WEBVTT - Focus your leisure time

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to focus your leisure time. If you have

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<v Speaker 1>something you like to do for fun, you will find

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<v Speaker 1>life more satisfying if you go deep, committing enough time

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<v Speaker 1>and resources to make your fun as meaningful as possible.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip, like some others this week, comes from my

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<v Speaker 1>book One hundred sixty eight Hours. That book was first

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<v Speaker 1>published in late May of twenty ten, which means that

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<v Speaker 1>it is fifteen years old this month. A lot has

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<v Speaker 1>changed in the world since then, but we do, in

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<v Speaker 1>fact still have one hundred sixty eight hours in a week,

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<v Speaker 1>and so I am revisiting some of the tips in

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<v Speaker 1>that book that I think can still be helpful. One

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<v Speaker 1>of these is to focus your leisure time. In one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and sixty eight Hours, I tell the tale of

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<v Speaker 1>a man with a corporate job who got into writing

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<v Speaker 1>country music. He enjoyed it, but rather than just dabbling

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<v Speaker 1>it a bit here and there, he decided to commit

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<v Speaker 1>the time to really get into it. He took voice lessons,

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<v Speaker 1>he hired a music producer to help him hone his

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<v Speaker 1>ideas into more singable songs, and then he recorded them

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<v Speaker 1>and sold his album online, with some tracks getting a

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<v Speaker 1>bit of local airplay. Now, he was not exactly going

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<v Speaker 1>to quit his job to attempt to become the next

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<v Speaker 1>George Strait, but having a real project of creating a

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<v Speaker 1>not terrible country music album gave his leisure time more

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<v Speaker 1>direction and therefore made it more meaning. This is certainly

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<v Speaker 1>something I have tried to do over the last few years.

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<v Speaker 1>I love to sing, but I know that if I

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<v Speaker 1>just tell myself I'm going to sing when I can,

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<v Speaker 1>it probably won't happen. So instead, I now sing in

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<v Speaker 1>two choirs. The weekly rehearsals and performances mean I learn

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of new works and I improve more swiftly

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<v Speaker 1>than I would otherwise. Plus it's really fun to be

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<v Speaker 1>part of a musical community, two musical communities. It gives

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<v Speaker 1>my leisure time more focus. As my kids get a

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<v Speaker 1>little older and I start to have more space in

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<v Speaker 1>my life and in my schedule, I am taking that

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<v Speaker 1>approach to other hobbies too. I love miniatures, so now

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<v Speaker 1>I am creating miniature scenes in my office. I signed

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<v Speaker 1>up for a webinar on the Thorn Rooms, and I

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<v Speaker 1>have a date on my calendar to attend the Philadelphia

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<v Speaker 1>Miniature Show in the fall. I've also talked to some

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<v Speaker 1>people in the field to get the names of artisans

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<v Speaker 1>to follow and some of the good places to shop.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to get really into this. What about you?

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<v Speaker 1>How could you focus your leisure time going all in

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<v Speaker 1>to make this time more meaningful. You could decide to

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<v Speaker 1>just play an instrument here and there, but my guess

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<v Speaker 1>is that you will have more fun joining or starting

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<v Speaker 1>a string quartette with some other musicians, or playing in

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<v Speaker 1>the pit for a local musical theater troupe. You could

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<v Speaker 1>decide to do some watercolor work at night when you can,

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<v Speaker 1>or you could sign up for classes at a local

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<v Speaker 1>arts studio, plus go to the open studio hours every weekend,

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<v Speaker 1>and commit to exhibiting a few works at a student

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<v Speaker 1>show in a few months. My guess is you will

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<v Speaker 1>do more painting in the latter case, and you will

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<v Speaker 1>probably have more fun too. If you have listened to

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast for a while, you have heard me say

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<v Speaker 1>over and over again that leisure time is too precious

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<v Speaker 1>to be totally leisurely about leisure. This time deserves to

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<v Speaker 1>be taken seriously, but beyond that, When you go all

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<v Speaker 1>in and commit enough time and resources to make a

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<v Speaker 1>hobby meaningful, you change your story. We often tell ourselves

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<v Speaker 1>that we have no time. But if you are going

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<v Speaker 1>to a quilting bee twice a week, traveling around to

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<v Speaker 1>quilting shows, and exhibiting your own work at a local

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<v Speaker 1>community center too, well, you can't be starved for time

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<v Speaker 1>because you are doing all these things, and that can

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<v Speaker 1>motivate you to take a more expansive attitude toward time.

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<v Speaker 1>In general, you have time to do big and important

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<v Speaker 1>things when we are intentional. That is the message we

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<v Speaker 1>send ourselves in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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