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 that you get to choose how you spend
Speaker 1: your time. In many cases, you do not have to
Speaker 1: do things that are not paying off for you. With
Speaker 1: the optional things in life, walking away is sometimes the
Speaker 1: right call. Now. Today's episode is a bit of a
Speaker 1: counterpoint to a recent one about how to stick with things.
Speaker 1: I know that many people start big projects and then
Speaker 1: abandon them because they don't work practically with their lives.
Speaker 1: I think there are some smart strategies that can make
Speaker 1: faithful execution more possible. Of course, I also know that
Speaker 1: many people change their minds frequently about things. This can
Speaker 1: be frustrating for everyone around them. But my hunch is
Speaker 1: that the people who listen to this podcast quit things
Speaker 1: less frequently than average. So today's episode is a friendly
Speaker 1: reminder that you can stop doing things if you want.
Speaker 1: You get to choose. For instance, if you start a
Speaker 1: nonfiction book that has got some useful information, but you
Speaker 1: are pretty sure you've got the gist by the second
Speaker 1: chapter in feel free to stop reading. There is absolutely
Speaker 1: no requirement to finish. You are not going to get
Speaker 1: quizzed on the book. You are not going to get
Speaker 1: detention if you decide to let it go. Likewise, if
Speaker 1: you go to a professional development conference and have gone
Speaker 1: to some useful sessions but the last day just doesn't
Speaker 1: look that relevant, feel free to leave or spend the
Speaker 1: day having one on one meetings with people that's useful too.
Speaker 1: There is no requirement to go to sessions just because
Speaker 1: you registered for the conference. If you go to a
Speaker 1: movie and you are bored in the middle, you can
Speaker 1: go ahead and walk out. You should be nice about it,
Speaker 1: be careful walking past anyone. But there is no reason
Speaker 1: to stick with something that is supposed to be entertaining
Speaker 1: if it is not entertaining you now. Obviously, in some
Speaker 1: cases it is worth sticking with things for a little
Speaker 1: while longer because there will be an impact on other people.
Speaker 1: You probably don't want to quit your softball team mid season,
Speaker 1: or drop out of a musical ensemble right before a concert,
Speaker 1: or bow out of a volunteer commitment a few weeks
Speaker 1: before the culmination of a big project. Stick with it
Speaker 1: to the natural endpoint, but then you definitely don't need
Speaker 1: to re up for softball for next year, or start
Speaker 1: the next concert cycle. You can end your volunteer work
Speaker 1: after your big project is finished. You do not have
Speaker 1: to stick with things forever. Expectations are infinite. Time is finite,
Speaker 1: so everything is a choice. All we can do is
Speaker 1: choose well for what we want our lives to look like.
Speaker 1: You may feel that once you have started something, you
Speaker 1: need to finish it, but that is not always true.
Speaker 1: Sometimes no one else will know or care if you
Speaker 1: don't finish That book. Won't be hurt if you skip
Speaker 1: a few chapters. The actors will never know if you
Speaker 1: walked out of their movie before it was over. Even
Speaker 1: your softball teammates will get it. If you don't play
Speaker 1: next year, life happens. You get to choose how you
Speaker 1: spend your time, and making wise choices leads to being
Speaker 1: happier with life overall. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, Please visit
Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.