Ten minutes still counts

Even a little bit tends to be better than nothing

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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 ten minutes still counts, So if you
want to do something, don't do nothing just because you

(00:26):
can't do as much as you wish you could. Today's
tip originally comes from coach Leo Babada and his advice
about starting to form a habit. Make it so easy
you can't say no, he said. So, for instance, if
you want to build an exercise habit, start by just

(00:47):
going to the gym in athletic attire. Even if you
don't exercise, do one stretch and anything that happens after
that is up to you. If you want to drink
more water, take away water bottle to work. No need
to promise yourself you'll drink sixty four ounces of water
every day. Yet, when you start by asking something of

(01:09):
yourself so doable that it would be ridiculous to say no,
you're on your way to forming a new habit, which
you can then scale up. Making it so easy you
can't say no has implications beyond habits too. When there's
a difficult project you want to take on, take a
tiny first step. If you want a new job, start

(01:32):
by reading your old resume today, then maybe tomorrow you
can begin to update it. If you want to develop
a stronger community in a town you've just moved to tonight,
just say hi to one person in your yoga class
who seems friendly. If you want to learn Spanish so
you can communicate with your Puerto Rican in laws, download
Duo Linga today. That is all you have to do.

(01:55):
You don't have to aim high, and you don't have
to start strong. You don't even need a long term plan.
Just take one step ahead in the direction you want
to go. It's also true that when there's leisure you
want more of in your life, you don't need to
concede that you have no time for it, even if
you are busy. Instead, you can recognize that even small

(02:18):
bits of time still count. Decide that you will read, draw, cook, knit,
or whatever you enjoy this weekend, even if you only
have ten minutes to do it. You'll enjoy the little
bit of time you do have, and when you think
about it, you may even find a little more time
for it too. The ten minutes you commit to may

(02:40):
end up leading to another ten minutes. The next day,
and another ten minutes the next day, and maybe you
find twenty some other day. Who knows. If you find
yourself saying no about a habit, goal, pursuit, or leisure,
consider whether there is a small version of the experience
you could say yes too. When you recognize that just
a little bit of time time ten minutes still counts,

(03:03):
you can start making progress toward forming habits or pursuing
goals a little bit at a time. You may not
be able to spend a whole day lost in a book,
good as that might sound, but reading a chapter that
can still be meaningful and enjoyable. So why not get
started in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

(03:26):
and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
for listening to Before Breakfast. 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.

(03:54):
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