Make space for possibility converstions

You can have good boundaries while still allowing new people and ideas to reach you

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 make space for possibility conversations. Even if
you are very busy, and even if you have a

(00:25):
lot of people seeking you out, it is worth making
some space in your schedule for new things. After all,
new things are where the breakthroughs really come. In my
new book, Big Time, I talk about the idea of
being thoughtfully accessible. A lot of productivity literature is about

(00:50):
saying no to more things, and there's something to that,
but we also want to say some strategic yeses as well.
If you knew about something great, you would already be
doing it. It's saying yes to things that we don't
know about that allows new opportunities, relationships, and adventures to

(01:13):
come into our lives. So how do we strike the
right balance? This is particularly challenging for people who are
in positions of power or who have the ability to
do big things for people. After all, there are a
lot of demanding people and a lot of bad ideas

(01:34):
in this world. How can you have good boundaries and
also leave open the possibility that a good idea will
make its way to you. One option I like is
to make space in your schedule for possibility conversations. The
idea is that you carve out a set amount of

(01:56):
time each week or so for conversation where you don't
know exactly where things will lead, or to talk with
new people that you think might be worth getting to
know better. So, for instance, you might decide that in general,
you will have these conversations on Friday mornings. Perhaps you
might even set a rough time frame you are available

(02:18):
from ten thirty to noon on Fridays for these sorts
of things. Then if someone reaches out to get to
know you, to pitch an idea, or to do something
like pick your brain, much as I hate that phrase,
then you nudge these people to Friday morning. If they
really want to talk with you, they will find a

(02:39):
way to make it work. This way, you are still accessible,
but it is contained. You know these conversations won't take
over your whole schedule. You can be mentally prepared for
that block of time. It is limited enough that you
won't worry that you're not making progress on other things,

(03:01):
and things can still get to you. Perhaps during a
slow week you will even start seeking out who you
might want to talk to during your possibility conversations. Now,
obviously many of us are not in such high demand,
and if that is the case, then we can be
more proactive about trying to have possibility conversations at least

(03:23):
once or twice a week. One of the things I
like about having added an interview episode to this podcast
each Wednesday is that I tend to be having a
conversation with someone new each week. I have met all
sorts of interesting people this way in life, we are
going to spend most of the time talking with people

(03:46):
we already know, and with people where we know the
conversation will lead to something that is just the nature
of being busy and of there being a lot of
people in the world. But when we make space for
disability conversations, we leave ourselves open to just that possibility.
We can do this wisely in ways that allow for

(04:08):
good new things and limit the downsides. It's just an
hour or two, it will be okay 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.

(04:33):
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

(04:55):
listen to your favorite shows.