WEBVTT - Don't leave it all on the field

0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:09.320
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:16.840
<v Speaker 1>This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:21.360
<v Speaker 1>tip is that hard work is good, but you don't

0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:25.040
<v Speaker 1>have to leave it all on the field. Sometimes it's

0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.200
<v Speaker 1>wise to put forth a good effort rather than an

0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:34.280
<v Speaker 1>over the top effort. Sustainability is important, and very few

0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:38.240
<v Speaker 1>of us can afford to go through our lives completely spent.

0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:43.360
<v Speaker 1>So I suppose I am a literalist, but I get

0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.400
<v Speaker 1>annoyed when people start talking about giving one hundred and

0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:51.519
<v Speaker 1>ten percent. This is impossible, as is the subsequent inflation

0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:55.040
<v Speaker 1>from there, one hundred twenty percent, one hundred and fifty percent, whatever.

0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:59.400
<v Speaker 1>You can only do one hundred percent, And it is

0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:02.360
<v Speaker 1>also not wise to give one hundred percent all the time,

0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:06.240
<v Speaker 1>or even most of the time. Smart people know they

0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:08.600
<v Speaker 1>need to figure out where to give a lot and

0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.800
<v Speaker 1>where to do just a decent job. They also recognize

0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:14.960
<v Speaker 1>that even on occasions when you do want to do

0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:18.280
<v Speaker 1>your best, you will likely need to get up and

0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:22.319
<v Speaker 1>do more things the next day, so best to leave

0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:27.320
<v Speaker 1>the field with something for the journey. I was thinking

0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.360
<v Speaker 1>of this recently when reflecting on training for a marathon.

0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:34.000
<v Speaker 1>Many years ago. As I was training and figuring out

0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:37.040
<v Speaker 1>what to expect, I was also reading various essays on

0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:41.640
<v Speaker 1>marathon running, generally featuring people waxing eloquent about leaving it

0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:43.680
<v Speaker 1>all on the field as they pushed to the finish.

0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:47.240
<v Speaker 1>Now keep in mind, these weren't people racing for an

0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:51.400
<v Speaker 1>Olympic gold. They were amateur runners, just like the rest

0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.559
<v Speaker 1>of us. I have to say I wasn't particularly taken

0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:57.200
<v Speaker 1>with the idea, and I ran my twenty six point

0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.840
<v Speaker 1>two miles and finished. But I'm glad I did not

0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.680
<v Speaker 1>leave it all on the field because right after my race,

0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:05.320
<v Speaker 1>I immediately needed to nurse a baby who had been

0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.480
<v Speaker 1>waiting for me for those several hours. I also needed

0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:10.160
<v Speaker 1>to help care for my kids who were with me

0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:14.200
<v Speaker 1>at this particular destination race. Indeed, the next day, my

0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.000
<v Speaker 1>two year old swallowed something he shouldn't have and we

0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:20.000
<v Speaker 1>were at the er for a few hours. It was

0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:24.160
<v Speaker 1>good I did not metaphorically leave it all on the field.

0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.880
<v Speaker 1>Perhaps you likewise have a full life with many responsibilities.

0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:33.040
<v Speaker 1>If you have toddlers, it would be irresponsible to leave

0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:35.400
<v Speaker 1>it all on the field during a Saturday morning workout.

0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.000
<v Speaker 1>Is your spouse just supposed to be responsible for chasing

0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:42.080
<v Speaker 1>after the kids on their own all day. My guess

0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:47.240
<v Speaker 1>is no, so leave something in the tank. In life,

0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:51.880
<v Speaker 1>sustainability is good. We can certainly push at times, but

0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:56.040
<v Speaker 1>we never want to be truly running unempty, and that

0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.320
<v Speaker 1>means being smart about how much effort we put into things.

0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:02.720
<v Speaker 1>There are times when you make care enough to operate

0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.519
<v Speaker 1>at ninety five percent or more. There are also probably

0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:09.120
<v Speaker 1>a lot of places in both your personal and professional

0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:14.040
<v Speaker 1>life where sustainability requires a little less than that. We

0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.800
<v Speaker 1>can figure out places to go a little less all out.

0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.400
<v Speaker 1>For instance, when you see a dropped ball that is

0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:25.200
<v Speaker 1>not your responsibility, you don't have to pick it up.

0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:30.320
<v Speaker 1>See what happens without you. Maybe someone else will step

0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.200
<v Speaker 1>in to pick up the dropped ball, or it will

0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:38.840
<v Speaker 1>become apparent that the task wasn't essential after all. Relatedly,

0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:41.240
<v Speaker 1>when someone is needed for a project, you don't have

0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:42.800
<v Speaker 1>to be the first to raise your hand. If you

0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:47.400
<v Speaker 1>are already operating at close to capacity, think of yourself

0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:51.960
<v Speaker 1>as leaving room for someone else to step up. One

0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:54.760
<v Speaker 1>practical way to scale back your efforts is to process

0:03:54.840 --> 0:04:00.560
<v Speaker 1>email less frequently. When you don't respond immediately, may figure

0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.520
<v Speaker 1>things out on their own, and even if you are

0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:07.320
<v Speaker 1>still needed, you slow down the pace with which the

0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:12.120
<v Speaker 1>ball comes back into your court. Another strategy is to

0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:16.320
<v Speaker 1>avoid needing to say yes immediately to any new responsibilities.

0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:19.840
<v Speaker 1>Thank the person for thinking of you and let them

0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:23.159
<v Speaker 1>know you'll review your calendar and get back. That gives

0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:26.120
<v Speaker 1>you time to weigh the pros and cons, figure out

0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:27.880
<v Speaker 1>how you can free up time for the new activity,

0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:33.120
<v Speaker 1>or whether you want to some responsibilities you can just

0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:36.599
<v Speaker 1>decide to dial back. You can make a simpler dinner

0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:41.839
<v Speaker 1>meeting minutes can include bulleted highlights rather than an exhaustive

0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:45.760
<v Speaker 1>chronicle of the discussion. There is really no point staying

0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:49.240
<v Speaker 1>up to three am to edit a presentation. It's not

0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:53.680
<v Speaker 1>going to be much better and you will probably perform worse.

0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.279
<v Speaker 1>There are very few circumstances when it is necessary or

0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:02.200
<v Speaker 1>wise to totally deplete yourself. You are not an Olympian

0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.000
<v Speaker 1>in the finals. You are a person with a full

0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:08.080
<v Speaker 1>life and many days ahead of you, So don't leave

0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.800
<v Speaker 1>it all on the field. Leave enough to get through

0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:13.680
<v Speaker 1>the next day so you can go out and do

0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:19.200
<v Speaker 1>it all again. In the meantime. This is Laura, thanks

0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:23.680
<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:34.560
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:38.160
<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:47.560
<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:52.200
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:05:52.480 --> 0:06:01.359
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:02.239
<v Speaker 1>The