WEBVTT - Add an extra hour

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to ramp up the amount of time

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<v Speaker 1>you spend on something that matters to you. Add one

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<v Speaker 1>more hour. You will become better at just about anything

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<v Speaker 1>by doing more of it. Not perfect by any means,

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<v Speaker 1>but better, and in many cases the improvement won't be small.

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<v Speaker 1>So when I first started blogging many years ago, it

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't always easy to come up with an idea and

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<v Speaker 1>write a few hundred words about it in a short

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<v Speaker 1>period of time. But I kept doing it. I kept

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<v Speaker 1>doing a lot of it. Instead of doing the bare

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<v Speaker 1>minimum one to two posts per week that people suggested

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<v Speaker 1>at the time, I spent another hour or so per

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<v Speaker 1>week on it and posted about four times per week. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>at some point a few years later, I took a

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<v Speaker 1>gig that involved writing quick pieces about newsy topics. I

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<v Speaker 1>was amazed at how quickly I could crank out a

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<v Speaker 1>few hundred words. It seems that writing two hundred five

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<v Speaker 1>hundred word posts per year makes it easy to write

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<v Speaker 1>five hundred words on command. Seems straightforward, right, And yet

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<v Speaker 1>much of the time when we are trying to get

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<v Speaker 1>better at something, we overlook an obvious tactic, which is

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<v Speaker 1>to start doing more of whatever it is we are

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<v Speaker 1>aiming to improve at. Even just an extra hour a

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<v Speaker 1>week can make a big difference. If you are a

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<v Speaker 1>normal speed runner and you want to be a faster runner,

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<v Speaker 1>there are various types of speed work you can do,

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<v Speaker 1>and probably some strength training and such that will help.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you were running fifteen miles a week and

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<v Speaker 1>you work up to running twenty one miles a week

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<v Speaker 1>by running six more ten minute miles, so that's another hour,

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<v Speaker 1>you will probably start to get faster just through sheer repetition.

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<v Speaker 1>Your body will figure out ways to move more efficiently,

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<v Speaker 1>and your aerobic capacity will increase. I would like to

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<v Speaker 1>improve as a singer. I have thought about taking voice lessons,

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<v Speaker 1>and I know that would be helpful because I've done

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<v Speaker 1>it in the past. But I have also realized that

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<v Speaker 1>if I practice various vocal exercises and breathing exercises and

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<v Speaker 1>simple songs for another hour each week beyond my choir practices,

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<v Speaker 1>that will help too. I can add an extra hour

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<v Speaker 1>of practice. Whether I find the right teacher and work

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<v Speaker 1>that into my schedule or not. Now, none of this

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<v Speaker 1>is meant to diminish the importance of smart practice or

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<v Speaker 1>seeking the advice of professionals. But volume itself is a

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<v Speaker 1>pretty efficient teacher, and given that most of us aren't

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<v Speaker 1>devoting forty hours a week to our various hobbies or

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<v Speaker 1>even to the professional skills we'd like to improve at,

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<v Speaker 1>an extra hour can be a lot. One hour out

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<v Speaker 1>of the eight hours we all have each week isn't much,

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<v Speaker 1>but spending an extra hour each week learning a foreign

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<v Speaker 1>language would get you to fluency much faster. Spending an

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<v Speaker 1>hour a week speaking in front of people would make

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<v Speaker 1>you a good public speaker pretty quickly. O Spending an

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<v Speaker 1>extra hour practicing a musical instrument would likewise make learning

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<v Speaker 1>difficult music feel far more doable. We often have grand

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<v Speaker 1>designs for getting better at things, and those are fine,

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<v Speaker 1>but if it is taking a long time to bring

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<v Speaker 1>those plans to fruition, start with just adding an hour

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<v Speaker 1>to your schedule. See how it goes. My guess is

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<v Speaker 1>that the improvements won't be small, and that just might

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<v Speaker 1>motivate you to take the next step. 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. Hey everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your

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<v Speaker 1>question sins, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

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<v Speaker 1>Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the

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<v Speaker 1>number four, then breakfast p o D. You can also

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<v Speaker 1>shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at i

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<v Speaker 1>heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

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<v Speaker 1>with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I look

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<v Speaker 1>forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.