Find a starting point

Choose one small thing to improve

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about what to do when you're feeling
frazzled or dissatisfied with some part of your life. Find
a starting point for improvement and go from there. Many

(00:26):
of us have had our routines disrupted over the past
few months. That regiment of healthy eating has been hard
to maintain when you're working five feet from your snack
stocked pantry. You worked hard to establish a three times
a week jim habit, and then you're gym closed. Even
in the best of times, circumstances are ever changing, and
what worked in the past doesn't anymore. We find ourselves

(00:50):
feeling overwhelmed and feeling like big chunks of our lives
need to make over. When that happens, it's easy to
identify endless overhauls and then feel paralyzed because there's so
much we could do. The best approach overcome the paralysis
by finding one starting point and getting to work. Choose
one thing in your life that's not working right now

(01:13):
and find the specific way to start improving it. Sure,
there are tons of issues and tons of ways to
address each issue, but just pick one to start, ideally,
one that feels doable and that's likely to yield at
least some results. For example, if you're not eating as
healthfully as you'd like, and trust me, I sympathize, you

(01:34):
might decide that you're going to start by winning at breakfast.
Maybe you decide you'll have a scrambled egg and fruit
every morning. Don't worry about lunch or snacks or dinner
for a while. Just keep up your mindless but healthy
breakfast routine until it becomes easy. Then, once you're consistently
winning at breakfast, maybe you decide you'll have a salad

(01:55):
with dinner every night. The point is to do something,
even something small, and start noticing improvement, rather than getting
stuck ruminating over all the changes you could make without
making any of them. The same thought process works for
any frustration we're experiencing. For instance, a normally neat home
becomes less neat with seven people living in it. There

(02:19):
is no getting around this. But rather than spend hours
in fruitless tidying, maybe choose one space to clear up
that will deliver a big mental and organizational payoff. I
like a clear kitchen island. The rest of the house
can fall apart. But if that looks clear, life feels doable.
So that's the starting point. Maybe the male pile will

(02:41):
sort itself in the future, but for now, oh well.
I love a whole life makeover, our whole house makeover
as much as the next person. But the mistake isn't
waiting until all of that can be tackled to make
any improvements. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of
the good. When you're faced with a huge challenge, don't
worry about the master plan. Just find a starting point,

(03:04):
make some progress, maintain that progress, and go from there.
Do you have a nagging issue that you want to address,
What will your starting point be? You can tell me
about it at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeart media dot com.
In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

(03:34):
I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
that's B the number four then Breakfast p o D.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Podcast at iHeart media dot com that before Breakfast is

(03:57):
spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from i
heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.