WEBVTT - Second Cup: How not to forget your habits

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is about how not to forget little habits that

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<v Speaker 1>you would like to build into life. By being smarter

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<v Speaker 1>both about choosing habits and creating cues to do them,

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<v Speaker 1>you can keep a streak going far longer than you

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<v Speaker 1>might otherwise. I am a big fan of small daily habits.

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<v Speaker 1>For the past few years, I've done a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>of writing and a little bit of reading something big

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<v Speaker 1>every day, well almost every day. I aimed to read

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<v Speaker 1>the three hundred and sixty one chapters of War and

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<v Speaker 1>Peace one chapter a day in twenty twenty one, and

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<v Speaker 1>I did indeed end on December twenty seventh. However, I

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<v Speaker 1>also aimed to write one vignette from a character's day

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<v Speaker 1>every day in twenty twenty two. At some point in

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<v Speaker 1>December I noticed that my numbering was off, and sure enough,

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<v Speaker 1>my December thirty first entry was numbered three hundred sixty four.

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<v Speaker 1>So I guess I must have forgot on one day. Whoops.

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<v Speaker 1>It can happen. But if you do want to do

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<v Speaker 1>a big project broken down into daily steps, being as

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<v Speaker 1>consistent as possible can help cement the habit. Part of

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<v Speaker 1>that is figuring out how not to forget the habit.

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<v Speaker 1>How can you be sure that every single day you

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<v Speaker 1>will remember to do whatever you have set a goal

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<v Speaker 1>to do. Life can get busy. We do what we

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely have to do, but sometimes we can lose track

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<v Speaker 1>of the things we want to do, or our circumstances

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<v Speaker 1>change on a particular day and our normal cues can't

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<v Speaker 1>help us. What then, the first step to not forgetting

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<v Speaker 1>turns out to be choosing well. When people say that

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<v Speaker 1>they have trouble sticking with things, I often bring up

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<v Speaker 1>tooth brushing. Many people who claim to have trouble with

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<v Speaker 1>habits do manage to brush their teeth quite frequently. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>they may have multi year streaks going of brushing their

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<v Speaker 1>teeth at least once a day, if not more. So.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not that they can't stick with a habit, It's

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<v Speaker 1>just that to stick with other habits, those habits need

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<v Speaker 1>to be more like brushing your teeth. That is, the

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<v Speaker 1>habit shouldn't take much time. It should be reasonably pleasant

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<v Speaker 1>or at least feel good afterwards. You have a set

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<v Speaker 1>time to do it, and if you leave your normal routines,

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<v Speaker 1>you take your equipment with you. Ideally, you also don't

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<v Speaker 1>view this habit itself as a particularly big deal. It

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<v Speaker 1>is just part of life, and when that is the case,

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<v Speaker 1>things can run pretty much in perpetuity. Obviously, a great

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<v Speaker 1>many habits do not share all of those features. I

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<v Speaker 1>like to tell the story of how when I was

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<v Speaker 1>on a cruise once the cruise director got up and

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<v Speaker 1>told us that all diets were officially kicked to the curb.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess he meant that we should feel free to

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<v Speaker 1>stop our good eating habits, whatever those happened to be.

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<v Speaker 1>But he didn't get up and tell us to kick

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<v Speaker 1>oral hygiene to the curb, or that, hey, we were

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<v Speaker 1>having fun, so we should feel free to stop brushing

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<v Speaker 1>our teeth. Indeed, I think people would have found that

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<v Speaker 1>a little weird. No one above the age of ten

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<v Speaker 1>or so gets upset about brushing their teeth on vacation.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you want to build a new daily habit,

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<v Speaker 1>it needs to be like that. Reading one very short

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<v Speaker 1>chapter in a big book, or writing two lines of poetry,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe meditating for four minutes. If it inspires a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of resistance, it probably won't happen, and you will find

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<v Speaker 1>ways to forget. But once you have chosen well, remembering

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<v Speaker 1>is more about taking some practical steps. You need something

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<v Speaker 1>to trigger mindfulness that you intend to do the habit.

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<v Speaker 1>One good option is to choose a general time or queue.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it could be with your morning coffee, Unless your

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<v Speaker 1>morning coffee is more of an uncertain thing. Maybe you

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<v Speaker 1>could tie it too brushing your teeth first thing at

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<v Speaker 1>your desk, and then figure out what the queue will

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<v Speaker 1>be on weekends. Since a truly daily it should happen

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<v Speaker 1>on Saturday and Sunday too, Perhaps you can set a

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<v Speaker 1>recurring alarm and then make a decision. If it can't

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<v Speaker 1>happen at the alarm time, you immediately reset the alarm

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<v Speaker 1>for a later time when you will make that decision again.

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<v Speaker 1>Then it helps to have some way to track compliance.

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<v Speaker 1>With reading a big book, this is somewhat apparent. Are

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<v Speaker 1>you farther along than you were a few days ago?

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<v Speaker 1>Or if you are writing daily entries in a word file,

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<v Speaker 1>you can see how many entries there are. But for

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<v Speaker 1>some things like meditating, maybe you record somewhere when you've

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<v Speaker 1>done it, put it on your to do list for

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<v Speaker 1>the day to remind yourself of it. I put rituals

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<v Speaker 1>on my daily to do lists and cross that word

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<v Speaker 1>off when I have written lines in my poems and

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<v Speaker 1>read my ten pages of Jane Austen, which is this

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<v Speaker 1>year's project. And yes I will note if I have

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<v Speaker 1>done it on weekends too. A weekend to do list

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't need to look like a weekday to do. But

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<v Speaker 1>you probably have some intentions for the day, so better

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<v Speaker 1>to remember them than not remember them. Or maybe you

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<v Speaker 1>get an app that will remind you each day to

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<v Speaker 1>say you've done something. Most of us do look at

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<v Speaker 1>our phones on weekends, just as we do on weekdays,

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<v Speaker 1>so you can forget, but it will be harder. In

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<v Speaker 1>any case, adapting a new habit can be challenging. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>we don't feel like doing things, But with some habits,

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<v Speaker 1>it's also just possible to forget. Setting things up so

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<v Speaker 1>it is harder to forget means that is less likely

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<v Speaker 1>to happen, and eventually the habit will become just like

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<v Speaker 1>brushing your teeth. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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<v Speaker 1>That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled

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<v Speaker 1>out with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I

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<v Speaker 1>look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

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