WEBVTT - Imagine your best possible self

0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:06.680
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:09.480 --> 0:00:14.160
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:19.799
<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to imagine your best possible self. Write

0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.960
<v Speaker 1>about your ideal vision for your life at some specific

0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:26.520
<v Speaker 1>point in the future, and you'll start seeing practical ways

0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:30.960
<v Speaker 1>to get there. Today's tip, like several others this week,

0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:35.000
<v Speaker 1>comes from Sonya Lubamerski's book The How of Happiness, A

0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:39.000
<v Speaker 1>Scientific Approach to Getting the Life you Want. Luba Mirsky

0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:43.760
<v Speaker 1>provides several exercises like this Best Possible Selves diary that

0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:48.160
<v Speaker 1>are designed to boost optimism, which in turn boosts happiness.

0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:53.680
<v Speaker 1>Here's why optimism boosts happiness. First, Luba Mirsky says, if

0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:57.320
<v Speaker 1>you're optimistic about the future, for example, you're confident that

0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.200
<v Speaker 1>you'll be able to achieve your lifelong goals, you will

0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.720
<v Speaker 1>invest effort in reaching those goals. You will be more

0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:09.280
<v Speaker 1>persistent when you face setbacks. Second, Luba Mirski writes, optimistic

0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:12.880
<v Speaker 1>people are good copers even at the worst of times.

0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:16.040
<v Speaker 1>They don't deny the situation, but are likely to accept

0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.119
<v Speaker 1>the reality of their condition and make efforts to make

0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:22.360
<v Speaker 1>the best of it and even grow from it. If

0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:24.959
<v Speaker 1>optimism seems a little out of place to you at

0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:27.600
<v Speaker 1>the moment, you might be interested to know that Luba

0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:33.279
<v Speaker 1>Mirsky distinguishes between flavors of this mindset. There is big optimism,

0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:35.360
<v Speaker 1>in which you think we are on the threshold of

0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.920
<v Speaker 1>a glorious age. There is little optimism, which means believing

0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:43.040
<v Speaker 1>your train will arrive on time, and then so called

0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:47.160
<v Speaker 1>very small optimism, which is just the feeling that you

0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:50.400
<v Speaker 1>will make it through this day, this month, this year,

0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:53.360
<v Speaker 1>that there may be ups and downs, but that everything

0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.640
<v Speaker 1>will turn out all right in the end. If big

0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.920
<v Speaker 1>optimism rings hollow to you at the moment, very small

0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:03.680
<v Speaker 1>optimism may feel more fitting. You can look around after

0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:07.240
<v Speaker 1>dinner and see that you have survived another day, so

0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:12.000
<v Speaker 1>probably you will survive tomorrow too. So how does imagining

0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:16.600
<v Speaker 1>our best possible selves contribute to optimism? Luba Mirski explains

0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.720
<v Speaker 1>that when people write about their best possible selves, they

0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.960
<v Speaker 1>recognize that it is in their power to transform themselves

0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.280
<v Speaker 1>and to work toward valued goals. When we author our

0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:29.679
<v Speaker 1>own narratives, we recognize that we can author our own

0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.360
<v Speaker 1>lives too, and the writing part turns out to matter.

0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.280
<v Speaker 1>We see in specific terms how the story might unfold.

0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:42.920
<v Speaker 1>Luba Mirski writes, because writing is highly structured, systematic, and

0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:47.480
<v Speaker 1>rule bound, it prompts you to organize, integrate, and analyze

0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.399
<v Speaker 1>your thoughts in a way that would be difficult, if

0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:54.200
<v Speaker 1>not impossible, to do if you were just fantasizing one

0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:57.680
<v Speaker 1>my realize. She suggests, I now see a way to

0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:01.640
<v Speaker 1>make my dream come true. So if you find yourself

0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:05.320
<v Speaker 1>looking longingly to the future, pick up a pen or

0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:10.680
<v Speaker 1>open your laptop and start writing. Describe your best possible self.

0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:13.440
<v Speaker 1>Maybe on the first day you go back to your office,

0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.040
<v Speaker 1>or the first day your kids go back to school,

0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:21.280
<v Speaker 1>or on some specific date, say January first, twenty twenty one,

0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:25.079
<v Speaker 1>or your birthday in twenty twenty five, or another day

0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:29.120
<v Speaker 1>of significance to you. What will your life be like?

0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:33.480
<v Speaker 1>Write about what's happening in your family, at work, with

0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:38.160
<v Speaker 1>your volunteer commitments. Are you engaged in fitness or artistic pursuits?

0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:42.920
<v Speaker 1>What professional milestones have you hit? Does your home or

0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:46.760
<v Speaker 1>yard or closet look different than it does now? Do

0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:51.520
<v Speaker 1>you speak Spanish? Do you meditate daily? Take twenty minutes

0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:56.760
<v Speaker 1>and describe the best possible self you see. Then, over

0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:00.120
<v Speaker 1>the next few weeks, re read what you've written and

0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:04.480
<v Speaker 1>write more. You may find that envisioning your best possible

0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:08.160
<v Speaker 1>self brings it closer to reality as you take steps

0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:13.320
<v Speaker 1>today to become that self in the future. In the meantime,

0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:17.640
<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:26.880
<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.880
<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:33.720
<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:39.320
<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,

0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.359
<v Speaker 1>then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:47.039
<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:49.760
<v Speaker 1>dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.599
<v Speaker 1>the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

0:04:52.600 --> 0:05:01.239
<v Speaker 1>in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio.

0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:04.760
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i

0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:08.320
<v Speaker 1>heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:10.160
<v Speaker 1>your favorite shows. H