Make an offer

Say what you want to do, so you don't get stuck with what you don't

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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 to speak up about what you would like
to do. Hopefully you will get to do it, and

(00:24):
you'll avoid being asked to do something that you don't
want to do. So I think we have probably all
had the experience of being invited to do things that
we are not that excited about. You're getting together with
a friend for dinner without kids, and she suggests a
place with an extensive kids menu rather than one of

(00:45):
the thousand other places you wish you could go. Occasionally,
your boss gives you what she thinks is a plumb
assignment to go to a conference, but it is right
before your son's high school graduation when you would much
rather be home. The board chair of a nonprofit you
love asks you to serve on the fundraising committee, which

(01:06):
is nice, but you had wanted to get more involved
on the program side of things. For all of this,
it can be hard to figure out whether to accept
or say no, or try to negotiate. But here is
another approach. I have found that by making an offer early,
you can preempt less appealing invitations, say what you would

(01:31):
like to do, and you are less likely to be
asked for something else. So if you are an active
volunteer somewhere, let the leaders know exactly what you would
like to do. They are probably not sitting around wondering
if someone who works as an accountant actually wants to
plan the gala and try out a new set of skills.

(01:55):
They assume you want to help with the books. So
if that is not the case, preemptively offer to serve
on the gala committee, and you will most likely fend
off the more obvious request that is going to be
coming your way. You can take a similar approach at
work too, though of course, there may be times that

(02:17):
you need to do something that is not your top choice.
That said, if you let your boss know about projects
you'd like to work on or tasks you'd like to handle,
she may be more likely to staff you on those.
Then when something less appealing comes up, your dance card
may be totally full. Even socially, I recommend making a

(02:40):
proposal instead of just waiting around and seeing what other
people plan and hoping you like it. If friends are
going out for dinner, suggest a few places you would
be excited to go something like this sounds great. I've
heard about several new restaurants I'm dying to try. What
about Amelia's or The back Yard? If that feels a

(03:01):
little more forward than you're comfortable with, you can always
say you're open to other suggestions. Just throwing out a
few ideas to get us started. Suggest dates that would
work well for you too. I mean, maybe you could
make it work if friends settled on a time that
is not ideal for you. But if you quickly suggest
a few dates that do work well, you're more likely

(03:23):
to end up getting together on one of them. By
speaking up and letting our friends and colleagues know what
we would like to do, we increase the likelihood that
will do something we want to do, and we may
decrease the chances that we will be asked to do
something we are less psyched about. In life, the early

(03:44):
bird often does get the worm 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.

(04:07):
If you've got questions, ideas, 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

(04:29):
listen to your favorite shows.