Podcast Summary
We Can Do Hard Things
Episode: The Trick G Uses to Make All Decisions
Hosts: Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, Amanda Doyle
Date: October 7, 2025
Main Theme / Purpose
This episode dives into Glennon Doyle’s ongoing journey with mental health and eating disorders, exploring how she makes difficult decisions that honor her needs—especially when those needs aren't easy to articulate or defend. The episode unpacks the tension between personal agency, activism, and the urge to please or obey expectations. The “trick” used by Glennon ("G") is listening to her body, setting nuanced boundaries, and learning to say "yes to this, no to that"—embracing “embodiment” over anxiety and people-pleasing.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Glennon’s Mental Health and Eating Journey [00:44 – 09:00]
- Glennon shares an update about her battle with an eating disorder, discussing how visible her struggles are and how they impact her interactions, especially in public settings.
- She describes feeling “activated” and scared during tumultuous times (e.g., political uncertainty), which intensifies her need for control via disordered eating.
“When I get scared in my life...I get hyper vigilant. That's what fear causes...the road that I go down is food, body. How can I control this thing?” – Glennon [03:37]
2. Moving Away from the “Hologram Life” [06:37 – 12:07]
- Glennon describes her decision to retreat from social media for her well-being, wrestling with guilt about disengaging during critical moments.
- She describes an awakening after being asked how to “make peace with her body”—recognizing the need not just to find inner peace, but to use her body for good in the world.
“How do I go out into this broken world and make peace with this body?” – Glennon [09:01]
3. The Limitations of Self-Perfection [14:25 – 16:46]
- The Pod Squad critiques “self-improvement/perfection projects” sold under wellness culture. The pursuit of personal perfection, they argue, keeps people from showing up for collective action.
“If anybody were going to find peace in it, it would have been me...If there was any real peace to be found inside of the wellness machine, I would have found it.” – Glennon [17:46]
4. The Trick: Embodiment Over Black-and-White Thinking [19:35 – 41:47]
- Glennon details a practical example: deciding how to respond to an invitation to speak at the GLAAD Awards.
- Initially, she’s proud to say yes. After reading logistical details (e.g., red carpet requirement), dread sets in, but instead of defaulting to all-or-nothing thinking (all in, or all out), she isolates the specific part causing distress.
- She communicates to GLAAD simply: “We will not be doing the red carpet or the media. We will be arriving right before dinner and we will speak. Thank you.” [36:09]
- The organization is supportive, which is revelatory for Glennon.
“Through communicating those needs non-dramatically...I have created a new way of being in the world.” – Glennon [37:35]
- Abby narrates how this is a new “third way” of making peace—by “finding peace in your body at every stage.”
“If you say yes to it all, that's not freedom. If you say no to it all, that's not freedom. But there is a space of agency...” – Glennon [39:41]
5. Agency, Boundaries, and Self-Trust [41:47 – 54:40]
- The key practice is to feel into situations, separate “courtroom” thinking (justifying one's needs) from genuine agency, and communicate boundaries simply.
- Rather than preparing elaborate arguments for potential rejection, Glennon is learning to trust that she can respond in the moment.
“It's not I'm pissed at them. It is that I need to stay vigilant because I'm the only one that's going to protect myself.” – Abby [40:55]
- Abby highlights the exhausting nature of “preemptive arguments” and self-protection. The antidote: trust yourself to handle any feelings that arise.
“I know that I will have what I need in any situation...I know that no matter what I feel, I can deal with it.” – Abby [51:59]
6. The Red Carpet, Body Image, and Saying the Truth [56:00 – 62:33]
- Glennon recounts how attending public events while struggling with an eating disorder is fraught because her “sickness is celebrated.”
- At the event, when someone compliments her appearance, she responds:
“My secret is that I have a severe, deadly mental disorder called anorexia. That is why I look like this. This is not amazing.” – Glennon [58:21]
- Instead of perpetuating unhealthy standards, she chooses honesty in the moment.
7. Showing Up “Shaking” and Redefining Bravery [62:34 – 69:13]
- Glennon reflects on being visibly anxious (“shaking”) at the event, yet persisting.
- Abby reframes Glennon’s shaking as real bravery—not weakness.
“You are the bravest motherfucker I know.” – Abby [65:20]
-
Amanda notes, “If my body starts to shake, I'm not doing it.... You are the bravest motherfucker I've ever known.” [66:48]
-
Abby draws a distinction between fear and anxiety, referencing animal (gazelle) behavior:
“Fear flows through us and comes out of us. So to be in fear, good, to be in anxiety, bad...The gazelle will stand up, literally shake. It shakes the fear out of itself...What it doesn't do is live the next 10 months in anxiety repurposing...the lion attack.” – Abby [67:43]
8. The Practice and the Payoff [69:13 – 72:08]
- Glennon summarizes: Don’t explain or justify your boundaries excessively. Being embodied is about noticing bodily sensations and responding simply.
“What's in embodiment world is my body doesn't like that. No....I don't have to explain the why. I don't have to make up a story. I don't have to justify my needs.” – Glennon [70:18]
- The episode ends with encouragements for listeners who relate to “shaking” through hard things—that showing up anyway is powerful and brave.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “If it's hysterical, it's historical.” – Glennon [21:58]
- “Rebellion is just as much of a cage as obedience.” – Glennon [38:50]
- “I can barely control the narrative about myself in my own mind. I cannot anymore spend any time trying to control anyone else's narrative about me in their mind. That is the definition of insanity.” – Glennon [62:34]
- “Showing up and shaking is my new vibe.” – Glennon [67:36]
- “Maybe embodiment is just paying attention to physical sensation and not adding a story. Fear is what happens in our body. Anxiety is what happens when we link that fear to a story and we repeat it in our heads forever and ever.” – Glennon [69:13]
- “Hold on to your freedom, your aliveness, and to each other. Glennon and I and everyone in this room, we have your back. We love you. We will march with you, dance and love each other through this time. We can do hard things, and we will do them together.” – Amanda [72:08]
Important Timestamps
- [00:44] — Glennon sets the intention for the episode
- [03:37] — “My thing is very visible...I get hyper vigilant.”
- [09:01] — Reframing “making peace with my body” as using the body to serve others
- [17:46] — Glennon: If peace was in the self-perfection, she would have found it by now
- [36:09] — Glennon drafts two-sentence email, sets a clear boundary
- [37:35] — GLAAD response: “Great, we’ll see you then.”
- [39:41] — “If you say yes to it all, that's not freedom. If you say no to it all, that's not freedom.”
- [51:59] — Abby on the real fear: not intolerable situations, but intolerable feelings
- [58:21] — Glennon’s honest response at the red carpet event
- [65:20] — Abby: “You are the bravest motherfucker I know.”
- [67:36] — Glennon: “Showing up and shaking is my new vibe.”
- [70:18] — “What's in embodiment world is my body doesn't like that. No.”
Flow, Tone & Takeaways
- The conversation is raw, intimate, affirming, and at times, humorous. The co-hosts gently challenge each other to face discomfort, find integrity, and support one another in real time.
- Glennon’s “trick” is using self-awareness and agency to make decisions—distinguishing between legitimate needs and inherited shame stories, and communicating boundaries cleanly, without elaborate explanations.
- Abby and Amanda provide perspective, warmth, and validation for the boldness of showing up—even shakily.
- The episode offers a model for listeners on how to be present, speak their truth, and let go of the compulsion to justify or pre-defend their needs.
Perfect for listeners needing practical frameworks for boundary-setting, self-trust, or those navigating the tricky terrain of public life, personal activism, or recovery. The Pod Squad’s vulnerable storytelling and practical wisdom reframe anxiety and agency for the activist, the anxious, and anyone striving for self-sovereignty in uncertain times.