Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to make a to love list. Write down
Speaker 1: the names of the people you'd like to offer a
Speaker 1: little extra attention to in the upcoming week. This will
Speaker 1: nudge you to reach out and to seek opportunities to connect.
Speaker 1: Today's tip comes courtesy the New York Times Friendship Challenge,
Speaker 1: as part of their series on strengthening your friendships. They
Speaker 1: recommend creating what they call a to love list. Just
Speaker 1: like a to do list includes all the tasks you
Speaker 1: need to do, a to love list includes all the
Speaker 1: people you would like to connect with. Just as with
Speaker 1: a to do list, you probably want to make this
Speaker 1: list regularly. You could do it as part of whatever
Speaker 1: weekly or daily planning sessions you already do. Longtime listeners
Speaker 1: know that I suggest making a three category weekly priority
Speaker 1: list each Friday. One of those categories is relationships, and
Speaker 1: the to love list is kind of a version of that.
Speaker 1: What relationships do I want to help grow in the
Speaker 1: next week or so. Now, obviously, your closest friends and
Speaker 1: family members are probably perpetually on the list, But just
Speaker 1: as I am guessing you don't put check email on
Speaker 1: the to do list because you do it all the time.
Speaker 1: You might think of the to love list as people
Speaker 1: you want to show a little extra affection too, beyond
Speaker 1: the ordinary, either because they really need it or because
Speaker 1: you haven't in a while. So while you are hopefully
Speaker 1: showing your love to all your children, maybe one is
Speaker 1: disappointed at not getting a big part and it can't
Speaker 1: play that kid can get a star next to his
Speaker 1: name on the to love list. Or maybe you just
Speaker 1: look through your wedding album and realized you haven't connected
Speaker 1: with an old friend in more than a year. Time
Speaker 1: to add them to the list as well as for
Speaker 1: what this connection looks like, it might be helpful to
Speaker 1: make a note of this on your to love list.
Speaker 1: For a local friend, you might suggest getting together for
Speaker 1: lunch or going for a walk. If you are connecting
Speaker 1: because she's having a really rough week, maybe you decide
Speaker 1: to drop cookies off at her house. A far flung
Speaker 1: relative might get a phone call or card. An older
Speaker 1: kid might get a special Starbucks run that's a perennial
Speaker 1: favorite at my house, or you go visit them first
Speaker 1: in the nightly lights off roundup see you get some
Speaker 1: extra time together. As with so many things in our lives,
Speaker 1: a little intentionality and planning about whom we want to
Speaker 1: love this week can go a long way toward making
Speaker 1: our hopes into reality. We may love people all the time,
Speaker 1: but actually putting them on the too Love list allows
Speaker 1: both them and us to feel it. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.