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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to make a first decision. If you're

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Speaker 1: feeling stuck ruminating on lots of interconnected choices, this one

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Speaker 1: step can help you escape from spinning your wheels. We've

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Speaker 1: all been in the position where we have lots of

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Speaker 1: decisions to make, but we can't seem to get anywhere

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Speaker 1: because the options all depend on each other. I know

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Speaker 1: so many college seniors feel this way heading into spring.

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Speaker 1: They need to make decisions about what jobs or advanced

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Speaker 1: degrees to pursue, where to live, how to navigate romantic relationships,

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Speaker 1: But much like navigating a maze, each decision is influenced

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Speaker 1: by the outcomes of all the others. A lot of

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Speaker 1: expectant parents feel overwhelmed by interconnected choices too. Do we

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Speaker 1: move to shorten our commute so we have more time

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Speaker 1: with the baby, but housing is more expensive closer to

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Speaker 1: our job, so then we'd wind up in a smaller place.

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Speaker 1: And then what do we do if we decide to

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Speaker 1: have a second baby and need more room. This can

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Speaker 1: happen on much more mundane skills too, We've all had

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Speaker 1: dining companions who get absorb navigating the menu to make

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Speaker 1: sure that they love their choices of appetizer, entree, and

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Speaker 1: wine and that they all fit together. Sadly, analysis paralysis

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Speaker 1: can ensue. So how do you get unstuck? Well, to

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Speaker 1: be sure, you can outline what choices you need to

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Speaker 1: make and gather information on factors influencing your decisions about

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Speaker 1: each you can set aside time to journal or to

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Speaker 1: talk with a sympathetic friend. If you're making the decision

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Speaker 1: with someone else, you can set aside plenty of time

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Speaker 1: for mutual reflection. But then eventually it's time to make

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Speaker 1: the first decision, and indeed, i'd suggest simply committing to

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Speaker 1: do that. Make a first decision, take one chunk of

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Speaker 1: your decision tree that you feel strongly about, go with that,

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Speaker 1: and then let the other pieces fall into place. There

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Speaker 1: are never perfect choices, but deliberating too long can cut

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Speaker 1: off choices and sometimes means decisions are made for us.

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Speaker 1: And while choosing by not choosing can be a choice,

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Speaker 1: you want to make sure you're making that choice on purpose.

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Speaker 1: So maybe our college senior prioritizes going to the top

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Speaker 1: law school she gets into she decides she'll figure out

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Speaker 1: her housing situation and whether to attempt a long distance

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Speaker 1: relationship after that. Maybe a family navigating a dual job

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Speaker 1: search decides that once one partner gets a great job offer,

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Speaker 1: they'll put their house on the market, and the other

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Speaker 1: partner will start looking for jobs only in the area

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Speaker 1: where the first partner got their offer. Your dinner companion

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Speaker 1: could decide that he knows he'll enjoy the salmon, and

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Speaker 1: he builds the rest of his menu around that. Oftentimes,

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Speaker 1: once we've made that first decision, other decisions seem a

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Speaker 1: lot easier, and this saves time and energy. I'm certainly

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Speaker 1: trying to remind myself of this upside. Long time listeners

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Speaker 1: may remember the whole saga of my housing situation as

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Speaker 1: I try to figure out the best option for my

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Speaker 1: growing family. We welcomed our fifth child in late December,

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Speaker 1: and while the little guy is small now, he won't

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Speaker 1: be small forever, and so we've been weighing our options.

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Speaker 1: We've considered moving to a new house, finishing the basement

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Speaker 1: or the attic in our current house to add bedrooms,

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Speaker 1: or just squeezing kids into existing bedrooms and kicking the

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Speaker 1: question down the road, We went to several open houses

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Speaker 1: and spent some time imagining different scenarios. Each option seemed

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Speaker 1: to bring with it a host of new questions related

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Speaker 1: to cost, timing, and logistics. If we renovate, can we

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Speaker 1: live with the hassle of a renovation plus the newborn?

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Speaker 1: If we buy a bigger house, it would require some

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Speaker 1: fixing too, and so we'd probably keep living in our

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Speaker 1: current one for a while. But how long would we

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Speaker 1: be willing to be at two house family? When would

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Speaker 1: we need to put our existing house on the market.

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Speaker 1: Should we meet with builders about doing a new construction project? Eventually, though,

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Speaker 1: we just made a first decision, we decided to have

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Speaker 1: plans drawn up for renovating our current house. With plans

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Speaker 1: in hand, we can decide whether or not that's the

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Speaker 1: way to go. In the meantime, the kids are sharing rooms.

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Speaker 1: With the first decision made, there's a reasonable amount of peace,

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Speaker 1: well as much peace as there can be in a

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Speaker 1: household with five children, including a newborn. Have you experienced

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Speaker 1: analysis paralysis when faced with lots of interconnected decisions? How

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Speaker 1: did you get unstuck? You can let me know at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart Media Dot com in the meantime.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,

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Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the I

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Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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Speaker 1: your favorite shows.