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 about one way to respond to constraints.
Speaker 1: Make the constraint a challenge. How we frame our circumstances
Speaker 1: matters a lot for how we feel about them. Framing
Speaker 1: a constraint as a challenge creates an opportunity for fun,
Speaker 1: even if the constraint itself isn't exactly what we hoped for.
Speaker 1: So I have no doubt that you can reel off
Speaker 1: a list of constraints that you've experienced over this past year.
Speaker 1: Perhaps your refrigerator went out and you had to wait
Speaker 1: days for the part that was needed because of shipping delays,
Speaker 1: Or maybe you wanted to upgrade your work from home
Speaker 1: set up, but you didn't want to spend a lot
Speaker 1: of money. You hope to celebrate a family birthday, but
Speaker 1: the need for social distancing limited your options, or the
Speaker 1: all two obvious constraint that I know a lot of
Speaker 1: people are dealing with. You have a job to do
Speaker 1: and no child care or in person school for your kids.
Speaker 1: These are all non ideal situations, but trying to view
Speaker 1: them as challenges can open up new ways of thinking.
Speaker 1: While you wait for your fridge to be repaired, you
Speaker 1: could see how many delicious pantry meals you could make.
Speaker 1: Or you could imagine that you're testing out meals for
Speaker 1: your next camping trip when you won't have a fridge available.
Speaker 1: Or rather than feeling limited by a meager home office budget,
Speaker 1: you might imagine that you're part of a decorating challenge
Speaker 1: on the do it Yourself network. Repurpose furniture from elsewhere
Speaker 1: in your house, ask for cast offs from friends, by
Speaker 1: a few cheap accessories, and voila, you can enjoy the
Speaker 1: grand reveal. You could even document your decor aiding challenge
Speaker 1: on social media if that would make it seem more exciting.
Speaker 1: If you can't throw a big party, get creative about
Speaker 1: the purpose. Ask the birthday boy how he wants to
Speaker 1: feel at his celebration, then see how many ideas you
Speaker 1: can come up with that would create this feeling. In
Speaker 1: our family, for instance, we learned that one of the
Speaker 1: fun parts of a kid's birthday party is getting those
Speaker 1: relatively cheap but random gifts that come from friends. Craft kids,
Speaker 1: plastic figurines, you know what I'm talking about. So we
Speaker 1: elected to buy a few more of those for our
Speaker 1: kids than we otherwise would have. As for working at
Speaker 1: home without childcare, Okay, do not turn off this podcast.
Speaker 1: I have five kids and I know full well that
Speaker 1: this is far from a fun challenge. But if that
Speaker 1: is the situation you are currently stuck in and you
Speaker 1: have exhausted your options for changing it, then you need
Speaker 1: to get creative of identifying the ways you can add
Speaker 1: the most value to your organization. How can you knock
Speaker 1: your bosses socks off with your great work as efficiently
Speaker 1: as possible? If you can only work for four hours
Speaker 1: a day, maybe while your partner can cover, what can
Speaker 1: you do best in that time? Nobody plays tennis or
Speaker 1: volleyball without a net. The fun and lots of games
Speaker 1: comes from the need to beat the clock. Boundaries like
Speaker 1: these fuel strategy, innovation, and performance. In real life, constraints
Speaker 1: aren't all fun and games, not by any means. But
Speaker 1: if we can reframe constraints as challenges, maybe we'll feel
Speaker 1: energized to find solutions rather than just give in to
Speaker 1: the disappointment that would otherwise result. In the meantime. This
Speaker 1: is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. M 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 E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast. At i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.