When you look back on this year

Think about what you want to remember, so you can make these priorities happen

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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 think about what you want to see
when you look back on this year, then do what

(00:25):
you can now to bring that vision to life. So
when this episode first airs it is the beginning of November,
a lot of the year has already happened. I hope
that many of your dreams and plans for the year
have become reality. But the beginning of November is not,

(00:47):
in fact the end of the year. There is still
time to make memories you will be happy to recall
on January first. So imagine yourself on New Year's Day.
Maybe you are having a chill brunch with your roommates
after a late night spent celebrating. Maybe you and your

(01:10):
family have a tradition of going for a hike on
New Year's Day. Maybe on New Year's Day you sleep
in and then spend some time journaling by a fire
with a cup of tea. Or maybe your baby is
screaming for you at six a m as she does
every morning. Little kids don't really get the idea of holidays.

(01:31):
I get it, but whatever the context you are almost
sure to reflect on the year that just ended. What
memories do you want to have made, What do you
want to have accomplished? What do you hope is better
on January first of next year as compared to January

(01:54):
first of this past year. Perhaps you want to look
back on a Christmas that is joyful for everyone in
your family, even for you. That might mean spending some
time deciding which holiday experiences you'd like to get on
the calendar and which festive recipes you would like to make.

(02:14):
It might involve a few hours of ordering thoughtful gifts
now so you avoid the stress of holiday shopping with
the crowds. You might also decide on things you are
not doing so you can leave time for what matters
most to you and the people you care about. Or
maybe you want to get a new job this year.

(02:36):
It's not necessarily an easy time to be job seeking,
but if you want to look back on getting a
new job this year, well, the only way that is
going to happen is if you have some conversations and
send out some feelers and resumes now, so why not
get to it. You might want to look back on

(02:56):
finally dealing with a project that you have been putting
off writing a will, toilet training a child who is
perfectly content in diapers, replacing an atrocious light fixture in
your kitchen. It's time to get started. You might have
some ideas for self improvement. Maybe you want a consistent

(03:19):
routine for your own bedtime and waking time, or maybe
you want to get back into running so you can
run a New Year's Day five k. It is not
too late at all, but you don't have endless time
to burn, so get going now is good. I've noticed

(03:39):
that people tend to overestimate what they can do in
an hour and underestimate what they can do in a year.
You can do a lot in a year, and even
though it is already November, you can still do a
lot between now and January first. The year you look
back on is not etched in star. There is still

(04:02):
room to sculpted into what you want. And I'd note
that this exercise of thinking about what you want to
look back on is useful as you set your goals
for the next year too. You can picture yourself about
fourteen months from now with some fantastic accomplishments that you
are looking back on. What are those when we think

(04:24):
about what we want to look back on. We think
about what could matter most. Then we can spend our
time on those things as top priorities, because truly they are.
In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

(04:45):
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.

(05:10):
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