1 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to plant seeds to enjoy the harvest. 4 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: Spend some time on speculative work that you aren't sure 5 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: will lead to anything. If you plant enough seeds, something 6 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: will grow. Enjoying a harvest requires patience and time, but 7 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: couple those with hard work and it's amazing what you 8 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: can reap. Later this week, my American listeners will be 9 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: celebrating Thanksgiving. Many of us are far removed from our 10 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: agrarian roots, but originally this holiday was about gratitude for 11 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: the harvest. Seeds sown many months ago sprout over the 12 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: spring and summer, then they produce their bounty come fall. 13 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,400 Speaker 1: It is something of an annual miracle, but it also 14 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: depends on a prescribed order of things. If you want 15 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: to enjoy a harvest come fall, you need to plant 16 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: those seeds. Life is like that. Too Often, small investments 17 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: made years ago suddenly produce copious results, and so one 18 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: key part of success is making sure that you are 19 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: always planting seeds. You make small investments of time and 20 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:44,680 Speaker 1: effort that won't automatically lead to anything but might. Success 21 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: is a numbers game, and the more you plant, the 22 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: more you are likely to sew. Building relationships is one 23 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: obvious way to plant seeds. One of the fun things 24 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 1: about being in the same business for many years is 25 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: that people you met at the beginning go on to 26 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: do great things. No doubt you have seen this in 27 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: your own life. You get an email out of the 28 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 1: blue from someone you worked with fifteen years ago. This 29 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: person has a fantastic opportunity and remembers your name. A 30 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: planted seed has sprouted, So how do you plant more 31 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 1: of such seeds? Mentoring is always an excellent idea. Folks 32 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: you've helped will certainly remember you. Getting to know colleagues 33 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: well and attending conferences and figuring out ways to collaborate 34 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: with new people are always of planting seeds. You can 35 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: also plant seeds by producing some sort of content that 36 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: can be out in the world speaking for you when 37 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: you are not around. An article in an industry publication 38 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: will be there for years and people will find it 39 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: and re it, and someone will want to connect because 40 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: of it. That seed grows. You do an interview with 41 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: a podcast that people in your industry listen to, someone 42 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: will hear something you said and realize you'd be perfect 43 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: for an opportunity. That seed grows too. It is wonderful 44 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: to do great work, but career growth isn't just about 45 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: doing the work in front of you. It's about figuring 46 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: out what you can do that might pay off for 47 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: future you. The key is might. Since you don't know 48 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,839 Speaker 1: what seeds will sprout, it helps to plant a lot 49 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: of seeds, and sometimes this can be frustrating. I have 50 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: told the story many times of how I got my 51 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: first contract to write a time management book. An executive 52 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: at the publishing house saw a review I wrote of 53 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: a book that they had just published. He realized as 54 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: he had seen my name elsewhere too. He wrote me 55 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: a note saying that if I wasn't under contract somewhere, 56 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: he'd love to discuss book ideas. The result was a 57 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:16,159 Speaker 1: book called sty eight Hours. It sounds like such a 58 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: neat story, and yet I had been trying to land 59 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: a book contract for about eighteen months. At that point 60 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: I had lots of potential proposals out there. Among other things, 61 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: I had written an eight part series for the Huffington's 62 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: Post on topics in my potential book, something I did 63 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: for no compensation, but just to get attention for my ideas. 64 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 1: There were a lot of seeds out there. Eventually, it 65 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,359 Speaker 1: was a random book review that did the trick, not 66 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: because it was a particularly excellent book review, but because eventually, 67 00:04:55,720 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 1: if you plant enough, something has to come up. We 68 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: are all busy, so it is hard to do work 69 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 1: that you don't know will lead to anything. It's hard 70 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:10,159 Speaker 1: enough to do the work that is a basic part 71 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:14,600 Speaker 1: of the job description. But as with anything, I find 72 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: it's helpful to give yourself a reasonable goal. I will 73 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,919 Speaker 1: spend two hours this week on speculative work, or I 74 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: will do five things that might lead to something, even 75 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: if I'm not sure what you keep doing this week 76 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,719 Speaker 1: after week and you see what happens. You might even 77 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: call this your planting seeds list and see how many 78 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: entries you can put on it and when things do 79 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 1: happen well. This episode is about planting seeds to enjoy 80 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: the harvest. I find the enjoying part is important here too. 81 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:58,839 Speaker 1: We can get so wrapped up in planting seeds that 82 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: we forget to celebrate eight the ones that have sprouted. 83 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: Everyone is a little miracle and key for this podcast 84 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 1: represent some pretty massive time savings in our pursuit of 85 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: life goals. Those of us who run our own businesses 86 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: know that when a potential new client reaches out to 87 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: you because they heard you speak somewhere, that is a 88 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: much more efficient way to land work then you cold 89 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:33,239 Speaker 1: pitching dozens of people if you'd like an exciting new job. 90 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: Hearing from an old colleague that she is now the 91 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:40,279 Speaker 1: CEO of a startup that is hiring like crazy is 92 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: much better than sending out resumes into the void. So 93 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:50,360 Speaker 1: celebrate any massive winds like this to enjoy your harvest. 94 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: One of my favorite ways to do so is to 95 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,799 Speaker 1: give myself back some of the time I have saved. 96 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: Take little vacations during the work day. You could take 97 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: a walk or bike ride somewhere lovely while it's still 98 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 1: light out. A trip to a museum or boutique with 99 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: limited hours can be a treat, and coffee with a 100 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: friend could be too. You are probably still far ahead, 101 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: and then think about how you can plant more seeds. 102 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:27,559 Speaker 1: Can you set up more conversations, do more favors, create 103 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: more content. It's fun to think about the possibilities you 104 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: are creating, rather than that this is more work you 105 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: are doing. You are planting seeds to enjoy the future harvest, 106 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: which you will no doubt reap in time. In the meantime, 107 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:54,239 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 108 00:07:54,240 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: the most of our time. YEA. Hey, everybody, I'd love 109 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: to hear from you. You can send me your tips, 110 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, 111 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E 112 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: the number four, then breakfast p o D. You can 113 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at 114 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled 115 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look 116 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production 117 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, 118 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio apps, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 119 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:46,560 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.