Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to close each day by asking yourself,
Speaker 1: what did I move forward today? This simple question can
Speaker 1: help you see progress and helps ensure that you are
Speaker 1: making progress on your top priorities. Today's tip comes from
Speaker 1: leadership coach Jen Dary. On a recent Harvard Business Review
Speaker 1: Women at Work podcast, Dary suggested that at the end
Speaker 1: of every day, managers ask themselves the question did I
Speaker 1: move something forward today? She explains that.
Speaker 2: Could be a project, a client, a person, a career path,
Speaker 2: a feedback conversation. I think that's a great question for
Speaker 2: managers and for individual contributors alike. As Dairy notes, the
Speaker 2: question can prompt us to recognize the work we have
Speaker 2: completed and the impact we have had. That looks different
Speaker 2: for all of us, but one hopes it was something
Speaker 2: such as to day I wrote a blog post, edited
Speaker 2: and recorded five before breakfasts and talked with a conference
Speaker 2: planner about being a keynote speaker. Or to day I
Speaker 2: taught my students about multiplying fractions. Three quarters of them
Speaker 2: demonstrated good understanding, and I have a plan for providing
Speaker 2: more support to the other quarter. Or to day, I
Speaker 2: had a meaningful conversation with my daughter, continued my running streak,
Speaker 2: and recruited volunteers for the park clean up. Or today
Speaker 2: I had a difficult conversation with a direct report, and
Speaker 2: we have a plan for helping her strengthen her communication skills.
Speaker 2: What you moved forward will look different depending on how
Speaker 2: you spend your days, and everybody's accomplishments will vary day
Speaker 2: to day, but the question is relevant regardless. By reflecting
Speaker 2: on what you moved forward at the end of each day,
Speaker 2: you will acknowledge and celebrate your progress. You will also build.
Speaker 1: Your awareness of what and how much you are moving
Speaker 1: forward day to day. So if you are not moving
Speaker 1: forward the most important things, you can change how you
Speaker 1: are spending your time. I also find that if you
Speaker 1: know you will ask yourself this question, you spend your
Speaker 1: hours in a way that is more focused on moving
Speaker 1: the needle rather than on lesser value work. So this afternoon,
Speaker 1: ask yourself this question, what did I move forward today?
Speaker 1: If you have moved something forward, great, that is a
Speaker 1: step in the right direction. If not, you can redirect
Speaker 1: tomorrow and move in the right direction. Then in the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.