1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to realize that few things go perfectly 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:23,479 Speaker 1: the first time. Unless in experience is absolutely miserable, it 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: doesn't hurt to try again. We all love stories that 6 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: hinge on a moment when everything changes. A kid picks 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: up a basketball and its love at first sight. A 8 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,240 Speaker 1: novel idea comes to a writer in a moment of inspiration. 9 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,599 Speaker 1: Such epiphanies make for good storytelling, but real life seldom 10 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: works that way. I know this has been the case 11 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: for me. I was on another podcast recently and the 12 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: host asked when I knew I wanted to write about 13 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: time management. The answer, honestly was several years after I'd 14 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: written my first book on the topic. I've been trying 15 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: to get a book deal for a while, casting around 16 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: through a variety of topics, and finally landed a contract 17 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: to write a book called A hundred sixty eight Hours 18 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: that came out in May of two thousand. It got 19 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: some nice publicity, which was great, but it didn't sell 20 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: all that swiftly. So when I wanted to write another book, 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: my publisher and I came to the idea of writing 22 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: about personal finance. So I wrote a book called All 23 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 1: the Money in the World, which came out in early 24 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: two thousand twelve. That didn't do all that well either. 25 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:32,119 Speaker 1: But while I was waiting for that one to come out, 26 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: I wrote a short e book on productive mornings called 27 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast. That one 28 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: did much better and nudged me to start declaring myself 29 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: a time management expert. In retrospect, it seems obvious, but 30 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: at the time not so much. I just had to 31 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: keep trying things, figuring eventually something would stick. There are 32 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: all kinds of things that might be worth trying again. 33 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: The general and census from nutritionists is that kids may 34 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: need to be exposed to new foods a dozen times 35 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: or more before they'll actually eat them. I love running, 36 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: but I tried to become a runner multiple times before 37 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: it finally took. It's a well known psychological phenomenon that 38 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:21,399 Speaker 1: people are prone to fixate on the negative. If three 39 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: things go wrong and three things go right, we tend 40 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: to focus on the ones that went wrong. But maybe 41 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: the next time two things will go wrong and four 42 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: things will go right. The first experience wasn't bad. It's 43 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: just that parts were bad, and those were the parts 44 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,959 Speaker 1: we remember. Plus, there are many reasons that things might 45 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: not go perfectly the first time, but that you can't 46 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: see because well, you don't have much experience to understand 47 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: why they're happening. This has been the case with me 48 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,839 Speaker 1: and i KEA style furniture building. The fact that your 49 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: first shelf building experience felt long and painful does not 50 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: mean the second will be. It will probably be much 51 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:08,519 Speaker 1: better as you figure out how not to misplace screws 52 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: and such. And sometimes the explanation you assigned for something 53 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: not working well isn't actually the right explanation. I have 54 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: definitely lost emails. When a person follows up, I remember that, 55 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: Oh yes, I actually did want to do that thing. 56 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: I'm glad they bothered to try again. Of course, there's 57 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: no reason to keep trying things forever. Time is finite, 58 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: energy is finite, And if the answer is a definite no, 59 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: well more trying is just annoying for everybody. But if 60 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: it's not a definite no, being open to possibility can 61 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: lead to good things. My first date with my husband 62 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: did not go well enough to suggest that we'd be 63 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: married within eighteen months, but the second date did good. 64 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: We tried again today. I think if there's some thing 65 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: you've tried in the past that you've just written off, 66 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: is it worth revisiting. Why did you tell yourself that 67 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: it didn't work? Are there alternative explanations if you try 68 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: it again? What could you do to maybe generate a 69 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 1: different outcome? If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but 70 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: it might not hurt to try. In the meantime. This 71 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the 72 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear 73 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,359 Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 74 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, 75 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:51,840 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's B the number four, 76 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,840 Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me 77 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media 78 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all 79 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying 80 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. 81 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i 82 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 83 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 1: your favorite shows. H