WEBVTT - Make new habits, keep the old 

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to maintain your good habits even when

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<v Speaker 1>a new season in your life begins. As the song goes,

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<v Speaker 1>you can make new friends, but keep the old, and

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<v Speaker 1>the same is true for habits too, if you are

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<v Speaker 1>strategic about the process. So we've all heard about the

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<v Speaker 1>value of fresh starts. Whether it's New Year's Day, your birthday,

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<v Speaker 1>the first day of a new semester, or a new job,

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<v Speaker 1>or even the first day of the week, fresh starts

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<v Speaker 1>provide an opportunity to form new habits. The old you

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<v Speaker 1>is in the past. The new you has a fresh

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<v Speaker 1>start to become the sort of person who X size

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<v Speaker 1>of three times a week, has dinner as a family

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<v Speaker 1>every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, night reads in her spare time,

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<v Speaker 1>and so forth. Fresh starts are ideal for forming new habits.

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<v Speaker 1>But here's the catch. Fresh starts put our existing good

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<v Speaker 1>habits at risk. When you move into a new home,

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<v Speaker 1>return to in office work after months of working remotely,

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<v Speaker 1>or mark the beginning of your kids summer vacation, these

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<v Speaker 1>fresh starts can threaten the good habits you already have.

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<v Speaker 1>In her new book How to Change, behavioral scientist Katie

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<v Speaker 1>Miltman explains, when you're on a roll, any disruption can

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<v Speaker 1>be a setback, and of course that is what a

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<v Speaker 1>fresh start is. A disruption. A fresh start creates a

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<v Speaker 1>clean slate because your past record has been erased. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>that's great, but it is not helpful if you've got

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<v Speaker 1>a track record of success and progress. Milkman notes that

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<v Speaker 1>every morning, her fitbit tells her she has taken zero steps.

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<v Speaker 1>Plenty of other performance records start from zero. Periodically, two

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<v Speaker 1>past momentum can feel well past. Milkman describes research by

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<v Speaker 1>her former student Hanshinde about Major league baseball players. When

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<v Speaker 1>a player is traded across leagues mid season, their statistics

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<v Speaker 1>start fresh, but when they're traded within the National League

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<v Speaker 1>or American League, their stats for the season include their

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<v Speaker 1>performance on the old and new teams. Die found that

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<v Speaker 1>when a player who's not having a great season gets traded,

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<v Speaker 1>his performance improved more if he was traded across leagues

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<v Speaker 1>and got a fresh start in his statistics, but players

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<v Speaker 1>with higher batting averages before the trade saw their performance

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<v Speaker 1>to line more if they were traded across the leagues.

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<v Speaker 1>So the fresh start was helpful when performance had been weak,

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<v Speaker 1>and harmful when performance had been strong. So where does

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<v Speaker 1>this leave us well, the best approach is to seize

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<v Speaker 1>the fresh starts that you see coming, but make sure

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<v Speaker 1>that you protect any good habits that might also be disrupted.

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<v Speaker 1>Simply by recognizing that this disruption might happen, you can

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<v Speaker 1>make a plan for incorporating your good habits into your

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<v Speaker 1>new rhythms. For instance, if you used to meditate for

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<v Speaker 1>ten minutes in your home office before starting work, when

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<v Speaker 1>you return to the office, you can still meditate. Just

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<v Speaker 1>sit in your car in the parking lot for ten

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<v Speaker 1>minutes and meditate before you go inside. If you have

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<v Speaker 1>enjoyed having lunch with your spouse while you were both

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<v Speaker 1>working remotely, but you're back in your office is this summer,

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<v Speaker 1>schedule a weekly lunch date and meet up at a

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<v Speaker 1>restaurant or in the park if you pack your lunches.

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<v Speaker 1>If your workplaces are too far apart for that, schedule

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<v Speaker 1>a weekly breakfast date at a diner or coffee shop

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<v Speaker 1>before you go your separate ways. You could even make

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<v Speaker 1>breakfast for two at home before your kids get up.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps you've developed a great habit of reserving seven to

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<v Speaker 1>ten am as time for deep work, but your kids

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<v Speaker 1>swim team practices begin next week, you'll need to drop

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<v Speaker 1>them off at eight am every morning. Rather than lose

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<v Speaker 1>the habit. See what you can do. Could you hire

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<v Speaker 1>a neighborhood teenager to drive them, or carpet with teammates

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<v Speaker 1>so another parent drives them to practice and you pick

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<v Speaker 1>them up afterwards. Or maybe you move your deep work

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<v Speaker 1>slot to the afternoon. There are lots of potential solutions,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's better to recognize the fresh start dilemma. The

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<v Speaker 1>summer swim schedule pose is, rather than just wondering why

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<v Speaker 1>you're not getting anything done, when we see the danger,

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<v Speaker 1>we can act on it. That lets us use the

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<v Speaker 1>fresh start for new good things and not lose old

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<v Speaker 1>good things in the process. If you are working to

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<v Speaker 1>maintain a good habit through a fresh start, I'd love

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<v Speaker 1>to hear how it's going. You can reach me at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vander Kamp dot com. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's b the number four,

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<v Speaker 1>then break fist p o D. You can also shoot

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<v Speaker 1>me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot

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<v Speaker 1>com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For

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