Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to embrace temporary habits. If there is
Speaker 1: a habit that would work well for you for a season,
Speaker 1: go for it. You can enjoy a new rhythm for
Speaker 1: a while, even if it doesn't work forever. We are
Speaker 1: headed toward January and a lot of folks are pondering
Speaker 1: their goals for the new year. Many times we want
Speaker 1: to develop new habits, and the unspoken assumption is that
Speaker 1: these habits are supposed to be permanent. We want to
Speaker 1: get in shape for good, we want to stop smoking forever,
Speaker 1: and both of those are likely wise aspirations. But many
Speaker 1: habits won't be permanent for a variety of reasons. Life changes,
Speaker 1: the weather changes, and that is okay. When we accept
Speaker 1: that sometimes habits are most appropriate for a particular season,
Speaker 1: then we free ourselves to go all in on them
Speaker 1: now without worrying about whether we can always do them.
Speaker 1: So what if we can't do them forever, We can
Speaker 1: do them and reap the benefits from them now. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, if you live in Florida, where the weather
Speaker 1: is delightful, this time of year, you can develop the
Speaker 1: habit of biking to work, knowing full well that you
Speaker 1: will not continue this when it is ninety degrees by
Speaker 1: eight thirty a m. In August. That don't mean that
Speaker 1: come August your biking habit failed, or that you failed.
Speaker 1: It means that you pursued this healthy habit when it
Speaker 1: made sense, you stopped when it didn't make sense. Or
Speaker 1: maybe some new neighbors move in and they have a
Speaker 1: child at the same elementary school as yours. Even if
Speaker 1: your daughter is in the last year of elementary school,
Speaker 1: there is no reason not to carpool now. It may
Speaker 1: only last another semester, but until then you can save
Speaker 1: yourself driving to and from school a couple of times
Speaker 1: a week and reinforce the relationship with your new neighbors.
Speaker 1: When we accept that we can go all in on things,
Speaker 1: even if they are not permanent, we can make wiser
Speaker 1: choices with life in general. I am reminded of Cheryl
Speaker 1: Sandberg's admonition to young women who would like to have
Speaker 1: children some day that they don't need to undercut their
Speaker 1: own careers before kids even enter the picture. You don't
Speaker 1: need to take a less intense job out of school
Speaker 1: because you don't think you'll be able to work an
Speaker 1: intense job once you're managing babies. Go ahead and take
Speaker 1: the intense job for now and learn from it. Lean in,
Speaker 1: She wrote, until the day you have to make a choice,
Speaker 1: you will be in a better position to negotiate flexibility,
Speaker 1: or take a different job, or even have the financial
Speaker 1: resources to take a few years out of the workforce
Speaker 1: if you've got great things on your resume already. Just
Speaker 1: because you don't want to keep your foot on the
Speaker 1: gas forever doesn't mean you shouldn't put it there now.
Speaker 1: We sometimes resist investing in routines or activities because we
Speaker 1: see a time when they behave your won't be feasible.
Speaker 1: And I am all in favor of sustainable goals, but
Speaker 1: given that almost everything in life ends at some point,
Speaker 1: there is no reason not to do something you truly
Speaker 1: want to do. Even if you won't be able to
Speaker 1: do it forever, you can do it for a while,
Speaker 1: and in many cases that will be long enough to
Speaker 1: see some wonderful outcomes in the meantime. This is Laura,
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com that Before
Speaker 1: Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts
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