1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:16,240 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: tip is that when it comes to good habits, you 4 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 1: don't have to aim for perfection or even a big 5 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: jump from where you are now in order to see improvement. 6 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: Just aim for better and that should be good enough. 7 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: If you are, like a lot of people probably listeners 8 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: to this show, you have some self improvement goals. Maybe 9 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,240 Speaker 1: you'd like to exercise more often, or build more social 10 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 1: connection into your life, eat better, or save more money. 11 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: It can feel appealing to set lofty goals, but in 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: many cases, when something requires a huge change, it just 13 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: won't happen. Our lives as they are for a reason. 14 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: So instead of aiming for perfection or dramatic improvement, just 15 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: aim for better. Little tweaks stand a much better chance 16 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: of sticking. So if you track your time and see 17 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: that you are generally exercising once a week and this 18 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: doesn't feel like enough to you, just try to get 19 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: to twice. If you are doing twice, aim for three 20 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: times a week. After all, three times a week is 21 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: a habit, And if you don't exercise at all, just 22 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: try for once one more time per week than whatever 23 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: you are doing is meaningful progress. Once that rhythm becomes established, 24 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: you can always nudge the goal up a bit higher 25 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: if you want, but even if you don't, you will 26 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: still be in a better spot just by aiming for 27 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: better than what was happening before. If it is social 28 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: connection that you are hoping to increase, figure out what 29 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: you are doing currently and then just aim for a 30 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: little bit better. If you currently do something social approximately 31 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: once a month, see if you can add something else 32 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: little in Maybe it's having coffee with a colleague, or 33 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: going to an event at your house of worship or 34 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: that your neighborhood association is hosting. You don't have to 35 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: become a social butterfly. Going from once a month to 36 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: twice a month is doubling your social occasions but doesn't 37 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: require making a huge change. If you want to eat 38 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,359 Speaker 1: more healthfuly, that doesn't mean you have to eat fish 39 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: and kale at every meal. Just aim for better. Maybe 40 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: you decide on a few healthy breakfasts that you rotate 41 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: through an aim for healthy brown bag lunches twice a 42 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: week or so. You don't worry yet about everything else. 43 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: It can come in time if you want it to. 44 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: When we aim for better than before, we can make 45 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,079 Speaker 1: progress at a rate that is sustainable. When goals are 46 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: impossibly high for life as we actually live it, we 47 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: may give up or at least feel discouraged. So if 48 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: you have a goal that you haven't made much progress 49 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: on in the past, try reframing it. You don't have 50 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: to reach for perfection to make progress, just aim for 51 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: better in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, 52 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks 53 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, 54 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura 55 00:03:52,000 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a pre production of iHeartMedia. 56 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, 57 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.