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 reassess your safety nets. Backup plans are good,
Speaker 1: but you don't necessarily need them forever, or at least
Speaker 1: need the same ones forever. Make sure you take a
Speaker 1: good look from time to time to see what is
Speaker 1: still serving you and what isn't. Today's tip, like another
Speaker 1: this week, comes from Elizabeth Sharpmakatta's new book, Edit Your Life.
Speaker 1: This book is about how to live with intention in
Speaker 1: a messy world. One of her suggestions for editing your
Speaker 1: life is to look around your life at your safety
Speaker 1: nets and ask what they are keeping you safe from
Speaker 1: and whether they are serving that purpose. Maybe you need
Speaker 1: an extra safety net, or maybe you need less. It's
Speaker 1: hard to know unless you take a really good look.
Speaker 1: So first some clarification. A literal safety net is the
Speaker 1: net below an aerial performer that means if the person falls,
Speaker 1: they won't be badly injured. Metaphorically, a safety net is
Speaker 1: something that keeps a problem from becoming a disaster. So
Speaker 1: a safety net, like unemployment insurance, means that if someone
Speaker 1: loses a job, his or her family will still have
Speaker 1: some income. We often have safety nets for our individual
Speaker 1: lives too. For instance, Elizabeth talks of having an accountant
Speaker 1: friend who took on freelance tax season work while he
Speaker 1: was growing his own business. He wanted to make sure
Speaker 1: he had enough cash coming in so that even if
Speaker 1: the business grew slowly, he would be okay. Some safety
Speaker 1: nets are absolutely necessary even if you are wealthy or
Speaker 1: have an incredibly secure job. It is still a good
Speaker 1: idea to have a few months worth of expenses somewhere
Speaker 1: you can access easily. If you and your spouse both
Speaker 1: travel for work and you have kids, you need more
Speaker 1: than one person available while you are both gone in
Speaker 1: case something goes wrong for that first person and both
Speaker 1: of you aren't there. But you do want to ask
Speaker 1: what the safety nets in your life are keeping you
Speaker 1: safe from. For instance, the accountant in our example wanted
Speaker 1: to avoid going broke even if his business took a
Speaker 1: while to grow, But after he had more clients than
Speaker 1: he could handle, he really needed to focus on his
Speaker 1: business other than diverting his attention to work. That was
Speaker 1: just about paying the bills. His bills were fine. Time
Speaker 1: to let that particular net go. Elizabeth suggests asking if
Speaker 1: you feel you can live more freely knowing a safety
Speaker 1: net is below you, or if a particular safety net
Speaker 1: has started to hamper your choices. What might happen if
Speaker 1: you shed one of your safety nets? Would you have
Speaker 1: more time to pursue your creative work, more freedom to
Speaker 1: do things in your personal life? Or conversely, you might
Speaker 1: find that certain safety nets might make you braver. For instance,
Speaker 1: if you don't have an emergency fund, you might live
Speaker 1: in fear of losing your job. Once you've got a
Speaker 1: fair amount of cash in the bank, that prospect becomes
Speaker 1: a lot less terrifying. That means that people have less
Speaker 1: power over you. You don't really have to do anything.
Speaker 1: You have choices, and that can make you a lot
Speaker 1: braver and more free. So reassess your safety nets and
Speaker 1: figure out which are working for you and which aren't.
Speaker 1: Figure out if you need to take one away or
Speaker 1: maybe if you need to add one. Getting the balance
Speaker 1: right can help you build the life you want. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, should I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio.
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