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 how to get back on track if
Speaker 1: you've had a setback in the course of pursuing a
Speaker 1: new goal. This episode is first airing in January, and
Speaker 1: lots of people, particularly those who listen to productivity podcasts,
Speaker 1: love to set New Year's resolutions. However, if you believe
Speaker 1: the headlines, many people have fallen off the wagon of
Speaker 1: their good intentions by the end of the month. In
Speaker 1: studying how people spend their time, I've seen that these
Speaker 1: setbacks usually stem from something out of the ordinary happening.
Speaker 1: These disruptions can be good or bad. You've gotten into
Speaker 1: a rhythm of going to a particular class at your gym,
Speaker 1: but then your company announces that you're getting promoted. How exciting.
Speaker 1: You get sent to Houston for a week for training.
Speaker 1: You don't go to your regular exercise class during this time,
Speaker 1: of course, but when you return home, well, you've got
Speaker 1: a lot of new stuff on your plate to deal
Speaker 1: with and it's back to old habits. Or maybe you
Speaker 1: or someone in your family comes down with the flu.
Speaker 1: The routine gets disrupted. You feel like you're just hanging
Speaker 1: on trying to make up the work you've missed, and
Speaker 1: so going to the gym falls to the bottom of
Speaker 1: the to do list. Next thing you know, it's been
Speaker 1: two weeks. The first thing is to recognize that some
Speaker 1: setbacks can be avoided by setting resolutions more strategically. I
Speaker 1: would never recommend setting a goal to go to a
Speaker 1: particular exercise class at a particular gym three times a week.
Speaker 1: There's always going to be some reason that can't happen consistently.
Speaker 1: But instead, maybe you could decide that you're going to
Speaker 1: exercise for at least twenty minutes three times a week.
Speaker 1: If that means going to your favorite class that's offered Monday,
Speaker 1: Wednesday and Friday evenings, well awesome. But if you're in
Speaker 1: Houston for training, you can still get up forty five
Speaker 1: minutes earlier than you would have and hit the hotel
Speaker 1: treadmill and fulfill your intention. If you're caring for an
Speaker 1: ill family member, you might still be able to do
Speaker 1: some push ups and sit ups at your house, or
Speaker 1: if you're the one who's sick, you might be able
Speaker 1: to do a slow twenty minute walk after a few
Speaker 1: days recuperating. By making the gold doable, even when life
Speaker 1: goes wrong, you increase the chances that your intention goes right.
Speaker 1: So if your original goal seems too specific and too demanding,
Speaker 1: go ahead and change it. Yes, you can change a
Speaker 1: resolution in late January. Going to the gym three times
Speaker 1: a week is not a good in and of itself.
Speaker 1: The point of the resolution is the health benefit, so
Speaker 1: feel free to switch to whatever will give you that,
Speaker 1: and then just do some things small until you feel
Speaker 1: like scaling up again. Something is often better than nothing.
Speaker 1: If you do find yourself having trouble getting remotivated, though,
Speaker 1: there is one surprisingly effective thing you can do. Try
Speaker 1: telling yourself that you haven't quit, You've just paused. We
Speaker 1: pause all kinds of things in life. I'm guessing that
Speaker 1: you get yourself up and get ready for work on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Speaker 1: and Friday. You don't do this on Saturday and Sunday.
Speaker 1: But then you get up and go again on Monday
Speaker 1: without a huge existential crisis. You're two days off wasn't
Speaker 1: a sign of failure. It was just a pause. Same
Speaker 1: thing with any new habit. You didn't stop, you just
Speaker 1: changed the rhythm for a bit. Now. After the change,
Speaker 1: you go right back in and you may pause again
Speaker 1: in the future. But that doesn't mean that you've stopped
Speaker 1: for good. So if you've had a setback with your
Speaker 1: New Year's resolutions, try changing the resolution or just acknowledging
Speaker 1: your pause. You may just find yourself motivated to keep
Speaker 1: going in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.