WEBVTT - What are you training for?

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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 that we tend to get better at anything

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<v Speaker 1>we do repeatedly. In other words, we are always training

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<v Speaker 1>for something. The question is just what we are training for.

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<v Speaker 1>So at various points in my life I have trained

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<v Speaker 1>for different running races, once a marathon, several times a

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<v Speaker 1>half marathon. As part of this, you tend to spend

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<v Speaker 1>more time running than you otherwise would, and you go

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<v Speaker 1>for longer distances. I am not currently training for any races.

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like I've kind of had enough of that

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<v Speaker 1>in my life at this point. But it occurred to

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<v Speaker 1>me that whenever you spend lots of time on something,

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<v Speaker 1>you tend to get at least somewhat better at it.

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<v Speaker 1>You develop efficiencies. Certain aspects take less time. If you

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<v Speaker 1>run a lot, you are generally going to get somewhat faster,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is true for non athletic things too. I

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<v Speaker 1>have now written somewhere close to two thousand of these

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<v Speaker 1>scripts for Before Breakfast. At this point, for sure, it

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<v Speaker 1>takes me less time to write a five hundred word

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<v Speaker 1>essay designed to be read out loud than it used to.

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<v Speaker 1>I am also swifter at recording. I've been apparently training

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<v Speaker 1>to write and record five minute episodes for seven years now.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether that is what I intended to get more efficient

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<v Speaker 1>at or not, I am guessing it is the same

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<v Speaker 1>for you. Whatever you do over and over again in life,

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<v Speaker 1>you become more efficient at and better at you are

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<v Speaker 1>in essence training. Sometimes this is great. It's good to

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<v Speaker 1>become better at giving employees helpful feedback. It is good

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<v Speaker 1>to become better at running great meetings. It's good to

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<v Speaker 1>become better at sales calls or writing proposals for clients.

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<v Speaker 1>But sometimes we become better at things we do repeatedly,

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<v Speaker 1>whether we would actively choose to be better at these

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<v Speaker 1>things or not. Maybe someone has become really good at

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<v Speaker 1>going through the drive through at a favorite restaurant. I

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<v Speaker 1>have become really efficient at ordering Starbucks. People might become

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<v Speaker 1>really good at surviving boring meetings and mentally transporting themselves

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<v Speaker 1>elsewhere through a lot of practice. People become good at

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<v Speaker 1>reading through social media posts. We get ourselves instantly to

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<v Speaker 1>the most outrageous one through lots of time and practice.

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<v Speaker 1>We are always training for something. Whatever we do repeatedly

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<v Speaker 1>we wind up getting better at. While I am happy

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<v Speaker 1>to get better at writing five hundred word essays, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to do that at the expense of other

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<v Speaker 1>kinds of writing, so I'm making sure I'm carving out

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<v Speaker 1>some time for that too. If you spend a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of time reading slack messages, you might be getting really

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<v Speaker 1>good at that, but maybe that is not what you

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<v Speaker 1>want to develop skills in. One of the upsides of

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<v Speaker 1>tracking your time is that you can see what you

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<v Speaker 1>are spending a lot of time doing. If I'd like

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<v Speaker 1>to read more and get speedier at reading, I bet

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<v Speaker 1>I could repurpose some of my scrolling or puttering time.

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<v Speaker 1>If I'd like to get better at long form writing,

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<v Speaker 1>then I need to make sure I am carving out

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<v Speaker 1>time to do that repeatedly, alongside the shorter stuff. If

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<v Speaker 1>you'd like to get better at presenting, make sure you've

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<v Speaker 1>got plenty of practice time for that, alongside time devoted

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<v Speaker 1>to the skill of surviving boring meetings. When we realize

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<v Speaker 1>we are always training for something, then we can decide

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<v Speaker 1>what we want to be training for. Maybe it's something

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<v Speaker 1>we are already doing, or maybe it's something new, but

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<v Speaker 1>bits of time add up. We want to make sure

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<v Speaker 1>they are adding up to something we want to see

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<v Speaker 1>in our lives. 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.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.