WEBVTT - Just a few millimeters off

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is that if you feel unhappy professionally, you

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<v Speaker 1>might not need to change careers. Often people find that

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<v Speaker 1>they are just a few millimeters off from where they

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<v Speaker 1>mean to be, but that one major irritation can significantly

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<v Speaker 1>impact happiness. Solve that and a lot else falls into place.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip comes from Ashley Stall's book You Turn, Get Unstuck,

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<v Speaker 1>Discover your direction, and design your dream career. Ashley is

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<v Speaker 1>a career coach who helps people figure out what they

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<v Speaker 1>should be doing with their lives. As I read You Turn,

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<v Speaker 1>I noticed that she used the phrase a few millimeters

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<v Speaker 1>off several times to describe people's professional unhappiness. Here's an example.

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<v Speaker 1>One of Ashley's stories was of a lawyer who felt

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<v Speaker 1>miserable in her job. She was looking to change careers,

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<v Speaker 1>but as she and Ashley talked through her skills and temperament,

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<v Speaker 1>it seemed that she was actually quite well suited to

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<v Speaker 1>the legal world. So they reflected on what she valued,

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<v Speaker 1>and in the middle of her reflections, she mentioned wanting

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to take the time for the things

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<v Speaker 1>she needed to do in her life. Basically, she liked

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<v Speaker 1>the law. She just wanted to have a little more

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<v Speaker 1>space for other things. But that is a reasonably simple

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<v Speaker 1>problem to solve. She switched to a version of law

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<v Speaker 1>that she could practice with more regular hours and less

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<v Speaker 1>evening and weeken work. This made her much happier. She

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<v Speaker 1>remembered why she liked the field in the first place. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe that should seem obvious in retrospect, it's not the

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<v Speaker 1>work someone dislikes, it's the hours. But in many cases

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<v Speaker 1>misery on some day today, dimension of life can expand

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<v Speaker 1>to take up so much mental real estate that it

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<v Speaker 1>is hard to see anything good at all, and so

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<v Speaker 1>we often think that we need to burn it all down,

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<v Speaker 1>find a different career, doing something completely different, or and

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<v Speaker 1>this is a corollary, we become convinced that the only

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<v Speaker 1>avenue to happiness is to do something completely different, go

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<v Speaker 1>back to school and change careers. But if you are

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<v Speaker 1>a mid career professional with a family who is dependent

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<v Speaker 1>on you, that might feel impossible. So you tell yourself

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<v Speaker 1>there is nothing you can do and just plod along,

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<v Speaker 1>and misery come, lanning about life and refusing to accept

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<v Speaker 1>any agency. But what if you considered the possibility that

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<v Speaker 1>you are only a few millimeters off where you should be.

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<v Speaker 1>Take some time to think through what you really value,

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<v Speaker 1>not just what you think you should, but the particular

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<v Speaker 1>things that make you incredibly angry when you don't have them.

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<v Speaker 1>We're on top of the moon if you do. One example,

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<v Speaker 1>someone might like the work they're doing in theory, but

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<v Speaker 1>their manager just doesn't really seem to care about them.

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<v Speaker 1>They might realize that having a champion and mentor it's

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<v Speaker 1>just incredibly important to them and to their happiness. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>guess what. It is often possible to work for someone else.

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<v Speaker 1>You can do this by switching companies, but you might

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<v Speaker 1>not even need to do that. Go work for a

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<v Speaker 1>different manager at the exact same company, and you might

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<v Speaker 1>have an entirely different experience. In my case, I've realized

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<v Speaker 1>over the years that I am happiest writing when I

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<v Speaker 1>get to use my own voice. That's why I like

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<v Speaker 1>blogging and creating these podcasts, scripts and writing books. I

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<v Speaker 1>do write articles from time to time, but it needs

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<v Speaker 1>to be worth it, because I'm not as happy writing

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<v Speaker 1>something that's going to be changed significantly in order to

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<v Speaker 1>create more of a consistent editorial voice for a publication.

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<v Speaker 1>I had to find this out by writing some pieces

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<v Speaker 1>that just wound up feeling draining. So it goes. But

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<v Speaker 1>that doesn't mean writing wasn't for me. It just needed

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<v Speaker 1>to be done differently. So if you are feeling unhappy

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<v Speaker 1>in your day to day work, consider if you might

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<v Speaker 1>be just a few millimeters off from where you should be.

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<v Speaker 1>If you could change one or two things, would you

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<v Speaker 1>still want to do the work you are doing. If so,

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<v Speaker 1>that's great because one or two things can often be changed,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe not immediately, but eventually. A few millimeters is a

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<v Speaker 1>distance easily covered, far more so then walking halfway around

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<v Speaker 1>the world. 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. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's b the number four than breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at iHeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much. I

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<v Speaker 1>look forward to staying in Touch Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I

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