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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Good morning.
This is Laura.
Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is that if you are trying to regain a past level of performance, consider when you were last there.
If it has been a minute, consider whether the goal is still attainable.
It might be if you recreate those conditions, or you might need to adjust it.
But either way, that is good to know.
So oftentimes, people set goals to do something that they used to be able to do.
For instance, someone who used to run and who's been out of running for a while might set a goal to run a 5K again.
Or perhaps the goal is even more ambitious.
The person wants to run a 25-minute 5K, which is their own personal best.
You might have put on a few pounds and want to get back to what you think of yourself as weighing.
You might feel perpetually behind on life management tasks and you recall that a few years ago you seemed to have good systems for all these things.
If you are thinking about any of these goals, it is wise to ask when you were last there.
If you achieved something in the past, what did life look like then?
Did you last weigh 130 pounds six years and three children ago?
Did you last feel caught up with a particular set of systems three years ago, before your big promotion?
Have you run at your goal rate since you tore your meniscus a few years ago?
It's easy to assume that if you met a goal once, you can meet it again.
And I do think it's likely that a skill or activity you used to do faithfully is one you can get back into if you recreate the conditions.
I've been thrilled to see that I've been able to get back into singing like I did in college, by practicing as much now as I did in college.
I may even be better at sight reading than I used to be since I have more years of experience now.
But the key here is that I am practicing as much as I was then.
I sang in a choir for two hours three times a week in college and I now sing on Monday nights, Thursday nights and Sunday mornings with various groups, plus other time practicing on my own.
Now that would not have been possible when my kids were littler.
It would not have been realistic to have a goal to do as much singing back then.
Likewise, when you think about when you last hit a goal, you may see that it would be wiser to modify the goal or perhaps set a different one.
I mean, it could still be a cool goal.
You might set a goal to win an age group award in a local 5K.
But if you are 49 years old, you are probably not going to win the race outright, even if you could have done it when you were 25.
Best to set a goal that is achievable in life as it is.
And if the goal is going to require time, think about how much time you actually have.
Can you replicate the amount of time you put into your goal in a different phase of life?
You might get there again.
Lots of people rediscover hobbies once their kids are in school or are able to entertain themselves or perhaps even stay home by themselves.
Time starts to open up.
Not all goals need to be relics of the past.
But it's important to know which ones are, and which ones aren't.
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.
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at LauraVanderkam.com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeart Media.
For more podcasts from iHeart Media, please visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
How could this have happened in City Hall?
Somebody tell me that.
A shocking public murder.
This was one of the most dramatic events that really ever happened in New York City politics.
I screamed, get down, get down.
Those are shots.
A tragedy that's now forgotten.
And a mystery that may or may not have been political, that may have been about sex.
Listen to Rorschach Murder at City Hall on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Laurie Siegel and on my new podcast, Mostly Human, I'll take you to some wild corners of the tech world.
I'm about to go on a date with an AI companion at a real world cafe right here in New York City.
There's no playbook for what to do when an AI model hallucinates a story about you.
Mostly Human is your playbook for how tech can work for you.
Anyone can now be an entrepreneur.
Anyone can build an app and it's very empowering.
Listen to Mostly Human on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
This is an iHeart Podcast.
Guaranteed human.
