WEBVTT - Second Cup: The case for quarterly goals

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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 to consider setting quarterly resolutions instead of the

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<v Speaker 1>usual annual New Year's ones. I love setting New Year's resolutions.

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<v Speaker 1>There's something about the clean slate of a new calendar

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<v Speaker 1>year that makes me want to set new goals. But

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<v Speaker 1>like many people, my excitement about bright, shiny New Year's

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<v Speaker 1>goals often exceeds my actual capacity to implement these changes.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's why I love the idea, which I got

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<v Speaker 1>several years ago from an entrepreneur named Angela Gia Kim,

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<v Speaker 1>to set quarterly resolutions. Basically, the idea is that instead

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<v Speaker 1>of focusing only on the stuff you'll try in January,

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<v Speaker 1>you set goals for each quarter of the year. You

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<v Speaker 1>get a clean slate in January, April, July, and October.

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<v Speaker 1>There are several upsides to this concept. For starters, you

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<v Speaker 1>can set more goals. I tend to identify twelve, one

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<v Speaker 1>for each quarter in the categories of career, relationships, and

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<v Speaker 1>self even if you'd only set one or two each quarter.

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<v Speaker 1>Though this can broaden the scope from the handful of

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<v Speaker 1>things you'd tackle as new Year's resolutions. Even as you're

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<v Speaker 1>setting more goals, though you can be more focused on

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<v Speaker 1>each habits are always hardest at the beginning. Setting too

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<v Speaker 1>many intentions means you dilute what might already be limited.

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<v Speaker 1>Willpower better to go all in on, say, eating vegetables

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<v Speaker 1>at lunch at dinner for ninety days and then tackling

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<v Speaker 1>exercise first. Trying to work out and eat vegetables and

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<v Speaker 1>get enough sleep and give up sugar sweetened drinks all

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<v Speaker 1>at once. You've got a much better chance of actually

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<v Speaker 1>sticking with something if it's the only change you're trying

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<v Speaker 1>to make. Setting quarterly goals allows you to pace your Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>you're acknowledging that exercise is important, and there's a time

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<v Speaker 1>when you will address exercise, namely starting in April, not

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<v Speaker 1>right now, while you're doing your best to add broccoli

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<v Speaker 1>and kale to your grocery cart and menu rotation. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>ninety days might feel like a more doable time frame

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<v Speaker 1>than a year for something that's more of a challenge

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<v Speaker 1>than an actual ongoing resolution. For instance, I might set

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<v Speaker 1>a career goal to revise a novel in Q two

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<v Speaker 1>and come up with a new book idea in Q three.

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<v Speaker 1>Both of these will eventually be done, and by assigning

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<v Speaker 1>a time over the course of the year, I know

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<v Speaker 1>I will get to both. And sometimes resolutions are better

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<v Speaker 1>fits for some parts of the year than others. I'll

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<v Speaker 1>talk in an upcoming episode about my resolution to get

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<v Speaker 1>outside for twenty minutes a day. I really have no

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<v Speaker 1>trouble doing this from say, July to October, when the

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<v Speaker 1>weather is amenable. It's a lot harder from January to March,

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<v Speaker 1>which is why this is a Q one resolution that

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<v Speaker 1>I won't worry about so much once spring and summer come.

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<v Speaker 1>In any case, if you like this idea too, take

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<v Speaker 1>some time today to think about dividing what might be

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<v Speaker 1>your annual New Year's resolutions into quarterly ones. Which will

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<v Speaker 1>you tackle first, what's better suited to later parts of

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<v Speaker 1>the year. Of course, if you're going to make quarterly resolutions,

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<v Speaker 1>then you should probably write them somewhere where you'll be

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<v Speaker 1>able to see them later. Maybe send yourself a calendar

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<v Speaker 1>reminder for the last week of each quarter so you'll

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<v Speaker 1>be able to handle the logistics necessary for tackling each

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<v Speaker 1>resolution at its appropriate time. If you set fourth quarter

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<v Speaker 1>goals and then completely forget about them in the fourth quarter.

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<v Speaker 1>That makes this a slightly less useful exercise, although it

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<v Speaker 1>must be said sometimes life changes enough that revisiting goals

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<v Speaker 1>each quarter makes sense because they know longer makes sense

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<v Speaker 1>for your life. Maybe you plan to renovate your house

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<v Speaker 1>in the fourth quarter, but you got a great new

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<v Speaker 1>job in the second quarter that's going to require moving,

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<v Speaker 1>so it goes. We can change. But in general, I

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<v Speaker 1>find that while people overestimate what they can do in

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<v Speaker 1>the short run, they underestimate what they can do in

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<v Speaker 1>the long run. By setting small quarterly goals, these can

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<v Speaker 1>become cumulative. A year from now, you could be in

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<v Speaker 1>great shape, or on track for getting out of debt,

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<v Speaker 1>or no longer smoking, or all of the above. And

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<v Speaker 1>given how many people don't keep annual New Year's resolutions,

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<v Speaker 1>that would be a pretty impressive outcome. Do you set

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<v Speaker 1>quarterly goals? I'd love to hear about it. You can

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<v Speaker 1>email me at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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<v Speaker 1>That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod. You

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<v Speaker 1>can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>At iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out

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<v Speaker 1>with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I look

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<v Speaker 1>forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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