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I want to take you back 
to the winter of 1993.

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My husband and I are living in Boston.

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We're newly married, 
and we're kind of early on

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in our A-type high-octane
business careers.

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So we were working all the time.

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We didn't have much time for fun,

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and as avid backpackers and climbers,
we longed for time in nature.

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So hallelujah, we managed to escape 
for a long weekend-backpacking trip

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in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

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We were enchanted 
by the notion of meandering

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into this frozen wintry wonderland,

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breathing in the smell of the pines,

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feeling the crunch! crunch! crunch!
of the snow beneath our snowshoes,

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and snuggling up 
next to a campfire at night.

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So, in preparation for this trip,

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we bought every winter 
camping gizmo and doodad

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our young wallets could afford.

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So there we were, in this beautiful, 
pristine winter wonderland

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with 80 pounds each on our backs.

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(Laughter)

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Now, our dream vacation backpacking trip

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- probably the only one
we were going to get that year -

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turned into a nightmare.

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We had welts on our shoulders, 
blisters on our feet,

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sweat-soaked base layers.

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We were seduced by the allure of more,

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and we didn't just have more on our backs,

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you might say that we were 
"more-on" backpackers.

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So after a bunch of trips like that,
we took all of those learnings,

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and my husband and I
founded an outdoor company

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on the basic notion 
that when it comes to connection

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in the outdoors and your gear, 
less really is more.

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We really had found the key
to fun and freedom in the outdoors,

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and it was simple: go light.

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So let's talk about the culture of more.

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When we think about the word 'more,'
we think more money, more sex,

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more friends, more respect,
more success, more power, right?

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So where does all this fascination 
with more come from?

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From the rise of industrial capitalism 
at the turn of the 20th century.

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Suddenly, mass-produced products 
were available to everyone,

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life-enhancing products
that raised the standard of living.

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Suddenly, we had more freedom, 
more education, more wealth,

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higher wages and more democracy.

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But let's talk about some of the things
that also came with that.

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Suddenly, we filled our days 
from morning to night

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with no time to breathe, 
and we had so many choices.

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As a society, we were consumed 
with the consumption of things.

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Now, tell me, why do we need 
24 flavors of ranch dressing?

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(Laughter)

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So is it any wonder

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what this obsession with more
has brought on a global basis?

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Folks, we're gobbling up the planet,

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and well, we're not having a heck
of a lot of fun while we're doing it.

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Capitalism is a good thing,

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but it has lost its way, and so have we.

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I get the allure of more.

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I know the power of the dark side.

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I think to myself how I look 
so hot, so powerful,

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and so sexy in those shoes.

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I've got to have them.

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So I plunk down my credit card,

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and I have that immediate rush 
of gratification.

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And I take them home 
in their fancy packaging

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and I stand in front 
of the full length mirror.

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I put them on my feet,

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and I have that sickening realization

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of just how much I put on my credit card,

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and that they freaking hurt my feet!

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(Laughter)

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And what's left after that initial rush,

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but emptiness and pain?

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Fast forward to 2002,

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my husband and I are building
an awesome company.

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We have product awards and media hits 
coming out of our ears,

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we are rowing internationally,

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and we are riding this huge wave
of traditional business success,

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but we're working more 
than 100 hours a week.

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We're pouring capital in.

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We're buying ad-buys for a single page
that cost more than 20,000 dollars each.

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We're buying trade show booths 
that cost more than a house.

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And you know, all of that 
was in the pursuit of more:

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more market share, more growth, 
more recognition, more success.

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Can you see the irony 
of building a company

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all about less but living all 
of your time in the land of more?

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And what did it really get us?

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It got us less time with each other, 
less time with the family,

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less time with friends, 
less time in spiritual pursuit,

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less time working out,
and ironically,

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less time in nature.

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We were running our business 
like the "more-on" backpacker.

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I want to be honest and tell you

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that the seduction of more 
led me personally

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down a very, very dark path.

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I was emotionally, 
spiritually, and physically

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so worn out and so out of balance

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that I spent the next eight years 
having five miscarriages,

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three failed in-vitro fertilization rounds

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and spending a fortune 
in Western and Eastern medical treatments.

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Can you imagine seeing 
your baby's heartbeat

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at 12 weeks via ultrasound

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only to find out a few weeks later 
that the baby had died in your belly?

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Why are we so afraid of the word 'less'?

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We think we'll have lack.
We think we'll be judged.

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We think we won't have enough.

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We think we're worried 
what other people will say.

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And all of that is rooted in fear.

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But good people, 
what the heck are we afraid of?

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We are living in a civilization

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with so much prosperity,
and abundance, and wealth.

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Happiness, when it comes from buying
things and stuff, is fleeting,

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and therefore, an illusion.

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Let's reframe the word 'less,'

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'less' doesn't mean lack.

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'Less' doesn't mean lack.

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'Less' means less stress, 
less anxiety, less anger,

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less worry, and more happiness,

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joy, connection, and abundance.

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So, after eight years of fertility 
treatments and trying everything,

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everything to try and have a child,

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I was brought to my knees,

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and everything in me screamed, "Stop!"

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So I did. I got quiet.

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I stopped being the CEO
of the company that I cofounded.

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I stepped off boards,
I eliminated commitments.

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I stopped chasing every notion 
I'd been told was my ticket to happiness,

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and I stopped with the attachments,

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and all of those things 
that weren't serving me

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like self-judgment, and blame, 
and stress, and worry.

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And after I cleared out 
the clutter of my life,

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and I spent time in nature,

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and I reconnected 
with my family and my friends,

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I started to sing again, 
and I spent time in prayer.

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This was the result.

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(Applause)

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Let's be honest,

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I have trained and worshipped
at the high altars of more,

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but I know in my bones the abundance
and joy that comes from less.

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Make no doubt, we all have 
the power to turn away

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from the dark side 
to choose a different path,

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to change the rules of the game, 
to reverse the destructive forces

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we have wrought on humanity 
and our biosphere.

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I'm in the business 
of selling you things, but what if,

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imagine, what if we all
bought fewer things?

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And when we did buy things,

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we bought from brands and companies
that were aligned with our values?

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What if we trusted and had faith
that on the other side of this wall,

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this illusion, this falsehood of more,

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is a life of abundance and joy 
just waiting for us?

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I want to leave you with a question:

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What is that abundance, that joy 
that your heart aches for,

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and what can you have 
less of to make room for it?

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(Applause)