Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to get curious when things don't go as planned.
Speaker 1: If you are finding it hard to follow through on
Speaker 1: a plan you made, try to figure out why. Maybe
Speaker 1: you will be able to adjust the plan for more success,
Speaker 1: or you might realize what you do and do not
Speaker 1: want to do. Because I write and speak about time management,
Speaker 1: I hear from a lot of people about their goals
Speaker 1: and plans. This includes their frustrations when things don't go
Speaker 1: as expected. Sometimes people berate themselves for not doing what
Speaker 1: they intended, and I guess that sometimes that provides a
Speaker 1: kick in the pants, But other times this self flagellation
Speaker 1: does not result in anything positive. It might be a
Speaker 1: better idea to ask some questions to figure out why
Speaker 1: things didn't go as you expected. Maybe it's not the
Speaker 1: execution that was flawed, but the plan itself. For instance,
Speaker 1: let's say that you and a friend decide that you're
Speaker 1: going to go to a spin class together every Monday night,
Speaker 1: but then you usually find yourself going out for drinks instead.
Speaker 1: As you sit there feeling guilty. The next day, You
Speaker 1: might promise yourself that next week is the week that
Speaker 1: everything will be different. But let's be honest here, it's
Speaker 1: probably wisest to figure out why you landed in the
Speaker 1: bar instead of the gym five times out of the
Speaker 1: last six. Maybe it's a schedule issue. One of you
Speaker 1: can't realistically leave work, get to the gym, change clothes,
Speaker 1: and be in the studio by five forty five. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's a different one of you each week, but the
Speaker 1: net result is that one of you is usually texting, Hey,
Speaker 1: stuck in a meeting. Can we meet at the Frosty
Speaker 1: Mug instead? If that is the issue, maybe you'd be
Speaker 1: better off finding a class that meets at a different
Speaker 1: time when you have control of your schedules, like nine
Speaker 1: am on a Saturday. Or maybe the problem is that
Speaker 1: you're both really tired on Monday and you do better
Speaker 1: with a Thursday class. Or maybe the issue is that
Speaker 1: this is the only time you see your friend and
Speaker 1: you always have a lot to talk about, and you
Speaker 1: can't really talk while you're spinning on a bike. If
Speaker 1: that is the case, maybe you could meet for a
Speaker 1: walk or a run instead, you exercise and get to
Speaker 1: catch Maybe you want to like spin class, but you
Speaker 1: just don't. Maybe your friend doesn't like it, so she
Speaker 1: finds reasons to switch the plans. Not everybody likes spin class.
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean either of you are bad people. When
Speaker 1: we get curious about why a plan isn't working, we
Speaker 1: are better positioned to develop a plan that will work.
Speaker 1: Or I see this a lot. Maybe it's a morning
Speaker 1: routine that you're struggling with. People come up with all
Speaker 1: sorts of grand ideas of what they'd like to do
Speaker 1: in the early mornings. They've read stories of very successful
Speaker 1: people who get up at five am to run a
Speaker 1: marathon and meditate for an hour and enjoy some breakfast
Speaker 1: with a lot of greens. I confess that I have
Speaker 1: written some of these profiles, and all of this is great.
Speaker 1: But maybe these early rising folks don't have two toddlers
Speaker 1: and a puppy who wake unpredictably and thus make your
Speaker 1: mornings unpredictable. If that is the case, then setting your
Speaker 1: alarm early doesn't guarantee you'll get to do your routine,
Speaker 1: which gets quite frustrating. So people give up better to
Speaker 1: figure out what does work, like trading off mornings with
Speaker 1: your partner, so each of you get some certain time
Speaker 1: or doing your morning routine from eight to eight forty
Speaker 1: five after you drop your kids at daycare, but before
Speaker 1: work usually starts. When you are struggling to follow through
Speaker 1: on a plan, there are other approaches beyond just trying
Speaker 1: and trying and failing and then feeling like a failure.
Speaker 1: Think about whether the plan is truly aligned with your
Speaker 1: goals and desires and whether it is realistic given your life.
Speaker 1: When you understand why a plan isn't working, our better
Speaker 1: position to adjust and you can make a plan you
Speaker 1: will follow that will get you where you want to go.
Speaker 1: If you get curious about a plan that's not working
Speaker 1: for you, I'd love to hear what you discover and
Speaker 1: how you adjust. You can reach me at Laura at
Speaker 1: Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our times. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast guests, or wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.