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: This week we've been talking about tips from Gretchen Reuben,
Speaker 1: the host of the podcast Happier. In particular, we've been
Speaker 1: looking at tips from her most recent book, Outer Order
Speaker 1: inter Calm, But today I'd like to talk about one
Speaker 1: tip inspired by her first self help book, The Happiness Project.
Speaker 1: This tip is about how you can go sort of
Speaker 1: back to school as an adult, but without actually going
Speaker 1: back to school and with all the tuition and homework
Speaker 1: that entails. A great many years ago, Gretchen looked around
Speaker 1: at her very good life and wondered why she didn't
Speaker 1: feel blissful. She decided to undertake a year long project
Speaker 1: to become happier. Each month she would examine a different
Speaker 1: aspect of life and take a few concrete steps that
Speaker 1: existing research suggested should improve her mood. She did not
Speaker 1: become a complete bluebird. That's really just not in her temperament,
Speaker 1: but at the end of the year, she did feel
Speaker 1: like life felt better. In any case, it's back to
Speaker 1: school season here in the US. Most districts have either
Speaker 1: started classes or we'll start in the next two weeks.
Speaker 1: As adults, we don't necessarily get to indulge in all
Speaker 1: the school supply shopping, in the excitement mixed with trepidation
Speaker 1: that novel schedules bring. But I think all of us
Speaker 1: could capture the feeling of a fresh start with our
Speaker 1: own school year projects. If from now until June you
Speaker 1: gave yourself a self improvement project each month, what could
Speaker 1: you accomplish a month? About thirty days is long enough
Speaker 1: to make change possible, but short enough that you can
Speaker 1: stick with the change you choose. That's one reason challenges
Speaker 1: such as the whole thirty eating program are popular, and
Speaker 1: maybe you do want to borrow from some existing challenges.
Speaker 1: In November, for the past few years, I've participated in
Speaker 1: National Novel Writing Month, where you commit to writing a
Speaker 1: fifty thousand word novel in thirty days. Indeed, my time
Speaker 1: management fable Juliette School of Possibilities was written almost entirely
Speaker 1: in November. But you can also make up your own challenges.
Speaker 1: In October, for instance, I set and met my goal
Speaker 1: to read War and Peace by the end of the month.
Speaker 1: Each December, I create a holiday fun list of activities
Speaker 1: such as eating breakfast with Santa at Longwood Gardens, and
Speaker 1: putting my kids in a Christmas pageant. These activities make
Speaker 1: this season feel festive to me. In January, with the
Speaker 1: energy of New Year's behind you, you might try exercising
Speaker 1: every single day, or maybe you try the Dry January
Speaker 1: challenge of abstaining from alcohol for a month. If you
Speaker 1: play a musical instrument recreationally, you could choose a month
Speaker 1: to get serious about the practicing and schedule in an
Speaker 1: hour a day or at least thirty hours total over
Speaker 1: the month. For improving at your craft, you could take
Speaker 1: another month to write a thank you note every single day.
Speaker 1: If you're serious about starting a blog or a podcast,
Speaker 1: you could choose a month to create a new post
Speaker 1: or episode every day. You might get romantic in February
Speaker 1: and figure out a new way to show your love
Speaker 1: for your partner each day. In any case, you'd probably
Speaker 1: learn a lot, and you'd accomplish some interesting things. You'd
Speaker 1: find new opportunities, and by June you'd probably feel like
Speaker 1: you've moved forward. The equivalent of a grade in life,
Speaker 1: perhaps more so than in a traditional classroom. The fact
Speaker 1: that adult life often lacks the structure of a classroom
Speaker 1: is one thing that makes it so disorienting for some people.
Speaker 1: But we can always create our own structure. Going back
Speaker 1: to school with eight to nine months of projects is
Speaker 1: one way to do that. So what projects will you
Speaker 1: undertake this school year? You can let me know at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Yeah, hey, everybody, I'd love
Speaker 1: to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B 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.