WEBVTT - Plus, minus, next

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that if you are aiming to build some

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<v Speaker 1>reflection time into your life, you could try a very

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<v Speaker 1>simple approach. Identify what was good, what was not so good,

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<v Speaker 1>and what you will do next. Today's tip, like another

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<v Speaker 1>this week, comes from Anne Laura Lecuonche's book Tiny Experiments,

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<v Speaker 1>How to Live Freely in a goal obsessed world. She

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<v Speaker 1>describes a quick five minute reflection tool that she calls

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<v Speaker 1>plus minus next. As she puts it, it is a

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<v Speaker 1>versatile starter kit for metacognition, that is, the reflecting on

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<v Speaker 1>life that many of us feel we should do more often.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's how it works. You make three columns on paper

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<v Speaker 1>or in a digital file. The heading for the first

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<v Speaker 1>column is plus and Law explains that this column is

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<v Speaker 1>for what went well, what you accomplished, what gave you joy,

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<v Speaker 1>and what you are grateful for. Next is the minus column.

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<v Speaker 1>This is for challenges, obstacles, unexpected setbacks. You can also

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<v Speaker 1>list missed opportunities, work that remains undone, mistakes, areas of

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<v Speaker 1>life you didn't attend to, and negative emotions. Finally, there

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<v Speaker 1>is the next column. This is for what you are

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<v Speaker 1>going to do next based on your reflections. In other words,

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<v Speaker 1>given what was done and undone, what was successful and unsuccessful,

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<v Speaker 1>and how you felt, what are your hopes and plans

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<v Speaker 1>for the near future? For all three columns and laws

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<v Speaker 1>as anything goes in terms of context, you can include

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<v Speaker 1>personal and professional content in the same reflection, or you

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<v Speaker 1>could separate these out. You can reflect on any given

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<v Speaker 1>part of your life, like parenting, or on your personal

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<v Speaker 1>life in general. And Laura suggests looking out a week

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<v Speaker 1>at a time, and I love the cadence of a week,

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<v Speaker 1>but you could do this based on a day, based

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<v Speaker 1>on a single meeting, based on a weekend, a month,

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<v Speaker 1>as an annual reviewer, whatever you'd like. Just do whatever

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<v Speaker 1>makes this reflection practice work for you. Now. Most likely

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<v Speaker 1>at least some of the next column will be based

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<v Speaker 1>on what was a plus or minus for you. But

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<v Speaker 1>there doesn't need to be a one to one correspondence

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<v Speaker 1>between reflections on the past and plans for the future.

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<v Speaker 1>And Laura says, not everything needs to be fixed, not

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<v Speaker 1>every problem needs a solution. Acknowledging them is enough to

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<v Speaker 1>move on. I love that point. While you want your

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<v Speaker 1>reflections to be connected to your actions, you also don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to get bogged down by trying to build on

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<v Speaker 1>every good thing and fix every bad thing. What's more,

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<v Speaker 1>you may have hopes and plans for the next day

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<v Speaker 1>or week that have nothing to do with the last one.

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<v Speaker 1>Thinking of the plus minus and next categories just lets

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<v Speaker 1>you look back and ahead in a simple, organic way.

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<v Speaker 1>You reflect constructively and then move forward. If you try

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<v Speaker 1>using plus minus next to reflect, I'd love to hear

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<v Speaker 1>how it goes. You can reach me at Laura at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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<v Speaker 1>got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

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<v Speaker 1>the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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<v Speaker 1>your favorite shows.