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

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Speaker 2: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 2: Today's tip is to have something exciting you are focused

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Speaker 2: on besides work and family. Even if you have a

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Speaker 2: demanding job, child rearing, or elder care responsibilities, it feels

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Speaker 2: great to have something else going on in your life.

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Speaker 2: It just has to be one thing, but even one

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Speaker 2: thing gives you a lot more to think and talk

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Speaker 2: about and balances any woes in the other categories. So

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Speaker 2: we are all busy these days, and if you are

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Speaker 2: like my average listener, the bulk of your time is

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Speaker 2: spent doing your paid job and handling family and how

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Speaker 2: household responsibilities. But even if we spend a lot of

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Speaker 2: time on those things, we don't have to spend one

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Speaker 2: hundred percent of our time on those things. Focusing just

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Speaker 2: a few of the other hours on one particular project

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Speaker 2: means that work and family stop feeling like the only

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Speaker 2: things going on in your life. You can see how

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Speaker 2: this would play out. Someone asks what you are up to,

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Speaker 2: and you could say, same stuff, work, kids, or you

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Speaker 2: could mention that you are brushing up on French in

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Speaker 2: preparation for next year's biking trip in the Loire Valley,

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Speaker 2: or perhaps you mention that you are looking forward to

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Speaker 2: starting a term as the president of your local Friends

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Speaker 2: of the Library group. That is a very different conversation,

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Speaker 2: and it's a different life too. I am not talking

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Speaker 2: about being over committed, frazzled and taking on everything that

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Speaker 2: you might possibly take on. You are busy, but having

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Speaker 2: one thing is different. During the school year, I sing

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Speaker 2: in my church choir, and so I know that whatever

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Speaker 2: else is going on in life, on Thursday nights and

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Speaker 2: Sunday mornings, I will be singing. Maybe for you, it's

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Speaker 2: that you go on a long hike every Saturday with

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Speaker 2: the goal of hiking the twenty five best trails in

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Speaker 2: your area over the next six months. No matter what

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Speaker 2: else happens, you won't be finding yourself in your pajamas

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Speaker 2: at four pm on a Saturday wondering where the day went.

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Speaker 2: An added bonus of having varied pursuits in your life

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Speaker 2: is that it makes you more resilient when things aren't

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Speaker 2: going well in other spheres. People who are fully defined

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Speaker 2: by their work can feel devastated if they don't get

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Speaker 2: a promotion. People who are fully defined by their family

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Speaker 2: can feel devastated when a kid is going through a

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Speaker 2: rough and perhaps public problem. But even if work is

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Speaker 2: terrible or home life is tense, that French class or

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Speaker 2: library volunteer gig can still be awesome. Those people know

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Speaker 2: you apart from whatever is going on at work or

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Speaker 2: at home. So if you don't have something cool already,

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Speaker 2: spend some time over the next few weeks considering what

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Speaker 2: will be your next cool thing. What would you like

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Speaker 2: to focus on in addition to work and family for

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Speaker 2: at least the next few months. Is there a volunteer

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Speaker 2: gig you feel passionate about. Would you like to launch

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Speaker 2: a book club or neighborhood association, make a quilt for

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Speaker 2: each of your grandchildren, or make a quilt to enter

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Speaker 2: in a local crafts contest. Would you like to construct

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Speaker 2: a native plant garden or read all the Works of Shakes.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't need to be a lot of things, And

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Speaker 2: indeed I would caution you not to choose a lot

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Speaker 2: of things. You aren't going to do all those things

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Speaker 2: that I just listed, But whatever you've got going on

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Speaker 2: at work or at home, I am guessing that you

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Speaker 2: could do one of them. Choose one, go all in

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Speaker 2: and be prepared for life to feel more balanced and fun.

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Speaker 2: What's your next cool thing? I'd love to hear about it.

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Speaker 2: You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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Speaker 2: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 2: here's to making the most of our time.

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Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from him. You can

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Speaker 1: send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just

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Speaker 1: connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Book and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then

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Speaker 1: Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an email at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.

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Speaker 1: Should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

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