1
00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,320
Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

2
00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:16,840
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

3
00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:21,360
Speaker 1: tip is that hard work is good, but you don't

4
00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:25,040
Speaker 1: have to leave it all on the field. Sometimes it's

5
00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:28,200
Speaker 1: wise to put forth a good effort rather than an

6
00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:34,280
Speaker 1: over the top effort. Sustainability is important, and very few

7
00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,240
Speaker 1: of us can afford to go through our lives completely spent.

8
00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,360
Speaker 1: So I suppose I am a literalist, but I get

9
00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,400
Speaker 1: annoyed when people start talking about giving one hundred and

10
00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:51,519
Speaker 1: ten percent. This is impossible, as is the subsequent inflation

11
00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,040
Speaker 1: from there, one hundred twenty percent, one hundred and fifty percent, whatever.

12
00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,400
Speaker 1: You can only do one hundred percent, And it is

13
00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,360
Speaker 1: also not wise to give one hundred percent all the time,

14
00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,240
Speaker 1: or even most of the time. Smart people know they

15
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,600
Speaker 1: need to figure out where to give a lot and

16
00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,800
Speaker 1: where to do just a decent job. They also recognize

17
00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:14,960
Speaker 1: that even on occasions when you do want to do

18
00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,280
Speaker 1: your best, you will likely need to get up and

19
00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,319
Speaker 1: do more things the next day, so best to leave

20
00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:27,320
Speaker 1: the field with something for the journey. I was thinking

21
00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,360
Speaker 1: of this recently when reflecting on training for a marathon.

22
00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,000
Speaker 1: Many years ago. As I was training and figuring out

23
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,040
Speaker 1: what to expect, I was also reading various essays on

24
00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,640
Speaker 1: marathon running, generally featuring people waxing eloquent about leaving it

25
00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,680
Speaker 1: all on the field as they pushed to the finish.

26
00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,240
Speaker 1: Now keep in mind, these weren't people racing for an

27
00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,400
Speaker 1: Olympic gold. They were amateur runners, just like the rest

28
00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,559
Speaker 1: of us. I have to say I wasn't particularly taken

29
00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,200
Speaker 1: with the idea, and I ran my twenty six point

30
00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,840
Speaker 1: two miles and finished. But I'm glad I did not

31
00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,680
Speaker 1: leave it all on the field because right after my race,

32
00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:05,320
Speaker 1: I immediately needed to nurse a baby who had been

33
00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,480
Speaker 1: waiting for me for those several hours. I also needed

34
00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:10,160
Speaker 1: to help care for my kids who were with me

35
00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,200
Speaker 1: at this particular destination race. Indeed, the next day, my

36
00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,000
Speaker 1: two year old swallowed something he shouldn't have and we

37
00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,000
Speaker 1: were at the er for a few hours. It was

38
00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,160
Speaker 1: good I did not metaphorically leave it all on the field.

39
00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,880
Speaker 1: Perhaps you likewise have a full life with many responsibilities.

40
00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:33,040
Speaker 1: If you have toddlers, it would be irresponsible to leave

41
00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,400
Speaker 1: it all on the field during a Saturday morning workout.

42
00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,000
Speaker 1: Is your spouse just supposed to be responsible for chasing

43
00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,080
Speaker 1: after the kids on their own all day. My guess

44
00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:47,240
Speaker 1: is no, so leave something in the tank. In life,

45
00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,880
Speaker 1: sustainability is good. We can certainly push at times, but

46
00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,040
Speaker 1: we never want to be truly running unempty, and that

47
00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,320
Speaker 1: means being smart about how much effort we put into things.

48
00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:02,720
Speaker 1: There are times when you make care enough to operate

49
00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,519
Speaker 1: at ninety five percent or more. There are also probably

50
00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,120
Speaker 1: a lot of places in both your personal and professional

51
00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:14,040
Speaker 1: life where sustainability requires a little less than that. We

52
00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,800
Speaker 1: can figure out places to go a little less all out.

53
00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:21,400
Speaker 1: For instance, when you see a dropped ball that is

54
00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,200
Speaker 1: not your responsibility, you don't have to pick it up.

55
00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,320
Speaker 1: See what happens without you. Maybe someone else will step

56
00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,200
Speaker 1: in to pick up the dropped ball, or it will

57
00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:38,840
Speaker 1: become apparent that the task wasn't essential after all. Relatedly,

58
00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:41,240
Speaker 1: when someone is needed for a project, you don't have

59
00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:42,800
Speaker 1: to be the first to raise your hand. If you

60
00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:47,400
Speaker 1: are already operating at close to capacity, think of yourself

61
00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,960
Speaker 1: as leaving room for someone else to step up. One

62
00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,760
Speaker 1: practical way to scale back your efforts is to process

63
00:03:54,840 --> 00:04:00,560
Speaker 1: email less frequently. When you don't respond immediately, may figure

64
00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,520
Speaker 1: things out on their own, and even if you are

65
00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:07,320
Speaker 1: still needed, you slow down the pace with which the

66
00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:12,120
Speaker 1: ball comes back into your court. Another strategy is to

67
00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,320
Speaker 1: avoid needing to say yes immediately to any new responsibilities.

68
00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,840
Speaker 1: Thank the person for thinking of you and let them

69
00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,159
Speaker 1: know you'll review your calendar and get back. That gives

70
00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,120
Speaker 1: you time to weigh the pros and cons, figure out

71
00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:27,880
Speaker 1: how you can free up time for the new activity,

72
00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:33,120
Speaker 1: or whether you want to some responsibilities you can just

73
00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,599
Speaker 1: decide to dial back. You can make a simpler dinner

74
00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,839
Speaker 1: meeting minutes can include bulleted highlights rather than an exhaustive

75
00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,760
Speaker 1: chronicle of the discussion. There is really no point staying

76
00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,240
Speaker 1: up to three am to edit a presentation. It's not

77
00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:53,680
Speaker 1: going to be much better and you will probably perform worse.

78
00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,279
Speaker 1: There are very few circumstances when it is necessary or

79
00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:02,200
Speaker 1: wise to totally deplete yourself. You are not an Olympian

80
00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,000
Speaker 1: in the finals. You are a person with a full

81
00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,080
Speaker 1: life and many days ahead of you, So don't leave

82
00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,800
Speaker 1: it all on the field. Leave enough to get through

83
00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:13,680
Speaker 1: the next day so you can go out and do

84
00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:19,200
Speaker 1: it all again. In the meantime. This is Laura, thanks

85
00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,680
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

86
00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,560
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

87
00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,160
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

88
00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:47,560
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

89
00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,200
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,

90
00:05:52,480 --> 00:06:01,359
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

91
00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:02,239
Speaker 1: The