Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to put good things on repeat. If you
Speaker 1: enjoy something, notice that and figure out how to build
Speaker 1: it into your life frequently. That way, normal everyday time
Speaker 1: can be as enjoyable as possible. So this episode is
Speaker 1: first airing around Groundhog's Day, a somewhat made up holiday
Speaker 1: in the US where we see whether there will be
Speaker 1: six more weeks of winter based on whether a groundhog
Speaker 1: here in Pennsylvania sees his shadow. All very silly, however,
Speaker 1: Groundhog Day was also a famous movie about a not
Speaker 1: so nice gentleman forced to live the same day over
Speaker 1: and over again. The question the movie poses, in its
Speaker 1: own way, is how one should live if you were
Speaker 1: going to live a day on repeat. Longtime listeners know
Speaker 1: that I like this question, which is why I do
Speaker 1: an episode just about every Groundhog's Day. On this topic,
Speaker 1: I love putting.
Speaker 2: Big bucket list type activities like traveling to the Galopagos
Speaker 2: into my schedule. But much of our happiness in life
Speaker 2: is determined by how we are spending the hours on
Speaker 2: a normal day. If we can figure out how to
Speaker 2: upgrade these everyday minutes and hours, then life will be
Speaker 2: more enjoyable. Basically, we want to create normal days that
Speaker 2: we could live over and over again and that would
Speaker 2: continue to make us happy as we did so. So
Speaker 2: today's tip is to figure out what small things create
Speaker 2: bits of joy in your schedule, and then figure out
Speaker 2: how you can make them happen a little more often.
Speaker 2: For instance, and it's on a recent weekend day, I
Speaker 2: invited one of my kids to go to our local
Speaker 2: Panera with me to work. It was a snowy day
Speaker 2: and our local Panera has a nice fireplace. I got
Speaker 2: some work done, my kid got some studying done, and
Speaker 2: we spent time together.
Speaker 1: I enjoyed it. This is something I can probably do
Speaker 1: with some of my older kids more frequently. A friend
Speaker 1: and I have enjoyed hiking together on a local trail,
Speaker 1: so now we aim to do this most weeks. It's
Speaker 1: good to catch up, get some exercise, and spend time outside.
Speaker 1: I have also had some success squeezing bits of pleasure
Speaker 1: and two kid activities. When I take my daughter to tennis,
Speaker 1: there's a lovely little neighborhood nearby that I can walk
Speaker 1: or run around. If I am picking my six year
Speaker 1: old up at choir. I can stock buy the library
Speaker 1: near there and have enough good books to make my
Speaker 1: reading life better. If I turn on the gas fireplace
Speaker 1: in my office, I can make my work hours a
Speaker 1: way little more cozy and pleasant. What little things do
Speaker 1: you enjoy? Think back to the last few days, or
Speaker 1: the last week or two. Was there anything that stood
Speaker 1: out as pleasant? Was there anything that made you smile?
Speaker 1: I think it is also worth experimenting with things, trying
Speaker 1: new stuff out to see what you like. If you
Speaker 1: have never tried that deli that is slightly farther away
Speaker 1: from your office, you might not know that this is
Speaker 1: the perfect place for you and your best work friend
Speaker 1: to start getting lunch every Thursday. But if you try
Speaker 1: something like that and enjoy it, you can start to
Speaker 1: make a habit of it. It can become a part
Speaker 1: of your groundhog day life, or at least your groundhog week.
Speaker 1: How would you structure a week that you would want
Speaker 1: to live over and over again? I don't know, but
Speaker 1: asking the question might make a better life possible. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.