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 always have something to look forward to.
Speaker 1: Even a dark outlook can lighten with something bright on
Speaker 1: the horizon. And it turns out that we have the
Speaker 1: power to engineer a lot of really good future stuff
Speaker 1: into our lives. Life feels better when we're always doing
Speaker 1: just that. I know that planning has been well a
Speaker 1: fraud topic for the past few months. Long time listeners
Speaker 1: may recall that I urged everyone to plan all of
Speaker 1: their vacations before the year started. Anyone who took my
Speaker 1: advice has probably been doing a lot of canceling. But
Speaker 1: even though plans sometimes have to change, I do think
Speaker 1: there is val you in planning, and in particular, there
Speaker 1: is value in planning in fun stuff. Always having something
Speaker 1: to look forward to allows us to weather rough times
Speaker 1: as we think of the good stuff to come. This
Speaker 1: is because anticipation actually accounts for the bulk of the
Speaker 1: happiness we gain from any event. One study that looked
Speaker 1: at happiness and vacations found that people who were going
Speaker 1: on vacations were happier than those who weren't, of course.
Speaker 1: But the more interesting finding is that the biggest boost
Speaker 1: in happiness came before the trip, when people imagine the
Speaker 1: fun they would have in the moment. Nothing is ever
Speaker 1: perfectly blissful. You can be sitting on a tropical beach
Speaker 1: with the love of your life and be obsessed with
Speaker 1: whether a mosquito is about to bite your leg. And
Speaker 1: while that sounds like a really bad aspect of human nature,
Speaker 1: you can use it to your advantage. When we plan
Speaker 1: fun stuff in ahead of time, we can give ourselves
Speaker 1: a constant boost. And that is true even if the
Speaker 1: stuff doesn't happen, But of course it's more fun when
Speaker 1: it does, and there are certainly things that can happen
Speaker 1: regardless of what goes on in the rest of the world.
Speaker 1: I schedule video chats with a friend and I love
Speaker 1: seeing those on the calendar, same with long runs with
Speaker 1: another friend. You might be able to rent a house
Speaker 1: somewhere relatively nearby for a week or a long weekend,
Speaker 1: maybe a day of full kid coverage as you excited,
Speaker 1: I'm dreaming up places to go on a leaf peeping
Speaker 1: trip this fall. I'd like to take a long bike
Speaker 1: ride too. Thinking of these things has me looking forward
Speaker 1: to the next few months, even if I know that
Speaker 1: much is uncertain with my kids, schooling and everything else,
Speaker 1: some of the days will be slogs. But if there
Speaker 1: is something on my calendar that makes me feel like
Speaker 1: the future will have good moments too, then I can
Speaker 1: weather the slogs. I know they are not the full story.
Speaker 1: So today, take a few minutes to think through some
Speaker 1: genuinely enjoyable activities that you can put on your calendar.
Speaker 1: What will make you smile as you think about your
Speaker 1: future fun think through the logistics, call whoever you need to,
Speaker 1: or make your reservations, and then be prepared for today
Speaker 1: to feel a little rosier. Many a dreary day has
Speaker 1: been warmed by the sun of a future vacation. When
Speaker 1: you always have something to look forward to, that little
Speaker 1: bit of sunshine just follows you around in the meantime.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at before Breakfast pod. That's b the number four.
Speaker 1: Then breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i
Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.