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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 build it before you need it. If

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Speaker 1: you have a good support system in place, far fewer

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Speaker 1: woes turn into disasters. Longtime listeners know that I have

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Speaker 1: five children, and any working parents soon learns that even

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Speaker 1: the best childcare won't be one hundred percent available. Your

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Speaker 1: babysitter can get sick or have her own family emergencies.

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Speaker 1: Your kid might be slightly sick and thus not able

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Speaker 1: to go to school or daycare. Schools can close for weather,

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Speaker 1: and sometimes there are half days for various reasons. You

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Speaker 1: need backup options. The absolute worst time to be figuring

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Speaker 1: out the backup option is when you realize that option

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Speaker 1: A is not available at seven thirty am and you

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Speaker 1: are giving a presentation to an important group of people

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Speaker 1: at eight thirty am. You need to create a backup

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Speaker 1: system at a time when you don't need it, so

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Speaker 1: it will be available when you do need it. So

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Speaker 1: it goes for many things in life. The whole point

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Speaker 1: of an emergency fund is to put away cash when

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Speaker 1: you don't desperately need it, so that when you do

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Speaker 1: need money, you don't have to borrow at high interest rates.

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Speaker 1: The worst time to be networking and figuring out who

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Speaker 1: in your industry is hiring is when you have just

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Speaker 1: lost a job. You want to have those connections in

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Speaker 1: place before you need them. You want an emergency kit

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Speaker 1: in your car when your car is actually functioning, so

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Speaker 1: you have it in the event that the car stops functioning. Yes,

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Speaker 1: this sounds like a lot of preparation, but that's just

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Speaker 1: how the world works. The good news is that if

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Speaker 1: you build systems before you need them, you will probably

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Speaker 1: be a lot more relaxed, or at least feel like

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Speaker 1: you are able to keep your commitments. I sometimes feel

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Speaker 1: like my spend my life thinking through logistics. But the

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Speaker 1: upside is that I gave a speech the other morning

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Speaker 1: when my family's regular full time nanny was on vacation

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Speaker 1: and my husband was traveling, because I'd booked a very

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Speaker 1: reliable backup setter for the morning. I know I need

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Speaker 1: someone like that in my life, so I work to

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Speaker 1: make sure I have someone like that in my life.

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Speaker 1: Even if you aren't dealing with the realities of childcare,

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Speaker 1: it helps to think this through. What could go wrong,

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Speaker 1: what support system do you need in place to allow

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Speaker 1: you to do what you need or want to do.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes the answer is pretty simple. If your car didn't

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Speaker 1: start and you couldn't get to work, you'd likely use

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Speaker 1: uber or lift or public transportation if it's available, or

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Speaker 1: you'd get a ride from a friend. Sometimes it's more involved.

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Speaker 1: If your largest client disappeared, what would you do to

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Speaker 1: make your revenue target for the quarter? I have gotten

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Speaker 1: stuck at O'Hare Airport due to canceled or late flights

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Speaker 1: often enough that I now have a set protocol I

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Speaker 1: follow so I'm not floundering around. I immediately book myself

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Speaker 1: on a six a m Or seven am flight the

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Speaker 1: next morning. Then I book a room at my favorite

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Speaker 1: nearby hotel. I'm still annoyed, but not as frantic as

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Speaker 1: the folks running around asking what on earth they are

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Speaker 1: going to do. Perhaps it seems like a paradox. Thinking

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Speaker 1: about what could go wrong allows you to be optimistic,

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Speaker 1: But if you think about it, it makes sense. When

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Speaker 1: you think about what could go wrong, you can make

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Speaker 1: plans to deal with those possibilities. Then if those things

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Speaker 1: do happen, you are prepared. You can stay on track

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Speaker 1: with your goals. And obligations. Life feels a little more

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Speaker 1: in control, even when many things in life cannot be controlled.

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Speaker 1: We control what we can when we build it before

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Speaker 1: we need it. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our talks. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.

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Speaker 1: That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod. You

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Speaker 1: can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast

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Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out

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Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I look

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Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.