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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to imagine your best possible self. Write

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Speaker 1: about your ideal vision for your life at some specific

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Speaker 1: point in the future, and you'll start seeing practical ways

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Speaker 1: to get there. Today's tip, like several others this week,

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Speaker 1: comes from Sonya Lubamerski's book The How of Happiness, A

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Speaker 1: Scientific Approach to Getting the Life you Want. Luba Mirsky

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Speaker 1: provides several exercises like this Best Possible Selves diary that

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Speaker 1: are designed to boost optimism, which in turn boosts happiness.

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Speaker 1: Here's why optimism boosts happiness. First, Luba Mirsky says, if

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Speaker 1: you're optimistic about the future, for example, you're confident that

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Speaker 1: you'll be able to achieve your lifelong goals, you will

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Speaker 1: invest effort in reaching those goals. You will be more

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Speaker 1: persistent when you face setbacks. Second, Luba Mirski writes, optimistic

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Speaker 1: people are good copers even at the worst of times.

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Speaker 1: They don't deny the situation, but are likely to accept

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Speaker 1: the reality of their condition and make efforts to make

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Speaker 1: the best of it and even grow from it. If

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Speaker 1: optimism seems a little out of place to you at

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Speaker 1: the moment, you might be interested to know that Luba

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Speaker 1: Mirsky distinguishes between flavors of this mindset. There is big optimism,

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Speaker 1: in which you think we are on the threshold of

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Speaker 1: a glorious age. There is little optimism, which means believing

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Speaker 1: your train will arrive on time, and then so called

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Speaker 1: very small optimism, which is just the feeling that you

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Speaker 1: will make it through this day, this month, this year,

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Speaker 1: that there may be ups and downs, but that everything

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Speaker 1: will turn out all right in the end. If big

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Speaker 1: optimism rings hollow to you at the moment, very small

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Speaker 1: optimism may feel more fitting. You can look around after

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Speaker 1: dinner and see that you have survived another day, so

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Speaker 1: probably you will survive tomorrow too. So how does imagining

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Speaker 1: our best possible selves contribute to optimism? Luba Mirski explains

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Speaker 1: that when people write about their best possible selves, they

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Speaker 1: recognize that it is in their power to transform themselves

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Speaker 1: and to work toward valued goals. When we author our

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Speaker 1: own narratives, we recognize that we can author our own

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Speaker 1: lives too, and the writing part turns out to matter.

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Speaker 1: We see in specific terms how the story might unfold.

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Speaker 1: Luba Mirski writes, because writing is highly structured, systematic, and

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Speaker 1: rule bound, it prompts you to organize, integrate, and analyze

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Speaker 1: your thoughts in a way that would be difficult, if

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Speaker 1: not impossible, to do if you were just fantasizing one

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Speaker 1: my realize. She suggests, I now see a way to

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Speaker 1: make my dream come true. So if you find yourself

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Speaker 1: looking longingly to the future, pick up a pen or

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Speaker 1: open your laptop and start writing. Describe your best possible self.

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Speaker 1: Maybe on the first day you go back to your office,

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Speaker 1: or the first day your kids go back to school,

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Speaker 1: or on some specific date, say January first, twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 1: or your birthday in twenty twenty five, or another day

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Speaker 1: of significance to you. What will your life be like?

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Speaker 1: Write about what's happening in your family, at work, with

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Speaker 1: your volunteer commitments. Are you engaged in fitness or artistic pursuits?

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Speaker 1: What professional milestones have you hit? Does your home or

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Speaker 1: yard or closet look different than it does now? Do

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Speaker 1: you speak Spanish? Do you meditate daily? Take twenty minutes

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Speaker 1: and describe the best possible self you see. Then, over

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Speaker 1: the next few weeks, re read what you've written and

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Speaker 1: write more. You may find that envisioning your best possible

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Speaker 1: self brings it closer to reality as you take steps

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Speaker 1: today to become that self in the future. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,

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Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio.

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