1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: tip is to figure out your core competencies. That is, 4 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: the things you do best that other people cannot do 5 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: nearly as well. To spend your time well and to 6 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: be effective, you want to focus as much time as 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: you can on these things and spend as little time 8 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: as possible on everything else. Today's tip, like some others 9 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,560 Speaker 1: this week, comes from my book One hundred and sixty 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: eight Hours. That book was first published in late May 11 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: of twenty ten, which means that it is fifteen years 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: old this month. A lot has changed in the world 13 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,319 Speaker 1: since then, but we do, in fact still have one 14 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty eight hours in a week, and so 15 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: I am revisiting some of the tips in that book 16 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: that I think can still be helpful. Today's tip is 17 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,399 Speaker 1: to know what you do best. There are lots of 18 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: ways people can spend their time. There are also limited 19 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: hours in the day. It is often more efficient to 20 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: focus on the handful of areas where you can really shine, 21 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: and then figure out ways to not spend your time 22 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 1: on other things. This makes sense in a corporate context. 23 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: If you make widgets, you generally don't also own a 24 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: fleet of trucks that will deliver your widgets to customers. 25 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: Depending on the size of the widgets, you use the 26 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: post office or a commercial delivery service to do that 27 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: for you. But we tend to be a bit less 28 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: focused in our own lives. Sometimes people have figured out 29 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,559 Speaker 1: ways to delegate things at work, but in our home lives, 30 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: people spend all kinds of time on things that it 31 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: might be better not to do. I think part of 32 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: this is that we don't always know what our core 33 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: competencies are. We don't know what we do best and 34 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: that other people cannot do nearly as well. So it 35 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: might be worth spending some time thinking this through. What 36 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: do people keep asking you about, When do people seek 37 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: out your advice? What seems easy for you that other 38 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: people find challenging. Sometimes there are things that we are 39 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: good at across multiple dimensions and fields. For instance, in 40 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 1: one hundred sixty eight Hours, I tell the story of 41 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: Rold Hoffmann, the Nobel Prize win in Chemist. He spent 42 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: his childhood hiding from the Nazis, watching the world through 43 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: a hole in the wall. He became a very keen 44 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: and patient observer, watching the changing light and the changing 45 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: seasons this way. Eventually, this helped him become a very 46 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: good scientist, as he would patiently observe experiments and see 47 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: small changes. His powers of observation led him to making 48 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: some real breakthroughs in the field. Now, a Nobel prize 49 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: is kind of the culmination of a life. But when 50 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: I interviewed Hoffmann, he was actually at a writing retreat 51 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: working on his poetry. As a second career, he had 52 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: started writing poetry that was also based on his patient 53 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: observations seeing small changes in the world. This man's core 54 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: competency was being a watcher, a skill that helped him 55 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: survive as a child and then brought him fame later. 56 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: Now we are not all chemical and poetical geniuses, of course, 57 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: but we do all have certain skills. We also have 58 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: certain zones of genius. So what are yours? What makes 59 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:08,839 Speaker 1: you feel alive? What makes you feel like you are 60 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: making progress? I love writing. I love talking about counterintuitive 61 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: and exciting ideas. I like performing. What do you like? 62 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: Look at how you are spending your time? How much 63 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: time do you spend on these matters? How much time 64 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: do you spend on everything else. I believe over time, 65 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: we can find ways to spend more time on the 66 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: things we do best and less time on other things. 67 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: These days, I really try not to do things like 68 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: run errands when I could be writing. Sometimes people ask 69 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: me about doing things like coaching, but it's not really 70 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: something I do best or better than others would. I'd 71 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: much rather be writing or speaking to a big group. 72 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: What about you find your core competencies and you are 73 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: well on your way to spending time well. It is 74 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: worth the time it takes to figure this out, because 75 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: knowing what you do best will help you spend your 76 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:28,359 Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty eight hours well. In the meantime, 77 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 78 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. 79 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach 80 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 81 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, 82 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 83 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.