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 to give some structure to your leisure
Speaker 1: time by seeking out the complete set of an experience.
Speaker 1: If you've done a lot of something, why not aim
Speaker 1: to do all of it. You'll probably have a lot
Speaker 1: of fun along the way. So I guess is that
Speaker 1: some people are already more oriented toward having the complete
Speaker 1: set of anything. If many years ago you collected a
Speaker 1: commemorative quarter from every state, or saved up your lawnmowing
Speaker 1: or babysitting money for a boxed set of all the
Speaker 1: CDs from your favorite band, then you already see the
Speaker 1: appeal of what I'm talking about. The idea is to
Speaker 1: look for something that you've done a fair amount of
Speaker 1: or would like to do a fair amount of, and
Speaker 1: then check off the rest of the list. So, for instance,
Speaker 1: if you look at a map of the United States
Speaker 1: and notice that you've visited thirty three of these states,
Speaker 1: you might be inspired to build a stop in North
Speaker 1: Dakota onto your next road trip itinerary. In doing so,
Speaker 1: you'll consider options that you probably wouldn't have otherwise, or
Speaker 1: you might start planning an Alaska vacation. Maybe not the
Speaker 1: first place people think of, but a stunning destination once
Speaker 1: you start looking into it. Over a few years, you
Speaker 1: could get all the remaining states. If you like to cook,
Speaker 1: it's fun to just try new recipes, but you could
Speaker 1: also do so with some purpose and cook your way
Speaker 1: through a cookbook like in that book turned movie Julie
Speaker 1: and Julia. You'll build new skills, learn about new ingredients,
Speaker 1: and feel some real satisfaction as you get to the end.
Speaker 1: You could read every book by a given author, watch
Speaker 1: every movie by a given director, or listen to every
Speaker 1: piece by a given composer. You could visit all the
Speaker 1: Thai restaurants or wine bars or dog parks in your town,
Speaker 1: or try out all the weekend exercise classes on the
Speaker 1: schedule at your gym. Now some when you pursue, all
Speaker 1: will be duds, and some won't be as appealing as others.
Speaker 1: I really love reading Virginia Wolf, but there is a
Speaker 1: reason that teachers a sign to the lighthouse more often
Speaker 1: than say night and day. Still, reading the Voyage Out
Speaker 1: can shed some light on her style that then lets
Speaker 1: you approach to the lighthouse with new eyes. Seeking out
Speaker 1: the complete set can nudge you to spend more time
Speaker 1: on your chosen leisure activity as you pursue your goal,
Speaker 1: And just as important, you don't have to spend as
Speaker 1: much time racking your brain trying to figure out what
Speaker 1: to read next, listen to next, cook next, or where
Speaker 1: to travel next. Aiming for a complete set, it lets
Speaker 1: you spend less time wondering and more time just doing so.
Speaker 1: If you are intrigued at the idea of pursuing a
Speaker 1: complete set, think about what might be appealing to you.
Speaker 1: There are lots of ways you could really run with this.
Speaker 1: You could make a New Year's resolution to complete your
Speaker 1: chosen set. You could rally a group of friends to
Speaker 1: experience the complete set with you every month. You could
Speaker 1: discuss another collection of Mary Oliver's poetry, or play on
Speaker 1: a different public golf course in your area, or watch
Speaker 1: one more Spike Lee movie on your own couches while
Speaker 1: sharing your commentary via group text messages. And I'd like
Speaker 1: to point out you might want to document your completion
Speaker 1: of the set, maybe on a blog, because it could
Speaker 1: become a book or a movie with Meryl Street, And
Speaker 1: wouldn't that be cool In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and here's to making most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.