1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:21,279 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to make backup plans. When you've got 4 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 1: a great Option B in place, you can relax more 5 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: about Option A. Indeed, you can enjoy life more in general. 6 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: Over the past two years, people have had to change 7 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 1: a lot of plans, travel plans, wedding plans. I think 8 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 1: about how often small businesses have had to pivot from 9 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: beefing up online operations to navigating pandemic restrictions and changing 10 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: tastes and supply chain issues. Parents have had to figure 11 00:00:55,440 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: out back up schooling plans and childcare plans, me things 12 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: and conferences, switched to zoom and sometimes switched back to 13 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: in person and sometimes switched again. None of this has 14 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: exactly been fun, but it's been a good reminder that 15 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: Option A isn't going to always be available. You don't 16 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: necessarily know when Option A won't be available, but some 17 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: chunk of the time it just won't be often. The 18 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: difference between panic and calm is having a reasonable option B. 19 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: In my family, with two working parents and lots of kids, 20 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,119 Speaker 1: we've had to think about this a lot. One reason 21 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: we elected to hire a nanny rather than use daycare 22 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: for our toddler is that our nanny can then be 23 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: the backup childcare for the older kids when school is closed, 24 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: as it was unexpectedly on the day. I wrote this script. 25 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: When the pandemic began close to two years ago, and 26 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: I realized that in person speaking wasn't going to be 27 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: happening for a while, I started doing more podcasting. I 28 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: wrote an e book backup Plans that replaced the speaking income. 29 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: It's worth thinking about this in any scenario. You've got 30 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: option A. You like option A, but if option A 31 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: doesn't happen, what would you like to see as option B. 32 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 1: We wind up needing to think about this. In a crisis, 33 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: you need to be in Chicago, but all the flights 34 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: are canceled due to bad weather. What are you going 35 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: to do? The upside of thinking about option B ahead 36 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: of time is that you can figure out more options. 37 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: You can look at the situation more holistically. You can 38 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: have the logistics in place to make option be fairly 39 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: automatic when the need arises. We saw the upside of 40 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: proactive backup plans in the early days of the pandemic. 41 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: Places that already had robust work from home policies were 42 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: able to just use them daily, whereas organizations that hadn't 43 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 1: thought about what they do in a blizzard or in 44 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:25,079 Speaker 1: a natural disaster, or yes, in a pandemic had to scramble. 45 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: Small businesses that had figured out how to sell online, 46 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: we're in a better place than those that hadn't thought 47 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: about what they do if in person operations were shut down. 48 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: When we think about option B ahead of time, we 49 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: can sometimes come up with such great option bees that 50 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: we become a lot less worried about whether option A happens. 51 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: This is how wise families handled that high stakes drama 52 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: known as college admissions. The phrase safety school is often 53 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: used disparagingly, But when you choose some schools that you 54 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: know are great and that you know you are highly 55 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: likely to get into, then the whimsies of selective schools 56 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: matter less. You know you will get a great education. 57 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: It may be at one place, or it maybe at another, 58 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: but there are no bad choices. Having great option bees 59 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: should also be the goal of networking. It's not about 60 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: collecting business cards. It's about having a few folks who 61 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: have told you that if you are ever thinking of 62 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:43,840 Speaker 1: leaving your current job, you should call them first. Knowing 63 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: you have great backup options makes you more relaxed about 64 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: your current position, which makes you better able to take 65 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 1: risks and set boundaries that can make Option A a 66 00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: lot more tolerable. So for anything in life, think about 67 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: your backup plans. Sure, we love our option a's, we 68 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: chose them for a reason, we'd like to stick with them, 69 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,840 Speaker 1: but sometimes that's not going to be up to us. 70 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: Knowing there is a great option B means we can 71 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: take life as it comes, rather than mourning the loss 72 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: of things that it isn't in our power to keep. 73 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 74 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, 75 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:48,919 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 76 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,599 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 77 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod 78 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then breakfast p o D. 79 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 80 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled 81 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look 82 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production 83 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 84 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,239 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 85 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.