WEBVTT - Second Cup: Planning is like GPS

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that planning is like GPS. Even if circumstances

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<v Speaker 1>change and you need to change your route, having a

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<v Speaker 1>plan will still help you get where you are going.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip comes from Rebecca Rocha's podcast, On a recent episode,

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<v Speaker 1>she compared planning to GPS. She said, making a plan

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<v Speaker 1>for how to get to your goal is like using

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<v Speaker 1>Google Maps to work out a route for somewhere you

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<v Speaker 1>need to be. You know it is giving you what

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<v Speaker 1>looks like the best route at the time, but you

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<v Speaker 1>also know the route it gives you might change as

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<v Speaker 1>you go along. That's part of the deal. I love

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<v Speaker 1>that analogy. I think it does a few things. First,

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<v Speaker 1>it establishes that plans are valuable. even if not everything

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<v Speaker 1>goes according to plan. Without a planned route, getting to

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<v Speaker 1>a destination you are unfamiliar with will be tricky. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe there will be signs. Maybe it will work out.

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<v Speaker 1>But the odds are reasonable that you will get lost

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<v Speaker 1>somewhere and log way more travel time than required, even

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<v Speaker 1>if you do ultimately get where you are going. Similarly,

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<v Speaker 1>having a plan for how you are going to write

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<v Speaker 1>a book or go back to school or even how

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<v Speaker 1>to get everyone to their activities this weekend, drastically increases

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<v Speaker 1>the chances that these things happen. Second, thinking of a

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<v Speaker 1>plan as being like GPS means acknowledging that you might

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<v Speaker 1>need to recalculate the route. Perhaps a road will be closed,

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<v Speaker 1>or GPS will pick up a traffic jam that didn't

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<v Speaker 1>exist when you left the house. If so, the GPS

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<v Speaker 1>can help you adjust. Same with a plan. As you

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<v Speaker 1>encounter varying conditions or challenges, you can adjust parts of

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<v Speaker 1>it as necessary to help you get where you are going.

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<v Speaker 1>And finally, thinking of plans as being like GPS acknowledges

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<v Speaker 1>that plans are a tool. The ultimate goal is to

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<v Speaker 1>get to your destination. GPS is a really cool tool

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<v Speaker 1>to help you optimize getting where you are going. Likewise,

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<v Speaker 1>plans are a smart way to make sure that goals

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<v Speaker 1>are achievable. The plans themselves are not the most important part.

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<v Speaker 1>If you plan to train for a 10K by running

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<v Speaker 1>on your treadmill in the morning before work, and you

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<v Speaker 1>drop a long list of prescribed morning treadmill workouts, and

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<v Speaker 1>you come to realize that you cannot stand the boredom

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<v Speaker 1>of being on your treadmill, you can come up with

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<v Speaker 1>a different plan. Instead of running four miles on the

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<v Speaker 1>treadmill in the morning, you run four miles outside at

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<v Speaker 1>lunch on a work-from-home day. You take your running clothes

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<v Speaker 1>to the office and run the prescribed three miles outside

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<v Speaker 1>after work before it gets dark. The plan was one

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<v Speaker 1>way to achieve your goal. There are probably others. GPS

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<v Speaker 1>can often give you multiple routes, and you can choose

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<v Speaker 1>based on what matters to you. What I especially like

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<v Speaker 1>about this analogy is that it answers the common criticism

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<v Speaker 1>that life doesn't go according to plan. Ergo, There is

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<v Speaker 1>no point planning. This is just silly. If you are

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<v Speaker 1>trying to get to a meeting in another city, and

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<v Speaker 1>along the way your GPS system encounters a closed road

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<v Speaker 1>and recalculates, this doesn't mean there is no point in GPS.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, hey, we should just get in the car

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<v Speaker 1>and see where life takes us. Enjoy the drive. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I enjoy the drive a lot more when I have

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<v Speaker 1>a reasonable sense where I am going. Same with plans.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening. And

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reach me at Laura at LauraVanderkam.com. Before Breakfast

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