Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that if you are trying to regain a
Speaker 1: past level of performance, consider when you were last there.
Speaker 1: If it has been a minute, consider whether the goal
Speaker 1: is still attainable. It might be if you recreate those conditions,
Speaker 1: or you might need to adjust it, but either way
Speaker 1: that is good to know. So oftentimes people set goals
Speaker 1: to do something that they used to be able to do.
Speaker 1: For instance, someone who used to run and who's been
Speaker 1: out of running for a while might set a goal
Speaker 1: to run a five k again. Or perhaps the goal
Speaker 1: is even more ambitious, the person wants to run a
Speaker 1: twenty five minute five k, which is their own personal best.
Speaker 1: You might have put on a few pounds and want
Speaker 1: to get back to what you think of yourself as weighing.
Speaker 1: You might feel perpetually behind on life management tasks, and
Speaker 1: you recall that a few years ago you seem to
Speaker 1: have good systems for all these things. If you are
Speaker 1: thinking about any of these goals, it is wise to
Speaker 1: ask when you were last there. If you achieved something
Speaker 1: in the past, what did life look like then, did
Speaker 1: you last weigh one hundred and thirty pounds six years
Speaker 1: and three children ago. Did you last feel caught up
Speaker 1: with a particular set of systems three years ago before
Speaker 1: your big promotion? Have you run at your goal rate
Speaker 1: since you tore your meniscus a few years ago. It's
Speaker 1: easy to assume that if you met a goal once,
Speaker 1: you can meet it again. And I do think it's
Speaker 1: likely that a skill or activity you used to do
Speaker 1: faithfully is one you can get back into if you
Speaker 1: recreate the conditions. I have been thrilled to see that
Speaker 1: I've been able to get back into singing like I
Speaker 1: did in college by practicing as much now as I
Speaker 1: did in college. I may even be better at sight
Speaker 1: reading than I used to be, since I have more
Speaker 1: years of experience now. But the key here is that
Speaker 1: I am practicing as much as I was then. I
Speaker 1: sang in a choir for two hours three times a
Speaker 1: week in college, and I now sing on Monday nights,
Speaker 1: Thursday nights, and Sunday mornings with various groups, plus other
Speaker 1: time practicing on my own. Now. That would not have
Speaker 1: been possible when my kids were littler. It would not
Speaker 1: have been realistic to have a goal to do as
Speaker 1: much singing back. Then. Likewise, when you think about when
Speaker 1: you last hit a goal, you may see that it
Speaker 1: would be wiser to modify the goal, or perhaps set
Speaker 1: a different one. I mean, could still be a cool goal.
Speaker 1: You might set a goal to win an age group
Speaker 1: award in a local five k, but if you are
Speaker 1: forty nine years old, you are probably not going to
Speaker 1: win the race outright, even if you could have done
Speaker 1: it when you are twenty five. Best to set a
Speaker 1: goal that is achievable in life as it is, and
Speaker 1: if the goal is going to require time, think about
Speaker 1: how much time you actually have. Can you replicate the
Speaker 1: amount of time you put into your goal in a
Speaker 1: different phase of life, you might get there again. Lots
Speaker 1: of people rediscover hobbies once their kids are in school
Speaker 1: or are able to entertain themselves or perhaps even stay
Speaker 1: home by themselves. Time starts to open up. Not all
Speaker 1: goals need to be relics of the past, but it's
Speaker 1: important to know which ones are and which ones aren't.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to before breakfast, You've got questions, ideas, or feedback.
Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.