1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:18,799 Speaker 1: Today's tip is about one strategy that can help you 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: persist toward a goal when you are tempted to give up. 5 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: Get rid of your reasons to quit. In his book 6 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: Peak Secrets from the New Science of Expertise and There's 7 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: Ericson explains that when we quit something we initially wanted 8 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: to do, it's because our reasons to continue no longer 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: outweigh our reasons to quit. That makes sense. The math 10 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: also suggests that we can change this equation in two ways. 11 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: We can increase the reasons to continue, or we could 12 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: decrease the reasons to give up. Now, I imagine you 13 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: already have a sense of why you wanted to learn 14 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: spam to share, clean out your attic, or increase your 15 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:06,839 Speaker 1: muscle mass. Whatever your goal is, you know your motivations 16 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: for continuing. So I want to focus on decreasing reasons 17 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,759 Speaker 1: to quit. These reasons tend to be much less specific 18 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: to the person or goal. They're often just mundane barriers, 19 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: stuff we can address with a little attention. One common 20 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: barrier believing we don't have the time. Maybe it's true, 21 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:35,320 Speaker 1: but probably not. Track your time. See what you're devoting 22 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: time to that you don't really care about. See if 23 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 1: this time can be redeployed. Maybe you could get up 24 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 1: a little earlier. Maybe you could use the first half 25 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: hour after your kids go to bed, before you're too 26 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: tired to do anything but crash on the couch, to 27 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: pursue your goal. Maybe you and your partner can trade 28 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: off time on the weekends. Maybe you can protect one 29 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: night per week from work and family responsibilities. There are 30 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: a hundred sixty eight hours in a week. If you 31 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: work forty and sleep eight per night or fifty six 32 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: per week, that leaves seventy two hours for other things. 33 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: Saying I don't have time really means it's not a priority. 34 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: If that is true, fine, But if your goal is 35 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: a priority, then you can find the time somewhere. Don't 36 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: go looking for forty hours. That's ridiculous. Try looking for 37 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: two hours a week, even in smaller chunks. That can 38 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: reduce the sense of time constraints. In any case, Once 39 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: we acknowledge that time itself might not be the culprit, 40 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: we see that our reasons to quit center on something else, 41 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: like annoyance or cost. Eating healthy snacks isn't so hard, 42 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: but washing and cutting up vegetables is a pain. You 43 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: may want to go to more networking events, but you 44 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: don't want to use up your babysitting budget on networking 45 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: events and come up short for a night out with friends. 46 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: Once you've identified these sorts of barriers, you can figure 47 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 1: out a way to reduce these reasons to quit. For instance, 48 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: it turns out that grocery stores sell pre cut fruits 49 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 1: and veggies brilliant. Or maybe you create two babysitting budgets, 50 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: one for fun and one for networking. Now you're not 51 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: pitting the two against each other. Indeed, since you've already 52 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: budgeted the networking babysitting money, you might feel more motivated 53 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: to use it. Money is a tool. If money is 54 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: a reason you're going to quit, then maybe before you quit, 55 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: you could try putting a little more money into the issue. 56 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: That just might work. And finally, one of the big 57 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: reasons people quit is that they are not seeing progress. 58 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: They have gone on dozens of first dates and haven't 59 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: found anyone to go on a second date with. They've 60 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: had lots of informational interviews, but haven't made any breakthroughs 61 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: on career steps. As we often say on this podcast, 62 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: progress is motivational. When we don't see progress, our motivation drops. 63 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: To reverse this process, we need to find ways to 64 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: prove our progress to ourselves. So make your progress more visible. 65 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: Keep a journal about those first dates, what you liked, 66 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: what you didn't, which restaurants you want to try again, 67 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,119 Speaker 1: what you learned in conversation, what you're realizing you want 68 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: in a partner. I am not a big fan of 69 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: judging life by the scale, but if you are trying 70 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: to lose weight in the scale, isn't budging. Focus on 71 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: how you're sleeping better and how you have more energy. 72 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: Write these observations down so you can study them and 73 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: see that things are improving. The goal is to keep 74 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: yourself from getting discouraged and having that be your reason 75 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: to quit. As we think about that original goal equation, 76 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: it's always possible that something will happen to boost your 77 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: reasons to continue. Maybe a fairy godmother will appear and 78 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: offer to pay you a hundred thousand dollars if you 79 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: successfully train for that ten k. But my guess is 80 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: that for most of us, reducing the reasons to quit 81 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: is going to be more effective, So rework your schedule, 82 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: budget more money, document your progress. Most likely you will 83 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: see that it is possible to keep going. In the meantime, 84 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 85 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to 86 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 87 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook 88 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the 89 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: number four the breakfast p o D. You can also 90 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,280 Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast. At i 91 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out 92 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward 93 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of 94 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 95 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 96 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:29,159 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.