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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that if there is something you want to

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<v Speaker 1>do in your life, start doing it now. You will

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<v Speaker 1>figure out what is doable in life as it actually is.

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<v Speaker 1>And maybe, just maybe, you'll make a little progress as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip, like several other recent ones, comes from my

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<v Speaker 1>new book, Big Time, A Simple Path to Time Abundance.

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<v Speaker 1>I have talked with a lot of people about their

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<v Speaker 1>goals over the years, and I've realized that many people

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<v Speaker 1>have goals they intend to pursue at some point in

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<v Speaker 1>the future. You want to write a novel, but you're

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<v Speaker 1>not doing any creative writing now. You want to learn Spanish.

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<v Speaker 1>and you have wanted to learn Spanish for decades. You

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<v Speaker 1>want to get a promotion, but you don't have any

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<v Speaker 1>particular vision for how that is going to happen. You

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<v Speaker 1>want to be the kind of person who goes to

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<v Speaker 1>church every Sunday, but you haven't set foot in a

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<v Speaker 1>house of worship since last Christmas when you were visiting

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<v Speaker 1>your parents. Sometimes people make elaborate plans for their future selves,

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<v Speaker 1>as in, after the time change, I'm going to wake

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<v Speaker 1>up an hour earlier every day to write. Next day,

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<v Speaker 1>next day, tomorrow, sometime, I'm going to delete all my

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<v Speaker 1>social media apps. You set a New Year's resolution to

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<v Speaker 1>get a promotion, or you tell yourself, hey, once I

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<v Speaker 1>have kids, then I will go to church every week.

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<v Speaker 1>But here's the thing. Your future self is going to

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<v Speaker 1>be a lot like your present self. So if getting

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<v Speaker 1>up an hour earlier or quitting all social media doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>seem appealing to you right now, as in today, it

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<v Speaker 1>won't seem appealing to you in the future either. Some

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<v Speaker 1>goals might be even harder in the future. If you

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<v Speaker 1>are currently single and can't make it to church now

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<v Speaker 1>when nobody is waking you up in the middle of

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<v Speaker 1>the night and you only have to get yourself dressed

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<v Speaker 1>and out the door, you probably won't find it easier

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<v Speaker 1>when a family is in the picture. And contrary to

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<v Speaker 1>what people may wish, simply stating a goal does not

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<v Speaker 1>bring it to fruition. You need to take actions that

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<v Speaker 1>will get you from where you are to where you

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<v Speaker 1>want to be. So if there is something you want

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<v Speaker 1>to do in your life, it is wise to get

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<v Speaker 1>started on it now, in whatever way you can, rather

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<v Speaker 1>than having fantasies about the wonderful things your future self

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<v Speaker 1>will do. So I think there are two important insights

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<v Speaker 1>baked into that advice. First, if you want to do

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<v Speaker 1>something in your life, why wait? If it's a good

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<v Speaker 1>idea in the future, it's probably a good idea now.

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<v Speaker 1>But second, and I think this is just as important,

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<v Speaker 1>don't assume that your future self will be able and

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<v Speaker 1>willing to do something that your present self isn't likely

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<v Speaker 1>to do. Instead, figure out what is realistic and appealing

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<v Speaker 1>to your present self. Because that is probably something you

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<v Speaker 1>can stick with. So maybe you'll decide you will write

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<v Speaker 1>something every day. It might be just a sentence on

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<v Speaker 1>some days. but you will start the habit of writing.

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<v Speaker 1>And who knows? You may get excited about a story

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<v Speaker 1>idea and end up devoting hours weekly to your novel.

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<v Speaker 1>Or you may realize that writing isn't giving you as

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<v Speaker 1>much joy or satisfaction as you thought it would. Good

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<v Speaker 1>to know. Maybe instead of deleting all your social media apps,

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<v Speaker 1>you just decide that before you look at social media,

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<v Speaker 1>you will do one Duolingo lesson. Suddenly you're spending a

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<v Speaker 1>little more time learning Spanish, and a little less time

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<v Speaker 1>on social media. If you want a promotion, a first

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<v Speaker 1>step could be to talk to your manager about what

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<v Speaker 1>opportunities she sees for you and what skills she thinks

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<v Speaker 1>you need to develop. Why not have that conversation today,

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<v Speaker 1>or at least at your next one-on-one meeting? Truly, that

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<v Speaker 1>is a conversation you can have at any time. There

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<v Speaker 1>is no point putting it off. And if you imagine

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<v Speaker 1>you are the sort of person whose family will go

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<v Speaker 1>to worship services regularly, maybe you could decide that over

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<v Speaker 1>the next few months, you will visit four houses of

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<v Speaker 1>worship online and maybe two in person. Perhaps at that point,

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<v Speaker 1>you'll identify one you could see yourself attending from time

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<v Speaker 1>to time. You don't have to make it every Sunday.

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<v Speaker 1>You could just get started with what you can do. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>life changes. That baby who is nursing every three hours

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<v Speaker 1>will eventually be eating three meals a day, and some

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<v Speaker 1>of them with other people. Some busy seasons at work

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<v Speaker 1>do end, and some opportunities come up unexpectedly. But in general,

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<v Speaker 1>our future selves are going to be quite similar to

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<v Speaker 1>our present selves. So if there is something you imagine

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<v Speaker 1>your future self doing, figure out how your present self

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<v Speaker 1>might like to stick a toe in the water of

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<v Speaker 1>that activity today. What are you waiting for? Now is

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<v Speaker 1>a great time to start being the person you dream

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<v Speaker 1>of becoming. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>And here's to making the most of our time. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at laura at lauravandercam.com.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thank you.