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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is that if there is something you would

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Speaker 1: like to be able to do, you can probably learn

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Speaker 1: how to do it. It might take a little time,

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Speaker 1: but probably not all the time in the world. The

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Speaker 1: sooner you start, the sooner you will figure it out.

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Speaker 1: So if you have been to a bookstore lately, you

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Speaker 1: may have seen kids books with titles like how to

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Speaker 1: Draw Birds, or how to Draw Flowers, or how to

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Speaker 1: Draw Robots. As you might imagine, they contain step by

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Speaker 1: step instructions and illustrations indicating how to draw some particular bird,

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Speaker 1: or flower or robot. Sometimes there are options for customizing,

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Speaker 1: like how to make your dog have shaggy hair. The

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Speaker 1: plethora of these books is a testament to how much

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Speaker 1: kids love them because they work. Follow the described steps.

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Speaker 1: Try it a few more times, and you can eventually

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Speaker 1: draw a dog, a bird, a flower, or robot that

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Speaker 1: looks pretty good. Drawing a robot is not brain surgery.

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Speaker 1: A few hours of practice will deliver pretty good results.

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Speaker 1: Kids know that they are learning about the world. They

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Speaker 1: are quite willing to believe that something they can't do

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Speaker 1: today might be something they can do tomorrow. Many skills

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Speaker 1: are learnable. Adults, on the other hand, are not always

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Speaker 1: so convinced of this fact. Many grown ups make sweeping

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Speaker 1: pronouncements like I can't draw or all sorts of other things.

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Speaker 1: I can't sing, I have a terrible voice, I couldn't

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Speaker 1: carry tune in a bucket, I can't dance. I'm just

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Speaker 1: a klutz. I can't cook. Every house plant I bring

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Speaker 1: home dies when it sees me. Now, I will admit

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Speaker 1: that sometimes these statements arise from the fact that the

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Speaker 1: adult doesn't want to do whatever skill it is that

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Speaker 1: she claims not to have. She doesn't want to sing,

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Speaker 1: she doesn't want to draw with her nephews. She would

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Speaker 1: prefer not to clutter up the house with more plants,

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Speaker 1: so better to make Turning down a plant seem like

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Speaker 1: an act of charity that is in the plants best interest,

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Speaker 1: and that is fine. But other times people claim they

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Speaker 1: could never learn a skill that they actually would like

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Speaker 1: to acquire. Rather than try to get better and accept

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Speaker 1: the reality of being bad at first, people just wear

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Speaker 1: their lack of skills as a badge of honor. It

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Speaker 1: seems psychologically say for but so what if you are

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Speaker 1: bad for a bit, you will rapidly get better. I

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Speaker 1: am here to tell you that if there is something

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Speaker 1: you would like to be able to do, you can

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Speaker 1: probably learn how to do it. And for many things

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Speaker 1: you can probably learn in less time than you might imagine.

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Speaker 1: For instance, you can buy yourself that exact same how

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Speaker 1: to draw Flowers book that your seven year old neighbor

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Speaker 1: is obsessed with. You can watch how to draw videos

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Speaker 1: on YouTube, or enroll in an art class. Spend a

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Speaker 1: few hours a week working on your skills, and I

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Speaker 1: promise you that long before the year is out, you

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Speaker 1: will be drawing very recognizable objects that look better than

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Speaker 1: what the population thinks they can do. As for singing,

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Speaker 1: you may not be the next Pavaratti, but you can

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Speaker 1: learn to sing certainly well enough that you will be

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Speaker 1: confident starting the crowd off on Happy Birthday at the

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Speaker 1: next office party, We're singing along with your favorite hymns.

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Speaker 1: At church, Almost no one is actually tone deaf. Whoever

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Speaker 1: told you that in the past was being mean not insightful.

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Speaker 1: You just need a little coaching and help to get started.

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Speaker 1: Sign up for some voice lessons, then join a community

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Speaker 1: choir to make singing fun. You'll get more and more practice,

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Speaker 1: and as you practice, you will sound better and better.

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Speaker 1: Even most sports are reasonably doable. You may think that

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Speaker 1: you can't play tennis or golf, and it is true

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Speaker 1: that you probably won't be going pro at this point

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Speaker 1: in your life, but you can certainly learn to play recreationally.

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Speaker 1: If you have always thought that tennis looks like fun,

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Speaker 1: and one of your friends plays and you'd love to

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Speaker 1: play with him, well what are you waiting for? Six

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Speaker 1: months of lessons twice a week will bring your fills

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Speaker 1: up to an acceptable level. You will be able to

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Speaker 1: hold your own now. I know that sometimes not being

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Speaker 1: able to do something can become part of one's identity.

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Speaker 1: You can laugh about your singing in any occasion when

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Speaker 1: singing is required, and if you are happy with that,

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Speaker 1: that is fine. But if there's something you want to do,

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Speaker 1: my guess is that you can learn. You are a

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Speaker 1: smart person, and even if you weren't, you could still practice,

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Speaker 1: and that is usually all it takes. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,

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Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com

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Speaker 1: that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For

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Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart

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Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

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Speaker 1: favorite shows.