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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to celebrate milestones along the way. You

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Speaker 1: don't have to wait for that lifetime achievement award to

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Speaker 1: have a sense of accomplishment. You can identify and celebrate

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Speaker 1: small winds on your way there. This tip comes from

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Speaker 1: Chip and Dan Heath's book The Power of Moments. The

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Speaker 1: Heath Brothers build on work by Steve Camp to point

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Speaker 1: out how video games do a great job of giving

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Speaker 1: players feelings of progress and accomplishment. When they get to

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Speaker 1: a new level. You enjoy playing and want to keep

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Speaker 1: playing because you've experienced success. And I'm not much of

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Speaker 1: a gamer myself, but I know that when my kids

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Speaker 1: have reached new levels in their favorite games, there has

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Speaker 1: been widespread rejoicing in our house. Had more game playing

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Speaker 1: because progress is motivating. When you've reached the new milestone,

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Speaker 1: you feel fired up and excited to see what you

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Speaker 1: can accomplish next. The Heats point out that the couch

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Speaker 1: to five k app and the Boy Scouts with their

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Speaker 1: badges do something similar. My favorite example is Fitbits India

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Speaker 1: badge awarded to those who walk one thousand miles, which

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Speaker 1: is the length of India. Never mind where those steps

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Speaker 1: were taken or over what period of time, you have

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Speaker 1: a sense of triumph and realizing that you've walked as

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Speaker 1: far as India is long. No matter the occasion, you

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Speaker 1: can celebrate. I've heard about a pace setter for folks

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Speaker 1: aiming to run a marathon in three hours and forty

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Speaker 1: five minutes who led his runners in a dance break

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Speaker 1: at every mile marker. I love this idea of adding

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Speaker 1: a little fun and levity by celebrating each completed mile.

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Speaker 1: And sure, finishing mile is more momentous than finishing mile fourteen,

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Speaker 1: but if you don't make it past mile fourteen, there's

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Speaker 1: not going to be any celebrating at mile Marking accomplishments

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Speaker 1: along the way renews runners motivation to work towards their

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Speaker 1: big goal. So how do we recognize and celebrate incremental

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Speaker 1: milestones in our own lives? I find it helps to

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Speaker 1: dream up rewards that are related to your big goal.

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Speaker 1: For instance, if you're trying to save up for a

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Speaker 1: down payment on your first house, every time the designated

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Speaker 1: savings account crosses, say a ten thousand dollar threshold, two

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Speaker 1: or thirty thousand. You could celebrate by buying yourself a

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Speaker 1: decorating magazine to get ideas for your new house, or

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Speaker 1: by driving or walking with your partner around the neighborhood

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Speaker 1: you hope to live in. While there, you can talk

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Speaker 1: about your hopes for life in your new home. You

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Speaker 1: don't have to wait until you purchase the house to celebrate.

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Speaker 1: You can also mark the steps along the way. These

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Speaker 1: celebrations are particularly important if the long term goal is

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Speaker 1: challenging and uncertain. Maybe you are trying to find a

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Speaker 1: new job. In this economy, the process is something of

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Speaker 1: an uphill battle. You can identify incremental milestones to recognize,

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Speaker 1: like sending out a dozen resumes are getting a telephone interview.

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Speaker 1: Then each time you hit one of these milestones, you celebrate.

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Speaker 1: The reward doesn't have to be fancy. You decorate that

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Speaker 1: day's page in your journal with stars and smiley faces.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you follow the lead of our marathon pace setter

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Speaker 1: and have a mini dance party in your living room.

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Speaker 1: Why not? This can keep you feeling excited and motivated

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Speaker 1: in the face of rejection. We can help kids recognize

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Speaker 1: and celebrate incremental milestones too. Maybe every time a child

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Speaker 1: masters a new piano piece, your family gathers around the

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Speaker 1: piano for an after dinner concert, why wait for the

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Speaker 1: annual recital. We could all use some more celebration in

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Speaker 1: our lives. For kids and adults recognizing milestones, Let's us

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Speaker 1: celebrate and reinvigorate our efforts along the way. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,

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Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com.

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Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of Heart Radio. For more

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Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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Speaker 1: H