WEBVTT - The second best time is now

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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 it's for thinking about resolutions, goals and habits

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<v Speaker 1>that you wish you'd been pursuing, maybe since New Year's Day,

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe since a long time ago. Instead of regretting

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<v Speaker 1>what you haven't done, start today. Maybe some other time

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<v Speaker 1>might have been the best time to start, but the

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<v Speaker 1>second best time is now. Perhaps New Year's Day came

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<v Speaker 1>and went and you never found the time to set

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<v Speaker 1>goals and intentions for the coming year. Or maybe you

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<v Speaker 1>did make New Year's resolutions but haven't stuck with them

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<v Speaker 1>as faithfully as you hoped. Or maybe your regrets go

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<v Speaker 1>back a bit further, and maybe they're a bit deeper.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, the real that can keep replaying at night.

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<v Speaker 1>If I had started investing aggressively for retirement at age

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<v Speaker 1>twenty two, I could retire now. If I'd put more

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<v Speaker 1>effort into my relationships with my family, we'd all be closer.

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<v Speaker 1>If I had enrolled in that degree program four years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd be finishing. If I had started that nonprofit I

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<v Speaker 1>thought about years ago, maybe we'd be making real changes

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<v Speaker 1>in society instead of just seeing these same problems over

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<v Speaker 1>and over again. There are lots of ways to torture ourselves.

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<v Speaker 1>But you don't have to wait for an official fresh

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<v Speaker 1>start like January one, and you don't have to declare

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<v Speaker 1>further action feudal because so much time has passed since

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<v Speaker 1>the optimal time. Just start today. Sure, by starting on

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<v Speaker 1>a random day, you'll miss out on some group momentum,

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<v Speaker 1>which is one of the nice aspects of New Year's resolutions,

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<v Speaker 1>but any day is going to have its challenge. Is

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<v Speaker 1>something worth doing? Is worth starting even in suboptimal conditions.

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<v Speaker 1>As the saying goes, the best time to plant a

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<v Speaker 1>tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.

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<v Speaker 1>So today. Identify an important priority or goal that you

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<v Speaker 1>want to focus on for some period of time, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of this month, whatever makes sense. Then commit

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<v Speaker 1>to your resolution, just as you would a New Year's resolution.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps you'll tell your friends and family about your goal

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<v Speaker 1>or post about it on social media. When people know

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<v Speaker 1>what you're working toward, they can encourage you in your

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<v Speaker 1>efforts and celebrate progress with you. They can hold you accountable,

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<v Speaker 1>which can increase your motivation. That said, some people prefer

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<v Speaker 1>to keep the resolutions or goals private rather than telling people.

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<v Speaker 1>There's actually some research supporting this quietness in certain circumstances.

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<v Speaker 1>It turns out that we can get a sneaky feeling

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<v Speaker 1>of accomplishment just from telling people about a goal. Say

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<v Speaker 1>you're going to volunteer every Saturday, and you already feel

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<v Speaker 1>like the kind of person who volunteers every Saturday, even

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<v Speaker 1>if come Saturday you do something else. So if you

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<v Speaker 1>suspect that would be you, find another way to make

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<v Speaker 1>your commitment concrete. For instance, you could document your goals

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<v Speaker 1>in a prominent place in your journal or planner, or

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<v Speaker 1>put a note on your computer screen or bathroom mirror.

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<v Speaker 1>You could even create a recurring calendar item to remind

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<v Speaker 1>you of your goal and prompt you to reflect on

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<v Speaker 1>your progress. If you have a weekly planning routine, I

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<v Speaker 1>hope you do include time for reflecting on the past

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<v Speaker 1>week's actions related to your goal and planning for the

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<v Speaker 1>next week's goal. Motivated behavior think about potential challenges, think

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<v Speaker 1>about how you'll address them, blackout time to take various

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<v Speaker 1>steps towards your goal. There are all kinds of things

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<v Speaker 1>that we should have done earlier. Sometimes these things seem

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<v Speaker 1>obvious in retrospect. If I knew I was going to

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<v Speaker 1>be writing books for a living, I should have done

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<v Speaker 1>more to build up an audience. If I knew I'd

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<v Speaker 1>love singing in my church choir, I should have joined

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<v Speaker 1>when I joined the church, rather than waiting for an

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<v Speaker 1>inexplicable six years. But those six years are gone one

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<v Speaker 1>way or another. You can feel bad about it or

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy every moment of opportunity that is available moving forward.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't be kicking yourself in twenty years for the tree

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<v Speaker 1>you didn't plant today. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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<v Speaker 1>at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

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