with us at the World School Family (Beach & Farm) Resort in Portugal
Have you ever had that inner feeling of discontent, frustration, guilt, or dissatisfaction? (I know I have.)
Have you ever thought — what’s the point of setting goals? I’ll just be disappointed.
Or have you ever tried to achieve something — losing weight, earning more money, or improving your marriage — only to finally give up and accept yourself and your circumstances?
In this episode we’re going to dive into why many people feel and think this way — and how ‘accepting things as they are’ can be a good short-term strategy, but it’s a bad long-term plan.
Why? Because you end up living in incongruence and you’ll make yourself miserable -- now and in the future.
There is an inner knowing in your soul — a blueprint of your potential — and as long as you live below what you’re capable of you’ll always feel that something is missing (which you’ll try to assuage or excuse away with eating, scrolling, or Netflix).
But the only way to find lasting happiness is to accept the call to your highest self and to reach upward.
Listen to this episode as we discuss how to live in more congruence and thereby live a happier, more fulfilling, and satisfying life.
Please excuse the audio quality in this episode. The original audio recorded with our microphones was lost and we had to use the audio from the video recording.
RESOURCES:
Let us help you in your extraordinary family life journey.
How We Raised 7 Well-Adjusted Kids - Without Yelling, Tantrums, Punishments or Power Struggles (+ get THE CHECKLIST: Things We Do Every Day to Raise Well-Adjusted Kids)
Rachel’s Must-Read Booklist for Well-Read Moms
Follow us on Instagram: @worldschoolfamily or @greg.denning
Don’t miss out on the Extraordinary Parent Mentoring Method class!
Get Rachel's Family Systems & Charts
Get Rachel’s Extraordinary Family Life Planner
JOIN GREG'S 90-DAY HEALTH & FITNESS CHALLENGE!
Gather with us at the World School Family (Beach & Farm) Resort in Portugal
We received some great questions about parenting that we’re addressing today.
We love it receiving questions so if you have one please don’t hesitate to ask us. You can leave a voice message for us on our podcast page, or you can email us support@extraordinaryfamilylife.com
The first question is about teen device usage and sneaky behavior.
We are having an issue with our son's cell phone usage…We limit it and have always made him turn in his cellphone at night to promote good, healthy habits. I just discovered that he has been hiding an old cracked cell phone that he has been using at night. He also has apps such as TikTok and Snapchat that we do not allow. I know that the phones and apps are made to be addicting. I just don't know how to approach this issue. I will be turning off the wifi night now but how do you deal with the sneaking second phones and apps? It indicates to me that he may be addicted to these apps and his phone. I am curious if you have encountered this before. It is very concerning to us and I would value your input and opinion.
The second question is also very relevant with long-term consequences.
I’d like to request for you and your husband to talk about the sex drive in teenage boys specifically. As a parent how do you guide them so they can handle their “urges” in a healthy manner? How do you educate them so they don’t fall pray with the use of pornography? What are the best ways to support them instead of shaming for having these normal desires? Our society is so full of trashy messages about sex, masturbation, pornography, etc., that I honestly worry about the future of these young men!
If you have kids, make sure you listen to this very important episode!
RESOURCES:
Let us help you in your extraordinary family life journey.
We regularly receive questions from parents and spouses on all sorts of topics — and we love it! If you have a question please don’t hesitate to ask us. You can leave a voice message for us on our podcast page, or you can email us support@extraordinaryfamilylife.com
Recently we received some questions about marriage — specifically how to have more engaging conversations and intellectual connections with your spouse as opposed to discussing the mundane life logistics all the time?
Along those lines, how do you ‘accept’ your spouse for where they are on their growth journey — while still encouraging and helping them to do better, to make an effort, and to be interested and interesting?
Connected to this — which we explain in this episode — is how to make more time for sexual connection, especially when you’re trying to go to bed early so you can start your day with a morning routine? And how do we (Greg and I) make time for sex multiple times per week?!
We also get fired up about how a well-known sexpert is just WRONG about sex and how it IS a need -- for men (and women) and marriage in general.
Finally, we answer a question about how to help a spouse who’s lost a job — without OVER helping so you become a nuisance and they feel disrespected or demoralized.
You won’t want to miss this great Q&A session!
This episode is sponsored by our Extraordinary Marriage Masterclass. If you’re not working ON your marriage, then by default, you’re working on your divorce! Marriage isn’t static and unchanging. It’s in a constant state of flux — day by day, sometimes hour by hour.
And you can’t blame your spouse because you don’t have a better marriage. The responsibility lies in your hands — and it’s within your power. It only takes ONE person to make a marriage better.
RESOURCES:
Let us help you in your extraordinary family life journey.
How We Raised 7 Well-Adjusted Kids - Without Yelling, Tantrums, Punishments or Power Struggles (+ get THE CHECKLIST: Things We Do Every Day to Raise Well-Adjusted Kids)
Rachel’s Must-Read Booklist for Well-Read Moms
Follow us on Instagram: @worldschoolfamily or @greg.denning
Don’t miss out on the Extraordinary Parent Mentoring Method class!
Get Rachel's Family Systems & Charts
Get Rachel’s Extraordinary Family Life Planner
JOIN GREG'S 90-DAY HEALTH & FITNESS CHALLENGE!
Gather with us at the World School Family (Beach & Farm) Resort in Portugal
Greg and I are always fascinated by ideas, the search for truth, intellectual discussion, and meaningful connection. As intentionally as we have designed our lifestyle, it’s still rare for us to have all of those things in one evening. But we got the chance last week when we drove to Birmingham, AL to listen to Jordan Peterson present a live lecture at the Alabama Theater.
He discussed a chapter from his new book, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life about the importance of beauty and art. In this episode, Greg and I share our own journey of discovering beauty during our journey from overlanding hippies living in our truck with five kids, to moving to Germany where we encountered the enduring art and beauty of castles and cathedrals and how that changed us.
In a special VIP session after the lecture, Peterson answered some questions about the current state of the world and what his thoughts are about what society might be facing. Greg and I unpack this and share some of our own thoughts about the Fourth Turning and the Changing World Order.
The strength and stability of your family life is built on the strength of its foundation which is YOU. Your family life gets better when YOU get better.
RESOURCES:
Let us help you in your extraordinary family life journey.
How We Raised 7 Well-Adjusted Kids - Without Yelling, Tantrums, Punishments or Power Struggles (+ get THE CHECKLIST: Things We Do Every Day to Raise Well-Adjusted Kids)
Rachel’s Must-Read Booklist for Well-Read Moms
Follow us on Instagram: @worldschoolfamily or @greg.denning
Don’t miss out on the Extraordinary Parent Mentoring Method class!
Get Rachel's Family Systems & Charts
Get Rachel’s Extraordinary Family Life Planner
JOIN GREG'S 90-DAY HEALTH & FITNESS CHALLENGE!
Gather with us at the World School Family (Beach & Farm) Resort in Portugal
Greg and I just returned from an incredible trip to Portugal to celebrate our 21st anniversary and we’re excited to record an episode about it. We’re going to share all the romance, magic, and serendipity we experienced that surprised even us.
It’s difficult for us to put in words the super special experience we shared together during this trip. But we’re going to unpack it for you, explain the key ingredients that made it so meaningful, and outline some foundational principles for creating more magic and serendipity in your own life.
You don’t want to miss the romance and magic of this special episode!
If you haven’t already, make sure to get our Must-Read Book Recommendations for creating an Extraordinary Family Life. We have books on parenting, marriage, health, finances, and lifestyle design. Plus get a free ebook that will change your life — The Majesty of Calmness.
RESOURCES:
Let us help you in your extraordinary family life journey.
How We Raised 7 Well-Adjusted Kids - Without Yelling, Tantrums, Punishments or Power Struggles (+ get THE CHECKLIST: Things We Do Every Day to Raise Well-Adjusted Kids)
Rachel’s Must-Read Booklist for Well-Read Moms
Follow us on Instagram: @worldschoolfamily or @greg.denning
Don’t miss out on the Extraordinary Parent Mentoring Method class!
Get Rachel's Family Systems & Charts
Get Rachel’s Extraordinary Family Life Planner
JOIN GREG'S 90-DAY HEALTH & FITNESS CHALLENGE!
Gather with us at the World School Family (Beach & Farm) Resort in Portugal
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