1 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: Today's tip, like another one this week, is to engage 4 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:26,159 Speaker 1: in a bit of mental time travel. Picture yourself a 5 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: year from now. What do you hope daily life will 6 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 1: be like. Making some reasonable hopes can give you ideas 7 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: on how to make those hopes come to be. This 8 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: episode is first airing in late August. Many children go 9 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: back to school around this time of year, and so 10 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: the changing seasons and slanting light carry with them a 11 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: sense of time passing. Children move up a grade, and 12 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: so you can see progress in their lives as they 13 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: learn new schedules or go to new schools. It is 14 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: reasonable to expect that a child who is starting fourth 15 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,759 Speaker 1: grade this fall will be starting fifth grade next fall. 16 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: But in adult life, all of this is less obvious. 17 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: It is not always clear if we are moving forward 18 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: or backwards or sideways. And while we might think about 19 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: big things that will be different, our lives are lived 20 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: in hours, and the day to day experience of our 21 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: hours can change a lot about our happiness. I maintain 22 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: that many big things are changeable in a year, but 23 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: I suspect that from many listeners, the big pieces of 24 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: your life are probably good. You are in a good job, 25 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: you love your friends and family. What tends to spark 26 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: annoyance are the little things. The meetings that go on 27 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: too long, the copious emails, the commute that features too 28 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: much traffic and probably doesn't have to happen as many 29 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: times as it does, that the kids wine for screens, 30 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: and that you are not getting enough time for your 31 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: own hobbies. So let's look at those. Picture yourself in 32 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: a year. Think about what a typical day would look like. 33 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: What about a normal Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. What would 34 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: you be doing. Maybe you are fantasizing about a quiet 35 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: morning cup of coffee, or maybe you are fantasizing about 36 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 1: enjoying a conversation with a friend or family member. Maybe 37 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: something about the way you get ready has changed. Maybe 38 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 1: you are spending more work time on particular projects. What 39 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: are you eating for lunch and what is your lunch 40 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: experience like? What sort of breaks do you take during 41 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: the day. What do your evenings look like? Maybe you 42 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: are making time to read or for some interest that 43 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: you feel doesn't get your time now, what does your 44 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: bedtime ritual look like, or you're sleeping situation. I don't 45 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: know the answer for any of these questions for you, 46 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: but really picturing yourself one year from now allows you 47 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: to figure out what is realistic. Most of us don't 48 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: imagine ourselves in flying cars a year from now, and 49 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,919 Speaker 1: we recognize that we probably won't have earned a new 50 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 1: four year degree in one year. We can picture ourselves 51 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: as ourselves, but we can see what might be a 52 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: little bit different, and that can allow us to think 53 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: about changes that would help bring that future about. If 54 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: you want to do different work at your company, you 55 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: can work on convincing your organization that this is the 56 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: right path. If you fantasize about sleeping in a less 57 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: cluttered bedroom, you can work on clearing it out and 58 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: prettying it up. If you normally eat at your desk, 59 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: but your future self is having a lovely looking sandwich 60 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: in the park, well time to start building that habit. 61 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: Maybe it won't happen every day. It probably won't happen 62 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: every day, but in a year, if you make it 63 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: a priority, I'm guessing you can start eating that way 64 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: more often than not. So as the new school year 65 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: starts and the seasons change. Think about what you would 66 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: like your life to look like when the season's change 67 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: a year from now. The big pieces will likely be 68 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: the same, but some things will be different. What will 69 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,840 Speaker 1: those things be? Now you know what to work on 70 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: and you can give the next year some real purpose. 71 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: In the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 72 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 73 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 74 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 75 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. 76 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D. 77 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 78 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: podcast at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled 79 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look 80 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production 81 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 82 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 83 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.