Don't leave it all on the field

Aim for sustainability if you have a full life

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is that hard work is good, but you don't
have to leave it all on the field. Sometimes it's

(00:25):
wise to put forth a good effort rather than an
over the top effort. Sustainability is important, and very few
of us can afford to go through our lives completely spent.
So I suppose I am a literalist, but I get
annoyed when people start talking about giving one hundred and

(00:46):
ten percent. This is impossible, as is the subsequent inflation
from there, one hundred twenty percent, one hundred and fifty percent, whatever.
You can only do one hundred percent, And it is
also not wise to give one hundred percent all the time,
or even most of the time. Smart people know they
need to figure out where to give a lot and

(01:08):
where to do just a decent job. They also recognize
that even on occasions when you do want to do
your best, you will likely need to get up and
do more things the next day, so best to leave
the field with something for the journey. I was thinking
of this recently when reflecting on training for a marathon.

(01:30):
Many years ago. As I was training and figuring out
what to expect, I was also reading various essays on
marathon running, generally featuring people waxing eloquent about leaving it
all on the field as they pushed to the finish.
Now keep in mind, these weren't people racing for an
Olympic gold. They were amateur runners, just like the rest

(01:51):
of us. I have to say I wasn't particularly taken
with the idea, and I ran my twenty six point
two miles and finished. But I'm glad I did not
leave it all on the field because right after my race,
I immediately needed to nurse a baby who had been
waiting for me for those several hours. I also needed
to help care for my kids who were with me
at this particular destination race. Indeed, the next day, my

(02:14):
two year old swallowed something he shouldn't have and we
were at the er for a few hours. It was
good I did not metaphorically leave it all on the field.
Perhaps you likewise have a full life with many responsibilities.
If you have toddlers, it would be irresponsible to leave
it all on the field during a Saturday morning workout.

(02:36):
Is your spouse just supposed to be responsible for chasing
after the kids on their own all day. My guess
is no, so leave something in the tank. In life,
sustainability is good. We can certainly push at times, but
we never want to be truly running unempty, and that
means being smart about how much effort we put into things.

(03:00):
There are times when you make care enough to operate
at ninety five percent or more. There are also probably
a lot of places in both your personal and professional
life where sustainability requires a little less than that. We
can figure out places to go a little less all out.
For instance, when you see a dropped ball that is

(03:21):
not your responsibility, you don't have to pick it up.
See what happens without you. Maybe someone else will step
in to pick up the dropped ball, or it will
become apparent that the task wasn't essential after all. Relatedly,
when someone is needed for a project, you don't have
to be the first to raise your hand. If you

(03:42):
are already operating at close to capacity, think of yourself
as leaving room for someone else to step up. One
practical way to scale back your efforts is to process
email less frequently. When you don't respond immediately, may figure
things out on their own, and even if you are

(04:03):
still needed, you slow down the pace with which the
ball comes back into your court. Another strategy is to
avoid needing to say yes immediately to any new responsibilities.
Thank the person for thinking of you and let them
know you'll review your calendar and get back. That gives
you time to weigh the pros and cons, figure out

(04:26):
how you can free up time for the new activity,
or whether you want to some responsibilities you can just
decide to dial back. You can make a simpler dinner
meeting minutes can include bulleted highlights rather than an exhaustive
chronicle of the discussion. There is really no point staying
up to three am to edit a presentation. It's not

(04:49):
going to be much better and you will probably perform worse.
There are very few circumstances when it is necessary or
wise to totally deplete yourself. You are not an Olympian
in the finals. You are a person with a full
life and many days ahead of you, So don't leave
it all on the field. Leave enough to get through

(05:10):
the next day so you can go out and do
it all again. In the meantime. This is Laura, thanks
for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

(05:34):
or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

(06:01):
The