WEBVTT - Keep small things small

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to keep small things small. Not everything

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<v Speaker 1>warrants a big response. And by keeping small things small,

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<v Speaker 1>as the saying goes, you save your time and energy

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<v Speaker 1>for things that truly do warrant your attention. You'll probably

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<v Speaker 1>be happier too. If you're like most people, you no

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<v Speaker 1>doubt find yourself annoyed when things in life aren't quite right.

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<v Speaker 1>I know I do. Maybe your neighbor leaves his garbage

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<v Speaker 1>bins on the curb for days, or maybe your workplace

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<v Speaker 1>sends pointless email newsletters that you can't unsubscribe from. If

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<v Speaker 1>you're listening to this podcast, my guess is that you

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<v Speaker 1>have high standards for yourself and you try to find

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<v Speaker 1>solutions to problems that come up in your life. That's

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<v Speaker 1>generally a good thing. Sometimes, though, our attempts to find

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<v Speaker 1>solutions can cost more than the problems they're trying to solve.

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<v Speaker 1>That's when it pays to keep small things small. The

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<v Speaker 1>first way to keep small things small is to recognize

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<v Speaker 1>them as small things. Ask yourself, how much does this

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<v Speaker 1>affect my life or the lives of the people I

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<v Speaker 1>care about. Sometimes the answer will be not much. These

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<v Speaker 1>are occasions to practice patients. You can smile after someone

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<v Speaker 1>cuts in front of you in the line to exit

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<v Speaker 1>from the highway. Maybe the person is a thoughtless jerk,

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe it's a tourist in a rental car who

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<v Speaker 1>had no idea that that's where the exit was. In

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<v Speaker 1>any case, you know that you will still get to

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<v Speaker 1>work on time at your high paying job, or you

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<v Speaker 1>do challenging, meaningful work alongside clever colleagues. I mean, really,

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<v Speaker 1>what does it matter to you? If you're not sure

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<v Speaker 1>whether you're dealing with a small thing, try what Richard Carlson,

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<v Speaker 1>author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, calls the time warp.

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<v Speaker 1>Imagine yourself a year from now, how much does this

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<v Speaker 1>issue matter? Most likely, you won't remember your commute two

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<v Speaker 1>days from now, let alone a year from now. Or

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<v Speaker 1>you can ask yourself whose issue is this? Anyway, it

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<v Speaker 1>might be nice if your colleague didn't use double exclamation

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<v Speaker 1>points and all his emails, but this hardly reflects upon

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<v Speaker 1>you. You You might prefer that your high schooler look a

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<v Speaker 1>little less like she had slept in her clothes, but

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<v Speaker 1>again to eat her own. Psychologist Wendy Mogul, in her

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<v Speaker 1>book The Blessing of a b Minus, encourages parents to

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<v Speaker 1>allow themselves to appreciate their kids as they figure out

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<v Speaker 1>who they are, even when their tastes or hobbies they

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<v Speaker 1>seem a little odd. She offers an old Hebrew prayer,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you God for varying the creatures. The next time

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<v Speaker 1>you find yourself about to get annoyed or want to

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<v Speaker 1>fix something that isn't actually your problem, just say to yourself,

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<v Speaker 1>what a world plenty of surprises and leave other people

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<v Speaker 1>to their exclamation points or odd bawl fashion. Sometimes, though,

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<v Speaker 1>you may feel like a small thing is having an

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<v Speaker 1>adverse effect on you or someone else, and you feel

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<v Speaker 1>the urge to address it. Even then, a little perspective

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<v Speaker 1>is wise. I find it helpful to imagine how a

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<v Speaker 1>conversation about the issue might unfold. Suppose you have a

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<v Speaker 1>monthly conference call that consistently starts ten minutes late. You

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<v Speaker 1>faithfully log on at the scheduled time, only to spend

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<v Speaker 1>ten minutes talking about the weather. As you think about

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<v Speaker 1>bringing this up with the person who convenes the call,

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<v Speaker 1>try to imagine what you would say try to imagine

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<v Speaker 1>how he might respond. Are you feeling stumped about what

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<v Speaker 1>you might say? That doesn't sound petty about this ten

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<v Speaker 1>minutes every month? Or you have to talk about the weather.

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<v Speaker 1>If so, plan for the delay, come up with your

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<v Speaker 1>best weather jokes, or just dial in late yourself. Other times, though,

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<v Speaker 1>imagining the conversation will help you figure out how to

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<v Speaker 1>keep a small thing in perspective while constructively addressing its.

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<v Speaker 1>Suppose you frequently learned about special programs at your kids

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<v Speaker 1>school just a few days before you either scramble to

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<v Speaker 1>rearrange your work schedule or your kids are disappointed when

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<v Speaker 1>you can't be there. At first blush, you might think

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<v Speaker 1>to respond to the teacher's next email with your frustration

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<v Speaker 1>about this, but that might make the teacher feel guilty

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<v Speaker 1>and probably doesn't help the long term goal of a

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<v Speaker 1>good relationship, so instead you envision another option. When you

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<v Speaker 1>have a hunch that there's an event coming up, you

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<v Speaker 1>reach out to your child's teacher to ask if there's

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<v Speaker 1>something you should anticipate. Hello, Mrs Rogers. With springbreak around

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<v Speaker 1>the corner, I wondered if there might be a class party.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm eager to get it on the calendar so I

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<v Speaker 1>can arrange my schedule to attend. Hopefully that will elicit

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<v Speaker 1>at least tentative information and maybe even nudge the teacher

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<v Speaker 1>to give a little more notice for special events in

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<v Speaker 1>the future. You kept the small things small while still

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<v Speaker 1>addressing an issue that was bothering you. How do you

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<v Speaker 1>manage to keep small things small in your life? You

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<v Speaker 1>can let me know at Before Breakfast podcast at i

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<v Speaker 1>heeart media 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. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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

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<v Speaker 1>p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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<v Speaker 1>at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

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