A listener asks how to tell if something is a priority
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode Transcript
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 to stop rolling things over from one
week to the next. Either do it or be done
(00:23):
with it for good. I know a lot of Before
Breakfast listeners make weekly priority lists. This is smart, but
many people soon notice something. As one listener recently wrote in,
I find that I am transferring some of the same
priorities over week to week and never doing them, even
(00:46):
though I feel very busy. This listener wondered if perhaps
this was her indirect way of telling herself that these
things weren't her real priorities. I think she's made a
good insight here. Plenty of things sound smart in theory.
If we had infinite time and infinite energy, sure we'd
(01:07):
tackle them. We'd also probably get to them if something
suddenly made them rise up the priority list. If someone
said she'd give you a hundred thousand dollars as soon
as you finished that book proposal, well I am guessing
that you'd get to it. Absent that. When we keep
rolling stuff over week to week, the most likely explanation
(01:30):
is that we don't really want to do them. And
if it isn't something like say your taxes that do
in fact have to happen, that's fine. Expectations are infinite.
Time is finite. We are always choosing, so all we
can really do is choose. Well. Now, if that gets
(01:54):
your hackles up, no, I really do want to paint
my bathroom, even though I've rolled it over for ten weeks. Now,
then give yourself an ultimatum. Either it happens this week
or it doesn't happen now. I am sure that this
week is busy, but come on, life is always busy.
There will never be a perfect week where all the
(02:16):
stars aligned and you will gleefully paint your bathroom without
a care in the world so absent that you can
decide to do it now or decide not to do it,
And if you choose the latter, well great, there is
great peace to be achieved. And simply acknowledging that you
(02:37):
will not be doing something. You aren't going to return
that email because it truly isn't worth your time. You
aren't going to reach out to that person your friends
suggested because you just don't have the capacity to manage
that new potential relationship. You are not going to research
archery classes for your kids because they don't really care enough,
and neither do you. Wise people will have pointed out
(03:01):
that our calendars really are our priorities. You can say
something is a priority, but if there is no time
devoted to it, and then it probably isn't. You can
do various exercises to find your true priorities, but time
tracking is probably the best way. When stuff rolls over
(03:21):
week to week, it most likely just isn't making the cut,
so it goes Do it now or don't do it
that way you'll know for sure. In the meantime, This
is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
(03:50):
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 E the
number four then breakfast p o D. You can also
shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia
(04:10):
dot com. That Before Breakfast is 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
(04:31):
your favorite shows.
Before Breakfast News
Host
Laura Vanderkam
Show Links
AboutPopular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.