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 that you shouldn't talk yourself into things.
Speaker 1: If you keep trying to come up with reasons to
Speaker 1: do something that might be a sign that you don't
Speaker 1: actually want to do it, you can save yourself a
Speaker 1: lot of time and bother by just saying no. I
Speaker 1: know that Before Breakfast listeners are productive and ambitious people,
Speaker 1: so I'm sure you have opportunities coming to you all
Speaker 1: the time. It is certainly flattering to have people reach
Speaker 1: out to you with prestigious professional and personal options. You
Speaker 1: know that lots of people would love to do these things. Indeed,
Speaker 1: there are plenty people who spend a lot of time
Speaker 1: and energy pitching themselves for these opportunities that just land
Speaker 1: in your lap. And so I imagine you have had
Speaker 1: versions of this conversation with yourself in your head. M
Speaker 1: It wouldn't take too much time. It might introduce me
Speaker 1: to interesting people. I've been thinking about branching out into
Speaker 1: that area. I'll probably learn something about X, Y or Z. Well,
Speaker 1: if you look at it on a per hour basis,
Speaker 1: it's pretty reasonable that might look good if I ever
Speaker 1: try applying for X, Y or Z and so on.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying these arguments aren't true, but here's the thing.
Speaker 1: When we truly want to do something, we don't have
Speaker 1: to hunt around for explanations of why we really should
Speaker 1: want to do it. Your best friends scores front road
Speaker 1: tickets on the fifty yard line to see your favorite
Speaker 1: football team play their top rival. You're thinking logistics, not rationales.
Speaker 1: CEO of your company taps you to lead your dream project.
Speaker 1: You're already hiring for your team in your mind, not
Speaker 1: asking if it's the right thing to do. Yes. Sometimes
Speaker 1: we feel nervous about things, and we need to address
Speaker 1: those nerves. But there's a difference between those inner explanations
Speaker 1: where you are arguing with yourself that you shouldn't do something,
Speaker 1: and there's inner arguments when you're arguing that you should.
Speaker 1: I think we need to look at both of these critically.
Speaker 1: So instead of trying to talk yourself into things, try
Speaker 1: to other tactics first, and especially if the work for
Speaker 1: this opportunity will be happening a while in the future,
Speaker 1: ask yourself, if you would do it tomorrow, would you
Speaker 1: be willing to get on a plane or cold called
Speaker 1: twenty people or whatever it is tomorrow. If the answer
Speaker 1: is no, you are not going to magically be more
Speaker 1: excited in two months when this opportunity comes to fruition.
Speaker 1: So be kind to your future self and say no. Second,
Speaker 1: figure out what else you could do with the time.
Speaker 1: When people are asked to do something, they often compare
Speaker 1: that too nothing and most things look better than nothing,
Speaker 1: But that is not the right comparison. You are a
Speaker 1: productive and ambitious person. You could definitely arrange some awesome
Speaker 1: things in your life if you tried to. If you
Speaker 1: don't go give that talk to people who might theoretically
Speaker 1: be useful, You could go visit your best friend's family instead.
Speaker 1: You could take an overnight hiking trip somewhere beautiful. You
Speaker 1: could spend a day fully focused on deep work and
Speaker 1: strategic planning for your career. Those are all pretty amazing ideas.
Speaker 1: Is this opportunity better than that? Sometimes yes and sometimes no.
Speaker 1: If the answer is no, then pay attention to how
Speaker 1: much explaining you are doing to yourself. You don't need
Speaker 1: to talk yourself into things. Just use this script. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for thinking of me. Unfortunately I'm not
Speaker 1: going to be able to take this on, but I
Speaker 1: wish you the best of luck with the project. Then
Speaker 1: go use the time for something else your future self well.
Speaker 1: Thank you. 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 iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.