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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to close the loop. If someone suggests

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Speaker 1: something and you do it, let them know you did.

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Speaker 1: It's an easy way to create connections and make someone

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Speaker 1: else feel useful. In life, we have to figure out

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Speaker 1: a lot of things that aren't necessarily life changing, but

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Speaker 1: are important in their own way. Where to send the

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Speaker 1: kids to summer camp, Tasty dessert options for people who

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Speaker 1: can't eat dairy products, where to find a good pair

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Speaker 1: of black pants. If you are wise, you no doubt

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Speaker 1: ask friends and acquaintances for ideas, and they are no

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Speaker 1: doubt eager to help. And perhaps you try some of

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Speaker 1: these suggestions out. If you do take the next step,

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Speaker 1: tell whoever made the recommendation that you tried it. Close

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Speaker 1: the loop. Even if you wound up going in a

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Speaker 1: different direction, letting the other person know that you tried

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Speaker 1: their idea can make them feel quite useful. Thanks for

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Speaker 1: the recommendation on the theory black pants. I wound up

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Speaker 1: trying them on and a few others, and I bought

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Speaker 1: some from M. M le Fleur, but I thought they

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Speaker 1: were all great, your suggestion was really helpful. Who wouldn't

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Speaker 1: want feedback like that? Now, I will admit that there

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Speaker 1: is a personal reason I am bringing this topic up today.

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Speaker 1: This episode is first airing on March eighteen, twenty two,

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Speaker 1: and the first episodes of Before Breakfast ran on March eighteenth,

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Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, three years ago today. Since then, I have

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Speaker 1: produced over seven hundred fifty of these little bite sized

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Speaker 1: episode It's and I love hearing from people, So I

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Speaker 1: am curious if you have tried one of the Before

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Speaker 1: Breakfast suggestions? Would you let me know how it went.

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Speaker 1: You can tell me if it was helpful and what

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Speaker 1: came from trying it. And if you tried something and

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Speaker 1: it didn't work for you, you can let me know

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Speaker 1: that too. I am always looking to figure out what

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Speaker 1: is helpful for people and what might be trickier to

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Speaker 1: implement or is just less helpful than I thought it

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Speaker 1: might be. You can always email me at Laura at

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Speaker 1: Laura Vanderkam dot com. I love to hear from people

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Speaker 1: about the Before Breakfast suggestions, and in that spirit, I'm

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Speaker 1: going to list just a few suggestions that I have

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Speaker 1: found helpful that I've featured on this show in the past.

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Speaker 1: Just little ones here, but one very practical one is

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Speaker 1: Erika Dewan's idea from her book Digital Body Language that

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Speaker 1: using one exclamation point is enough. We now know that

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Speaker 1: emails are perceived more negatively than the human voice, so

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Speaker 1: putting in some exclamation points is okay to show emphasis

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Speaker 1: or excitement, but one is enough. More than that can

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Speaker 1: come across as a wee bit much. I think that

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Speaker 1: is a great rule, and it is definitely running through

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Speaker 1: my mind before I hit send. Likewise, I love Dorri

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Speaker 1: Clark's rule from her book Playing the Long Game of

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Speaker 1: no Asks for a year. Don't ask for a favor

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Speaker 1: requiring someone to use their social or career capital for

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Speaker 1: at least a year after meeting them and building a

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Speaker 1: genuine relationship. Not only do you feel less transactional, you

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Speaker 1: build better relationships. Sounds like a win to me, and

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Speaker 1: I keep remembering Shasta Nelson's admonition that relationships are based

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Speaker 1: on frequency, vulnerability, and positi ativity. Of those frequency tends

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Speaker 1: to be the foundational piece. You feel closer to people

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Speaker 1: you see a lot, and you can add the other

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Speaker 1: pieces after that. So come up with ways to see

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Speaker 1: people more often. Any regular get together with friends is

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Speaker 1: almost always a good idea. There are a great many

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Speaker 1: more tips like that if you scroll back through the

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Speaker 1: podcast feed. One of the wonderful things about doing this

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Speaker 1: show is that I get to learn all sorts of

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Speaker 1: strategies and try them out myself. Life is such a

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Speaker 1: gift already, and one of the best ways I know

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Speaker 1: to express that is to keep finding ways to enjoy

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Speaker 1: it more and to stop overthinking things that aren't worth overthinking.

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Speaker 1: So let me know what worked for you or didn't

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Speaker 1: work for you again. You can reach me at Laura

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Speaker 1: at Laura Vanderkamp dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening these past three years, and here's to

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Speaker 1: making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love

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Speaker 1: to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

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Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the

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Speaker 1: number four then Breakfast p o D. You can also

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Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

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Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

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Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much. I look forward

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Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

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Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,

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Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you list into your favorite shows. H