Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to make a mini bucket list for
Speaker 1: one of what you most want to read, see, cook,
Speaker 1: and do. By being very focused in your goals, you
Speaker 1: vastly increase the chances that a year from now you'll
Speaker 1: have made a lot of progress. Bucket Lists or lists
Speaker 1: of a hundred dreams, are great for generating ideas of
Speaker 1: special experiences you'd like to have. You should definitely make big,
Speaker 1: long lists, but as you're thinking about how to tackle
Speaker 1: next year, you might aim a little smaller. Create a
Speaker 1: mini bucket list with just four items, something you want
Speaker 1: to read, see, cook and do. Here's what I mean.
Speaker 1: The read aspect is pretty self explanatory. What book do
Speaker 1: you most want to read? Sure you'll probably read lots
Speaker 1: of books next year, but by setting an intention around
Speaker 1: one book in particular, you increase the chances that you
Speaker 1: will actually read it. Lots of people go through life
Speaker 1: intending to read Tolstoy's War in Peace, Sir James Joyce's Ulysses,
Speaker 1: or Tony Morrison's Song of Solomon sometime, but never get
Speaker 1: around to actually reading them. This could be the year
Speaker 1: you turn sometime into now, but you don't have to
Speaker 1: go the classics route. If there's a more practical book
Speaker 1: you'd like to read, like The Seven Habits of Highly
Speaker 1: Effective People, or Your Money or Your Life Great, Or
Speaker 1: you could choose a book you hear people referring to frequently,
Speaker 1: like Carol Dwex Mindset or Susan Kin's Quiet. Wouldn't it
Speaker 1: feel great to get into the conversation instead of only
Speaker 1: hearing what other people think about a book. As for
Speaker 1: the second element, it identify a place you want to see.
Speaker 1: This could be a nearby city, a museum in your
Speaker 1: hometown you've never been to before, or a natural wonder
Speaker 1: like the fall leaves in New England. You'll certainly visit
Speaker 1: lots of places in but the mini bucket list will
Speaker 1: help ensure that you visit this one particular place. As
Speaker 1: I mentioned in a previous episode, lots of us succumbed
Speaker 1: to what Elizabeth Dunne and Michael Norton call the Big
Speaker 1: ben problem in their book Happy Money. That is, we
Speaker 1: don't see the attractions near us, just like people who
Speaker 1: have lived in London for a while don't find their
Speaker 1: way to Big Ben. If you live in London, make
Speaker 1: this the year you go to Big Ben or the
Speaker 1: Big Ben equivalent for people living anywhere else. After you
Speaker 1: have a plan for what you'll read and see in,
Speaker 1: decide on something you'll cook, a dish you'd like to master.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people have dishes that they
Speaker 1: love to eat but have never cooked themselves, perhaps beef
Speaker 1: tender loin or crime brulet or chocolate mouse. A lot
Speaker 1: of these special dishes are easier to make than you
Speaker 1: might assume. And even if the dish you choose is difficult,
Speaker 1: that's okay. You can do hard things. Plus, what's the
Speaker 1: worst that can happen? If your beef tender loin is
Speaker 1: terribly overdone, you can always order pizza and try again
Speaker 1: some other time. Chances are you'll in the year being
Speaker 1: able to whip up that crime broulet whenever you're in
Speaker 1: the mood. The final component of the mini bucket list
Speaker 1: is learning something to do. Think of a skill you'd
Speaker 1: like to pick up or improve upon. Perhaps it's speaking French,
Speaker 1: or sewing or video editing. A year is a long time.
Speaker 1: If you decide now that by the end of next year,
Speaker 1: you'll want to be able to have a conversation in
Speaker 1: French or ham your own pajama bottoms. You are absolutely
Speaker 1: capable of achieving that goal. Now, maybe you won't be
Speaker 1: able to master many new skills by next December, but
Speaker 1: if you put your energy into one, well that is doable.
Speaker 1: It's easy to have a mental list of things we
Speaker 1: intend to do or learn one of these days and
Speaker 1: then time passes without any progress. By making a list
Speaker 1: that is ridiculously short, one thing each that you want
Speaker 1: to read, see, cook, and do, and focusing on that
Speaker 1: list for a whole year, your odds of success are good.
Speaker 1: And if you finish your list before the year is over,
Speaker 1: well you can make a new list if you want.
Speaker 1: There is no need to leave resolutions just for January.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: Podcast at iHeart media dot Com that before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of i heart Radio. For more podcasts from i
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.