WEBVTT - Know what you do best

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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 to figure out your core competencies. That is,

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<v Speaker 1>the things you do best that other people cannot do

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<v Speaker 1>nearly as well. To spend your time well and to

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<v Speaker 1>be effective, you want to focus as much time as

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<v Speaker 1>you can on these things and spend as little time

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<v Speaker 1>as possible on everything else. Today's tip, like some others

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<v Speaker 1>this week, comes from my book One hundred and sixty

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<v Speaker 1>eight Hours. That book was first published in late May

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<v Speaker 1>of twenty ten, which means that it is fifteen years

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<v Speaker 1>old this month. A lot has changed in the world

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<v Speaker 1>since then, but we do, in fact still have one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and sixty eight hours in a week, and so

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<v Speaker 1>I am revisiting some of the tips in that book

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<v Speaker 1>that I think can still be helpful. Today's tip is

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<v Speaker 1>to know what you do best. There are lots of

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<v Speaker 1>ways people can spend their time. There are also limited

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<v Speaker 1>hours in the day. It is often more efficient to

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<v Speaker 1>focus on the handful of areas where you can really shine,

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<v Speaker 1>and then figure out ways to not spend your time

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<v Speaker 1>on other things. This makes sense in a corporate context.

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<v Speaker 1>If you make widgets, you generally don't also own a

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<v Speaker 1>fleet of trucks that will deliver your widgets to customers.

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<v Speaker 1>Depending on the size of the widgets, you use the

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<v Speaker 1>post office or a commercial delivery service to do that

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<v Speaker 1>for you. But we tend to be a bit less

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<v Speaker 1>focused in our own lives. Sometimes people have figured out

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<v Speaker 1>ways to delegate things at work, but in our home lives,

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<v Speaker 1>people spend all kinds of time on things that it

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<v Speaker 1>might be better not to do. I think part of

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<v Speaker 1>this is that we don't always know what our core

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<v Speaker 1>competencies are. We don't know what we do best and

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<v Speaker 1>that other people cannot do nearly as well. So it

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<v Speaker 1>might be worth spending some time thinking this through. What

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<v Speaker 1>do people keep asking you about, When do people seek

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<v Speaker 1>out your advice? What seems easy for you that other

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<v Speaker 1>people find challenging. Sometimes there are things that we are

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<v Speaker 1>good at across multiple dimensions and fields. For instance, in

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred sixty eight Hours, I tell the story of

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<v Speaker 1>Rold Hoffmann, the Nobel Prize win in Chemist. He spent

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<v Speaker 1>his childhood hiding from the Nazis, watching the world through

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<v Speaker 1>a hole in the wall. He became a very keen

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<v Speaker 1>and patient observer, watching the changing light and the changing

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<v Speaker 1>seasons this way. Eventually, this helped him become a very

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<v Speaker 1>good scientist, as he would patiently observe experiments and see

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<v Speaker 1>small changes. His powers of observation led him to making

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<v Speaker 1>some real breakthroughs in the field. Now, a Nobel prize

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<v Speaker 1>is kind of the culmination of a life. But when

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<v Speaker 1>I interviewed Hoffmann, he was actually at a writing retreat

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<v Speaker 1>working on his poetry. As a second career, he had

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<v Speaker 1>started writing poetry that was also based on his patient

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<v Speaker 1>observations seeing small changes in the world. This man's core

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<v Speaker 1>competency was being a watcher, a skill that helped him

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<v Speaker 1>survive as a child and then brought him fame later.

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<v Speaker 1>Now we are not all chemical and poetical geniuses, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>but we do all have certain skills. We also have

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<v Speaker 1>certain zones of genius. So what are yours? What makes

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<v Speaker 1>you feel alive? What makes you feel like you are

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<v Speaker 1>making progress? I love writing. I love talking about counterintuitive

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<v Speaker 1>and exciting ideas. I like performing. What do you like?

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<v Speaker 1>Look at how you are spending your time? How much

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<v Speaker 1>time do you spend on these matters? How much time

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<v Speaker 1>do you spend on everything else. I believe over time,

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<v Speaker 1>we can find ways to spend more time on the

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<v Speaker 1>things we do best and less time on other things.

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<v Speaker 1>These days, I really try not to do things like

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<v Speaker 1>run errands when I could be writing. Sometimes people ask

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<v Speaker 1>me about doing things like coaching, but it's not really

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<v Speaker 1>something I do best or better than others would. I'd

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<v Speaker 1>much rather be writing or speaking to a big group.

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<v Speaker 1>What about you find your core competencies and you are

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<v Speaker 1>well on your way to spending time well. It is

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<v Speaker 1>worth the time it takes to figure this out, because

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<v Speaker 1>knowing what you do best will help you spend your

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred and sixty eight hours well. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.