WEBVTT - You’ll come up with something better

0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:06.720
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:15.040
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.680
<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to make sure you don't say yes

0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:22.119
<v Speaker 1>to things you are not excited about just because you

0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:26.920
<v Speaker 1>happen to be available. If you are available, you can

0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:31.680
<v Speaker 1>engineer something exciting into your life. Don't settle for a

0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:34.480
<v Speaker 1>five or a six when you can make an eight,

0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:40.080
<v Speaker 1>a nine, or maybe even a ten happen. As I

0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.480
<v Speaker 1>have talked with people about how they spend their time,

0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:46.320
<v Speaker 1>I have realized something interesting about making plans. For the

0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:49.040
<v Speaker 1>most part, when people are asked to do something, they

0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:52.400
<v Speaker 1>look to see if they are free. Then if the

0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:56.560
<v Speaker 1>thing sounds okay, they will generally say yes. The tendency

0:00:56.640 --> 0:01:00.560
<v Speaker 1>is to compare the thing on offer to nothing, and

0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:05.160
<v Speaker 1>in general, something reasonable does sound better than nothing. But

0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.759
<v Speaker 1>here's the thing, nothing isn't the only option out there.

0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.520
<v Speaker 1>With a little initiative, you could engineer something really cool

0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.600
<v Speaker 1>into your life. At the same time, I like to

0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.800
<v Speaker 1>think of all this using a ten point scale. There

0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:23.679
<v Speaker 1>are the ho hum but okay things, the fives and sixes.

0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:26.360
<v Speaker 1>There are the things that are pretty fun, the sevens

0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.520
<v Speaker 1>and the eights and then there are the really awesome ones,

0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:33.360
<v Speaker 1>the nines, and the tens. If you spend a few

0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:35.640
<v Speaker 1>minutes thinking about it, you can probably figure out what

0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:40.160
<v Speaker 1>falls in the categories of eights, nines, and tens for you.

0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:43.160
<v Speaker 1>You know what these things are for your life, So

0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:47.240
<v Speaker 1>rather than settle for a five or a six, why

0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:49.960
<v Speaker 1>not try to use that same amount of time to

0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.960
<v Speaker 1>get to at least a nine. For instance, maybe you

0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.360
<v Speaker 1>and your spouse are invited to attend a nonprofit fundraising

0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:00.920
<v Speaker 1>dinner in a nearby town. You will start to consider

0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.760
<v Speaker 1>making a night of it, staying at the hotel where

0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:06.720
<v Speaker 1>the event is held. You'll need a babysitter and such,

0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:09.560
<v Speaker 1>and yes, you know this organization's fundraising events tend to

0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:12.760
<v Speaker 1>be kind of boring, but you are available, and it's

0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:15.280
<v Speaker 1>something you could do, and it's a reason to go

0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.920
<v Speaker 1>and get away. And if you are thinking this, stop

0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:22.440
<v Speaker 1>right there, donate the amount you would have donated to

0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:26.120
<v Speaker 1>the nonprofit, and then use that special night with your

0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:29.920
<v Speaker 1>spouse for stuff you would really love, like going to

0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:32.360
<v Speaker 1>an outdoor concert or eating at a favorite restaurant with

0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.720
<v Speaker 1>just the two of you, or meeting up with friends

0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.560
<v Speaker 1>who live in that town. And then staying over All

0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:40.040
<v Speaker 1>of these take the same amount of time and similar

0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:44.320
<v Speaker 1>amounts of cash, but you will really enjoy yourself during them,

0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:50.040
<v Speaker 1>full stop big when honestly, I wish people would use

0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.240
<v Speaker 1>this mindset more for work too. We have a tendency

0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:55.760
<v Speaker 1>to say yes to meetings if we are invited, even

0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:58.320
<v Speaker 1>if we are not sure we'd contribute much, or even

0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:01.840
<v Speaker 1>that the meetings need to happen. Of course, you might think, well,

0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:04.639
<v Speaker 1>this is my job, so I do need to do it.

0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:08.960
<v Speaker 1>But do you Maybe the meeting is only a five

0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.919
<v Speaker 1>or so in terms of your particular expertise, you could

0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.400
<v Speaker 1>use that same hour to work on a project that

0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:18.520
<v Speaker 1>you'd rate as a nine or a ten. Why not

0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:22.960
<v Speaker 1>consider doing that instead? Your employer will probably benefit from

0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:27.000
<v Speaker 1>your excitement. Same if you are looking for your next project,

0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:31.280
<v Speaker 1>you could say yes to what comes over the transom.

0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.040
<v Speaker 1>You could also put the same effort into calling contacts,

0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:40.320
<v Speaker 1>working your network and finding something amazing. Ambitious people can

0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:44.360
<v Speaker 1>almost always engineer some eights into their lives if they try,

0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:50.880
<v Speaker 1>often some nines too, maybe even tens. So when you

0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.440
<v Speaker 1>are thinking about a five or a six, know that

0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:57.200
<v Speaker 1>you are not comparing this with nothing. You are comparing

0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.000
<v Speaker 1>it with something that could be utterly amazing. If you

0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.760
<v Speaker 1>will get off your chair to make it happen, you

0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:11.200
<v Speaker 1>can find something better. You just have to try. In

0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:16.520
<v Speaker 1>the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:26.240
<v Speaker 1>to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd

0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:28.640
<v Speaker 1>love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:32.400
<v Speaker 1>your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:38.240
<v Speaker 1>Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the

0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:42.560
<v Speaker 1>number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:46.320
<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart

0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.159
<v Speaker 1>media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with

0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:51.919
<v Speaker 1>all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to

0:04:51.920 --> 0:05:00.200
<v Speaker 1>staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I

0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:04.159
<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit

0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:07.560
<v Speaker 1>the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:13.760
<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows. Yeah