1
00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,400
Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

2
00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:13,520
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

3
00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,040
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to build a new habit

4
00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,639
Speaker 1: into your life. I think most of us have things

5
00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,160
Speaker 1: we know we'd like to do regularly and aren't doing

6
00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:26,320
Speaker 1: much now. Maybe it's flossing or keeping in touch with

7
00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,040
Speaker 1: a certain friend. In my case, I've said for a

8
00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,320
Speaker 1: long time that I'd like to do more strength training.

9
00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,200
Speaker 1: It's one of those things that I know is important,

10
00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,720
Speaker 1: particularly as I get older. And yet, despite my ability

11
00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:40,320
Speaker 1: to run every day, I have a really hard time

12
00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,880
Speaker 1: making this habit stick, or at least I did until

13
00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:47,240
Speaker 1: this spring. Then I finally spent a little time thinking

14
00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,920
Speaker 1: about what I've learned about habits and my years of

15
00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,519
Speaker 1: reading and writing about productivity. I analyzed what makes a

16
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,400
Speaker 1: habit stick and what makes us fail to stick with

17
00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:00,240
Speaker 1: our goals. First, I realized that it's easy to be

18
00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:05,480
Speaker 1: a little well lazy. To make a habit stick, you

19
00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,360
Speaker 1: need to make it very easy to do. I'm not

20
00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:11,920
Speaker 1: going to drive twenty minutes to a gym to use

21
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,280
Speaker 1: a weight machine. Instead, I got a kettlebell and some

22
00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,240
Speaker 1: resistance bands and put them in my office. Every time

23
00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,680
Speaker 1: I walk into my office I see them. I don't

24
00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,520
Speaker 1: have to go hunt them down from a closet because

25
00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,800
Speaker 1: I'd probably lose momentum in the two minutes that would take.

26
00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:32,720
Speaker 1: Maybe my office is a little cluttered then, but it

27
00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,840
Speaker 1: keeps these things in the front of my mind. Second,

28
00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,839
Speaker 1: I designated a specific time in my schedule. A life

29
00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,240
Speaker 1: has lived in hours, and anything we're going to do

30
00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,840
Speaker 1: in life takes time. So if there isn't a specific

31
00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,400
Speaker 1: time to do something, well, you probably won't do it.

32
00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,120
Speaker 1: I also realized that sometimes are more in demand than others.

33
00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,160
Speaker 1: We're more likely to stick with habits when we're able

34
00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,680
Speaker 1: to seize time that wasn't being used well before. In

35
00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,720
Speaker 1: my case, I had a small window most weekday mornings

36
00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,400
Speaker 1: during the school year, after my nanny came to the

37
00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,480
Speaker 1: house or after I came home from the middle school

38
00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,560
Speaker 1: carpeal run, and before I brought my middle two children

39
00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,680
Speaker 1: out to the bus stop. That window was generally eight

40
00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:20,519
Speaker 1: ten am. I'd usually just check email during this time,

41
00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:22,840
Speaker 1: and I definitely felt like I was frittering it away,

42
00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,040
Speaker 1: knowing I'd need to stop whatever it was I was

43
00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,000
Speaker 1: doing soon, so I chose to make this my strength

44
00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:32,160
Speaker 1: training window. Any day that I was in my home

45
00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,880
Speaker 1: office from eight ten to I would use some time

46
00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:38,040
Speaker 1: in this window to do at least a few minutes

47
00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,880
Speaker 1: of strength training exercises. I'd throw around my kettlebell and

48
00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,320
Speaker 1: do various things with the resistance bans. Then I'd continue

49
00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,760
Speaker 1: on with my day. Now, I'm not exactly going to

50
00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,840
Speaker 1: be winning bodybuilding competitions with what amounts to ten minutes

51
00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:54,399
Speaker 1: or so of strength training three to four days per week.

52
00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,960
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. When we set huge goals, we

53
00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,840
Speaker 1: often fall short, and then we get discouraged and we

54
00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:08,040
Speaker 1: stop all together. Small things done repeatedly, on the other hand,

55
00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,640
Speaker 1: truly do add up. If I set a goal to

56
00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:14,960
Speaker 1: lift for an hour, there's no way I'd do it.

57
00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:19,079
Speaker 1: But a few minutes, well why not? And then another

58
00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,800
Speaker 1: key point, I write it down. Long time listeners know

59
00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,680
Speaker 1: that I track my time on weekly spreadsheets. I like

60
00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,800
Speaker 1: to see the word waits there a few days per

61
00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,600
Speaker 1: week and that eight cell on my spreadsheet. It provides

62
00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,960
Speaker 1: a good record that I'm doing it, as does how

63
00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,320
Speaker 1: I feel. I can tell that some exercises are getting

64
00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,520
Speaker 1: easier and I feel a bit more powerful during my

65
00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,480
Speaker 1: runs my back feels better in general, and that's definitely

66
00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,120
Speaker 1: a good thing. So if you'd like to start a

67
00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,160
Speaker 1: new habit, you might try what I did. Make it easy.

68
00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,680
Speaker 1: Designate a specific time, ideally a time that you're just

69
00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,960
Speaker 1: wasting now, keep your goals small enough that it inspired

70
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:05,680
Speaker 1: there's no resistance, and then record your progress somewhere. You

71
00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,600
Speaker 1: just might find yourself able to stick with something you

72
00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,960
Speaker 1: thought you wouldn't be able to do. In the meantime,

73
00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,120
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

74
00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:25,200
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

75
00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,159
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

76
00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:32,040
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

77
00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:36,920
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

78
00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,240
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also

79
00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,680
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i

80
00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,760
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out

81
00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,520
Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward

82
00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:58,720
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of

83
00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,120
Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,

84
00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,120
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

85
00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,600
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. M