Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to create a very clear picture of
Speaker 1: what done looks like. You'll be more motivated to achieve
Speaker 1: your goals if you can see vividly what the outcome
Speaker 1: will be. Today's tip, like another this week, comes from
Speaker 1: Greg McEwen's new book Effortless. This book looks at ways
Speaker 1: to make important actions automatic or at least easy. Gregg
Speaker 1: points out that we often set very vague goals, you know,
Speaker 1: the sort, lose weight, read more books. The problem is
Speaker 1: that we have no idea what done looks like, and
Speaker 1: so it's hard to feel a motivating sense of progress
Speaker 1: an accomplishment. So he suggests creating a vivid image of
Speaker 1: what done would look like for you. For instance, someone
Speaker 1: trying to lose weight might picture done as I look
Speaker 1: down at the weighing scale and see the number one
Speaker 1: seven staring back at me. Someone trying to read big
Speaker 1: important books might say done is on my digital reader.
Speaker 1: It will say finished next to war in Peace. Someone
Speaker 1: trying to walk more might decide that done is to
Speaker 1: reach ten thousand steps a day on my fitbit for
Speaker 1: fourteen days in a row, Greg writes, and someone trying
Speaker 1: to launch a product might instead view an intermediate version
Speaker 1: of done, as have ten beta users try the app
Speaker 1: for a week and give feedback. The upside of these
Speaker 1: visions of done is that they are very, very specific.
Speaker 1: By giving your mind clear instructions, Greg says, things click
Speaker 1: into gear and you can begin charting, of course toward
Speaker 1: that in state. The good news is that creating this
Speaker 1: vision really doesn't take long, Greg betts, you can do
Speaker 1: it in about sixty seconds. So think of a goal
Speaker 1: you've been pondering for a while. Launching a podcast, eating healthier,
Speaker 1: building a better relationship with your neighbor. These are all
Speaker 1: great ideas in any case, take one or two of
Speaker 1: them and write them down. Then, next to this nice,
Speaker 1: but let's face it, vague goal, write a specific vision
Speaker 1: for what done would look like. Maybe done for eating
Speaker 1: Healthier is that you've eaten five servings of fruits and
Speaker 1: vegetables every day for a week. Or with the better
Speaker 1: relationship with the neighbor, you chat with your neighbor for
Speaker 1: at least ten minutes each week and make a point
Speaker 1: of saying hello every time you see him. When you
Speaker 1: have a picture of done, you'll also know when you
Speaker 1: are done. Then you can decide to re up the
Speaker 1: goal if you want change it, or maybe be content
Speaker 1: with where you are. But either way you'll get a
Speaker 1: sense of accomplishment and that can motivate you to two
Speaker 1: more great things in the future. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.