Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to make a moonshot dot to dot map.
Speaker 1: If you have big goals that are not currently achievable,
Speaker 1: brainstorm the various intermediate steps that might bring you there.
Speaker 1: Seeing these steps and what they might require can help
Speaker 1: make a big goal feel more doable. Today's tip comes
Speaker 1: from Elizabeth Sharpmakhetta's new book, Edit Your Life, which is
Speaker 1: about living with intention in a messy world. Elizabeth explains
Speaker 1: that a moonshot dot to dot map is a prompt
Speaker 1: for brainstorming how to move toward any currently unachievable goal.
Speaker 1: That is, it is a moonshot. When President Kennedy talked
Speaker 1: about going to the Moon in the early nineteen sixties,
Speaker 1: the technology to go there wasn't ready for prime time,
Speaker 1: but it got there with a lot of work. Similarly,
Speaker 1: just because something isn't currently achievable doesn't mean it never
Speaker 1: will be. You just have to figure out the intermediate steps.
Speaker 1: So Elizabeth tells us to draw a dot for your
Speaker 1: life as it is today, then draw a dot for
Speaker 1: your moonshot goal. What steps could you set up to
Speaker 1: succeed in getting there. Brainstorm a bunch of dots that
Speaker 1: might go in the middle. For example, Elizabeth says, if
Speaker 1: your dream is to be a lawyer and you currently
Speaker 1: work in customer service, one of those dots would need
Speaker 1: to be going to law school. You could then think
Speaker 1: about other aspects of that, like that there might be
Speaker 1: night classes, so maybe you could keep your day job.
Speaker 1: Another dot would be prioritizing regular study time, and another
Speaker 1: might be finding mentors and allies in the legal field.
Speaker 1: Be creative and be specific, she says, which is the
Speaker 1: simplest dot to dot path between your now life and
Speaker 1: your ideal life? Which steps feel easy and which feel daunting?
Speaker 1: Break your dot to dot map into smaller steps if
Speaker 1: you need to, she says, until each dot feels, if
Speaker 1: not easy, at least achievable. I like this idea. Many
Speaker 1: big goals are about layering on bits of progress. What
Speaker 1: isn't doable now might be doable in a year with
Speaker 1: consistent motion. When I first moved into my new house
Speaker 1: about a year ago, having all the renovations finished and
Speaker 1: having everything unpacked and getting any needed furniture and making
Speaker 1: things look nice seemed almost overwhelming, and it would have
Speaker 1: been overwhelming to do in a week or two, but
Speaker 1: in a year or two it's not so bad, And
Speaker 1: I could map out various steps in the middle. First,
Speaker 1: unpack the kitchen boxes. Later, get curtains, later, yet unpack
Speaker 1: the boxes in the closet. I am working on revising
Speaker 1: a novel now, and the finished product seems far in
Speaker 1: the future. But I mapped out a chapter outline, and
Speaker 1: I wrote the flap copy, and now I am following
Speaker 1: a revision schedule that has me doing one to three
Speaker 1: short chapters worth of edits each week. Then I will
Speaker 1: work through the whole book at once, and then I
Speaker 1: will get test readers and so forth. What big goals
Speaker 1: are you currently pursuing? Getting a handle on the various
Speaker 1: steps might seem daunting, but I think it makes big
Speaker 1: goals feel more doable to know those steps. Sure, there
Speaker 1: might be a lot of steps, but each individual step
Speaker 1: isn't so much. If you give yourself enough time, probably
Speaker 1: you can get there. After all, getting to the Moon
Speaker 1: took less than a decade. You can do a lot
Speaker 1: in that time. In the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Book and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.