Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to pursue your goals with a group,
Speaker 1: so you can encourage each other and maintain motivation even
Speaker 1: when it's tempting to give up. So you probably know
Speaker 1: from experience that long term goals like running a marathon,
Speaker 1: quitting smoking, or learning a new language are easier when
Speaker 1: you're part of a community aiming for the same thing.
Speaker 1: There are a few reasons for this. First, the social
Speaker 1: aspect makes your goal directed behavior more fun. My ten
Speaker 1: mile runs with my running buddy go quicker than ten
Speaker 1: mile runs done by myself. Frugal living communities share tips,
Speaker 1: barter skills, and pass along hand me downs that can
Speaker 1: make these behaviors seem less like sacrifices and more like
Speaker 1: cool things that you do with friends. Second, group activities
Speaker 1: tend to involve scheduling. You don't just randomly show up
Speaker 1: somewhere to practice French with a group of people. They
Speaker 1: all have to get together at a certain time. That's obvious,
Speaker 1: but it's also a major plus where goals are concerned.
Speaker 1: Designating time on your schedule for a goal vastly increases
Speaker 1: the chances that you devote time to that goal. Recurring
Speaker 1: meetings amount to recurring deadlines for making progress. And of
Speaker 1: course there is the accountability aspect. Your running group might
Speaker 1: text to see where you are if you don't show
Speaker 1: up for that Saturday morning long run. No one you
Speaker 1: need to tell you're quit smoking group about that cigarette
Speaker 1: might just encourage you to do something else to combat
Speaker 1: those stressful feelings. Your career or change group will ask
Speaker 1: what you've done, and you will report back and they
Speaker 1: will celebrate when you hit your targets. That is far
Speaker 1: more motivational than just giving yourself a pat on the back.
Speaker 1: Groups also remind us that we don't have to solve
Speaker 1: everything ourselves. When you have challenges that come up in
Speaker 1: pursuing your goal, and inevitably you are going to have challenges,
Speaker 1: your group can help you figure them out. Someone in
Speaker 1: your frugal living group can talk you through the process
Speaker 1: of refinancing a mortgage or finding a cheaper cell phone plan.
Speaker 1: You can benefit from other people's wisdom that allows you
Speaker 1: to steward your time and energy for the pursuit of
Speaker 1: your goals, rather than repeating research that you don't actually
Speaker 1: need to do all by yourself now, to be sure,
Speaker 1: Recognizing the benefit of a group goal and actually finding
Speaker 1: a group to pursue it are two different things. We
Speaker 1: will talk in a future episode about how to find
Speaker 1: or create an accountability group that works for you. But
Speaker 1: if you would like to make a change in life
Speaker 1: and are wondering how to do it, being part of
Speaker 1: a group can be profoundly motivating. Knowing that others are
Speaker 1: walking alongside you can be just the kick in the
Speaker 1: pants that you need to get things done. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com.
Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
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