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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to choose who you are comparing yourself to.

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Speaker 1: Maybe comparing ourselves to others is unavoidable, but at least

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Speaker 1: we can be intentional about the bars we are setting.

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Speaker 1: So it is probably inevitable to feel pressure to keep

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Speaker 1: up with the Joneses, as the saying goes. But what's

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Speaker 1: interesting about this is that the Joneses tend almost universally

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Speaker 1: to be people who have a little bit more than us.

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Speaker 1: Maybe their clothes, they are a little nicer, they take

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Speaker 1: swankier vacations, they have more interesting jobs, and their kids

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Speaker 1: look a little less disheveled. It's interesting because if you

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Speaker 1: are listening to this podcast, the odds are good that

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Speaker 1: the proportion of the world's population that has less than

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Speaker 1: you is huge. We might be ninety eight out of

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Speaker 1: one hundred in terms of resources. Yet rather than looking

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Speaker 1: at the ninety seven folks with less, we are looking

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Speaker 1: at the one or two with more. It is fascinating

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Speaker 1: and says a lot about human nature. But when you

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Speaker 1: realize this tendency, then you can choose different Joneses to

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Speaker 1: help motivate you toward a better life. For instance, you

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Speaker 1: can choose Joneses whose values, habits, and interests you admire.

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Speaker 1: That way, you can be inspired to improve in those areas.

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Speaker 1: So if you want to have a good relationship with

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Speaker 1: your teen and young adult children, look for parents who

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Speaker 1: are just a little bit ahead of you on the

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Speaker 1: parenting journey and who seem to be doing a good

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Speaker 1: job with this. What are they doing, what can you replicate?

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Speaker 1: What can you learn from them? If you are a

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Speaker 1: spiritual person, maybe you admire someone at your house of

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Speaker 1: worship who seems to have a calm and confident faith.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you can arrange to hang out more with this person,

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Speaker 1: join a small group with him, volunteer with him. See

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Speaker 1: what he does and how he responds to things in

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Speaker 1: his habits, and see what you might emulate. Or maybe

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Speaker 1: you have a friend who has recently made a big

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Speaker 1: career change. You have been thinking of one too, but

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Speaker 1: it seems out of reach. Start considering this friend your Jones's.

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Speaker 1: If she can do it, maybe it's not out of

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Speaker 1: the realm of possibility for you either. Spend more time

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Speaker 1: with her, ask questions, follow her journey some of her

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Speaker 1: courage may rub off on you. When you seek out

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Speaker 1: people you admire and want to be more like, and

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Speaker 1: people whose values and animating questions connect with yours, the

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Speaker 1: inevitable comparisons will nudge you toward becoming the person you

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Speaker 1: want to be, rather than turn your focus to things

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Speaker 1: you don't really care about. I mean, yes, those people

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Speaker 1: on Instagram do have nice outfits, but if we are

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Speaker 1: going to feel envy, let's turn that envy towards something constructive.

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Speaker 1: Choose the right joneses to keep up with, and that

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Speaker 1: just might be possible. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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Speaker 1: our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

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Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

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Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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Speaker 1: your favorite shows.