1
00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720
Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.

2
00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:15,160
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

3
00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,640
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that even long journeys have an end.

4
00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,400
Speaker 1: When you make a reasonable plan and stick with the plan,

5
00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:30,840
Speaker 1: there is a good chance that you will finish. Time

6
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,920
Speaker 1: passes one way or another, so the length of the

7
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:42,560
Speaker 1: journey doesn't need to intimidate you at the start. Over

8
00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,280
Speaker 1: the past year, I embarked on a number of long projects.

9
00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:50,720
Speaker 1: I committed to reading all three hundred sixty some chapters

10
00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,720
Speaker 1: of War and Peace at a rate of one chapter

11
00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:58,560
Speaker 1: per day. My family embarked on a total renovation of

12
00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:03,200
Speaker 1: a historic house that we purchased. I undertook an eleven

13
00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,720
Speaker 1: week time perception and satisfaction study with hundreds of participants,

14
00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:10,800
Speaker 1: and then wrote up the results for a book that

15
00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,520
Speaker 1: will be based on that study. All of these things

16
00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,360
Speaker 1: got going in January. All of these things were roughly

17
00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:24,160
Speaker 1: year long undertakings. The year is now ending, and all

18
00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:30,440
Speaker 1: of them are nearing completion. On some level. This isn't surprising.

19
00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:37,120
Speaker 1: Time keeps passing, so something that starts in January and

20
00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:43,119
Speaker 1: takes a year will in fact end in December, And

21
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,440
Speaker 1: yet it feels a little miraculous, all the same that

22
00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,480
Speaker 1: a long march does in fact come closer to completion

23
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:56,560
Speaker 1: with every step. If you read roughly four pages a

24
00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:02,600
Speaker 1: day in a page book, then once you are north

25
00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:09,519
Speaker 1: of three days, the end will be in sight. When

26
00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:14,160
Speaker 1: there is a construction schedule with space for delays, and

27
00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:19,000
Speaker 1: it is observed the countertops will go in during November

28
00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:24,880
Speaker 1: and the carpet in December. The reason this matters is

29
00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:31,120
Speaker 1: that many long journeys look intimidating at the outset. We

30
00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,520
Speaker 1: have all heard the phrase that a journey of a

31
00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:38,919
Speaker 1: thousand miles starts with a single step. But it's not

32
00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:43,959
Speaker 1: actually that first step that's the issue. That first step

33
00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:49,560
Speaker 1: we can take. We have plenty of motivation. First step one.

34
00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:55,160
Speaker 1: It's knowing that there will be two million steps in

35
00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,720
Speaker 1: that one tho mile journey, and that you will have

36
00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,720
Speaker 1: to take these three hundred thousand step and the one

37
00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:09,280
Speaker 1: million two thousand steps and so forth. That realization can

38
00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:15,000
Speaker 1: make you want to just lie down. But here's the thing.

39
00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,440
Speaker 1: Most of us walk at least five thousand steps or

40
00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,640
Speaker 1: so a day. Anyway, walking a thousand miles over the

41
00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,560
Speaker 1: course of a year would mean taking just a few

42
00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:29,360
Speaker 1: extra steps with a purpose. If there was a plan

43
00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:35,280
Speaker 1: with a larger project broken into smaller steps, with buffers

44
00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:43,760
Speaker 1: and a system for accountability, no one day would be overwhelming. Indeed,

45
00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:49,080
Speaker 1: most days would feel quite doable. All you have to

46
00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:56,040
Speaker 1: do is just keep going, so it is with any

47
00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:02,119
Speaker 1: big project. Time will pass anyway. If you spend your

48
00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:07,120
Speaker 1: time in purposeful ways, with structured progress toward your goals,

49
00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:13,960
Speaker 1: then most likely you will reach your destination. Even long

50
00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:21,560
Speaker 1: journeys have ends. That fifteen hour Plaine flight, eventually fifteen

51
00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:26,360
Speaker 1: hours will be over. You will be at your destination.

52
00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,520
Speaker 1: And likewise, I am winding into those last one pages

53
00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,480
Speaker 1: of war and Peace and hiring the movers and choosing

54
00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:39,440
Speaker 1: book covers. Since these are things I wanted to do.

55
00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,799
Speaker 1: It would have been a mistake last January to decide

56
00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,320
Speaker 1: not to do them because they would take a long time.

57
00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,360
Speaker 1: The time would eventually be in the past one way

58
00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:56,680
Speaker 1: or the other. Far better to end where you wish

59
00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:02,960
Speaker 1: to be than not. In the meantime, this is Laura,

60
00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,400
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

61
00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:18,000
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

62
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,919
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

63
00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:25,240
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

64
00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:30,120
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the number four, then

65
00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,600
Speaker 1: Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an

66
00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,400
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot

67
00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,360
Speaker 1: com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

68
00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:43,040
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

69
00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,960
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For

70
00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,120
Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart

71
00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,560
Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

72
00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:05,040
Speaker 1: favorite shows. Word can't get