1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:17,080 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: tip is that discipline is as much about restraint as 4 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 1: it is about persistence. When you've got a big project, 5 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: work in a slow and steady way, you can always 6 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: sprint at the end. I have long loved the section 7 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: in Jim Collins' book Great by Choice where he talks 8 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: about how explorer Rolled Amundsen reached the South Pole ahead 9 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: of his contemporary Robert Falcon Scott. While Scott had his 10 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: men marched to the point of exhaustion and good weather 11 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: and stayed in the tent when it was terrible, Amundson 12 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: pursued a steady pace of fifteen to twenty miles per day. 13 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 1: On good days they could have gone farther, but by 14 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 1: leaving something in the tank, they were able to maintain 15 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: that pace on bad days too. By pursuing this strategy, 16 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,399 Speaker 1: they made it to the poll and they made it back. 17 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,919 Speaker 1: Collins likens this steady sustainable strategy to how the best 18 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:31,559 Speaker 1: companies manage growth. Southwest Airlines expanded carefully over the years. 19 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: During one year in the nineteen nineties, Collins writes, Southwest 20 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: had one hundred cities clamoring for service. Southwest looked at 21 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: that demand and elected to add flights to four new places. 22 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: By leaving something in the tank with growth, Southwest could 23 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: be quite sure that each new city would be a success, 24 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: which was no doubt motivational to the people staffing those 25 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: new routes. You are probably not racing to the south 26 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: Pole or expanding an airline. But I think this policy 27 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: of the twenty mile march, as Collins calls it, has 28 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: a lot going for it. If you want to finish 29 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: any big project, you need to break it down into 30 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: small enough steps that you can reliably do each one. 31 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: Then when you reliably do each one over and over again, 32 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: you will finish on schedule. That makes sense. But where 33 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: people go awry are in those situations where the sun 34 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: is shining in Antarctica, or you really could add a 35 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:44,520 Speaker 1: fifth city pretty easily. Think about how wasteful it must 36 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:48,639 Speaker 1: have felt to only walk twenty miles on a beautiful day. 37 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: I'm sure plenty of folks felt it would be silly 38 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,959 Speaker 1: to pass up potential airline profits too. But here is 39 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: where we get to the idea that discipline is about restraint. 40 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 1: If you break the promise to yourself by sprinting when 41 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: times are good, you might break the promise to yourself 42 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:15,639 Speaker 1: about persisting when times are bad. I mean, you're ahead 43 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: of the game, right, why not take some time off? 44 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: You deserve it. But then all of a sudden the 45 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: schedule is off, and a second bad run of things 46 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: means you are behind and you have to push harder 47 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: than you feel you can, and the whole promise of 48 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: reliability disappears. You no longer know for sure that you 49 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: will make it, and that lack of certainty is demoralizing. 50 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: So if you are undertaking a big project, save the 51 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: sprints for the very end. I have been reading all 52 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: the works of Jane Austen this year at a steady 53 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: pace ten pages per day. I could read more, for sure, 54 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: but keeping at that pace means I stick with some 55 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: of the books when they are a wee bit less exciting. However, 56 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: when I was less than an hour from the end 57 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: of both Sense and Sensibility and Pride and prejudice, I 58 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: decided I would go ahead and finish the books and 59 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: see what happened. By then, I knew I would finish, 60 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: just not before elite marathoners know to stick with their 61 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: pace until close to the end, when they give whatever 62 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: is left. If you give what is left at mile six, 63 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: you aren't going to make it to mile twenty six. 64 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: Around mile twenty six, though, you know that there is 65 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: no mile twenty seven, so you may as well go 66 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: for it. Those who have stuck with their paces probably 67 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: have more to give at that point than others. Use 68 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 1: restraint to keep a steady pace until you absolutely know 69 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:08,679 Speaker 1: you will finish. Then anything goes. No need to camp 70 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: two miles from the south Pole, but fifty miles that 71 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:19,159 Speaker 1: is a different story. In the meantime, this is Laura. 72 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of 73 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:33,479 Speaker 1: our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you. 74 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. 75 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,720 Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at 76 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then 77 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an email at 78 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast 79 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, 80 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is 81 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:10,119 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 82 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,919 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to 83 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.