Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

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 could, not should. Focusing on what you could choose to do helps you see possibilities and that might help you make real progress toward your goals. A person who reviewed one of my books recently noted that I rarely use the word should. Instead. This person wrote that I generally aim to show people what they could do and how they might benefit. I hadn't thought about it that way before, but it is true in the strategies I share, and as I think about my own decisions, I definitely lean toward considering what we could do instead of feeling constrained by shoulds. Whatever those are, anyway, could opens up possibilities, While should invites obligation and guilt. Possibilities are a lot more attractive and often more helpful too. In practice, what this means is that when you are facing a problem, you want to generate lots of potential solutions. Maybe there are ideas that are more common or that someone has told you are right, but there may be other options too. If you generate lots of possibilities, you might decide that some are appealing, which means you are more likely to follow through on them. So, for instance, let's say you are having trouble sleeping. Lots of advice out there suggests not having screens in your bed, and maybe that does help a lot of people. But if you aren't going to move your TV out of your bedroom, then it is not helpful to beerate yourself over that fact. Instead, try thinking about all the things you could do to sleep better. You could try limiting caffeine and alcohol in the afternoon and evening. You could try avoiding screens for a half hour before bedtime. You could try meditation, a sleep story or another app to help you go to sleep. Maybe you could try melatonin, or you might change the temperature or some other such intervention. When you look at the list of coods, you might find one you will actually stick with. Or maybe you want to contribute more to your retirement account. You keep telling yourself that you should go out to dinner less, but when it is six o'clock and you're hungry and other folks suggest restaurants, well, so it goes What if instead you generated other possibilities. You could start a side gig and put half your earnings from that into your retirement account. Maybe you'd love to eat out, but you don't watch that much TV. If so, you could cancel some streaming services and put the money you save into the account. When you get a raised in January, you could direct all the increase to the retirement account. You get the idea, What are all the options and which ones sound appealing? No need to chastise yourself about what you should do but aren't doing, and I am putting the word should in quote marks there. Instead, focus on what you could do and what makes the most sense in your life. The truth is, as an adult, there are very few things that you absolutely have to do. There may be consequences to doing or not doing various things, but sometimes should is a story we are telling ourselves. There are often multiple ways to accomplish the same goal. If you are most likely not going to pursue one of those approaches with any particular zeal, then there is no point feeling hemmed in by it and feeling guilty that you are not doing it. Instead, look at all you could do that way you put yourself in the driver's seat. I hope you feel the same way about Before Breakfast. I have produced almost one thousand unique episodes at this point, all of them with some bit of advice on how to take your day from great to awesome. Ideally, you view this show as a so of ideas and possibilities, not assignments. You do not have to try every tip you hear. Some might not be wise for your life, and some might just sound silly or unappealing for your particular situation, and that is fine. These ideas are options, just ideas you could try out if you wanted to. If a tip appeals to you, that is wonderful. If not, you can let it pass on by. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is to think could, not should. Focusing on what you could choose to do helps you see possibilities and that might help you make real progress toward your goals. A person who reviewed one of my books recently noted that I rarely use the word should. Instead. This person wrote that I generally aim to show people what they could do and how they might benefit. I hadn't thought about it that way before, but it is true in the strategies I share, and as I think about my own decisions, I definitely lean toward considering what we could do instead of feeling constrained by shoulds. Whatever those are, anyway, could opens up possibilities, While should invites obligation and guilt. Possibilities are a lot more attractive and often more helpful too. In practice, what this means is that when you are facing a problem, you want to generate lots of potential solutions. Maybe there are ideas that are more common or that someone has told you are right, but there may be other options too. If you generate lots of possibilities, you might decide that some are appealing, which means you are more likely to follow through on them. So, for instance, let's say you are having trouble sleeping. Lots of advice out there suggests not having screens in your bed, and maybe that does help a lot of people. But if you aren't going to move your TV out of your bedroom, then it is not helpful to beerate yourself over that fact. Instead, try thinking about all the things you could do to sleep better. You could try limiting caffeine and alcohol in the afternoon and evening. You could try avoiding screens for a half hour before bedtime. You could try meditation, a sleep story or another app to help you go to sleep. Maybe you could try melatonin, or you might change the temperature or some other such intervention. When you look at the list of coods, you might find one you will actually stick with. Or maybe you want to contribute more to your retirement account. You keep telling yourself that you should go out to dinner less, but when it is six o'clock and you're hungry and other folks suggest restaurants, well, so it goes What if instead you generated other possibilities. You could start a side gig and put half your earnings from that into your retirement account. Maybe you'd love to eat out, but you don't watch that much TV. If so, you could cancel some streaming services and put the money you save into the account. When you get a raised in January, you could direct all the increase to the retirement account. You get the idea, What are all the options and which ones sound appealing? No need to chastise yourself about what you should do but aren't doing, and I am putting the word should in quote marks there. Instead, focus on what you could do and what makes the most sense in your life. The truth is, as an adult, there are very few things that you absolutely have to do. There may be consequences to doing or not doing various things, but sometimes should is a story we are telling ourselves. There are often multiple ways to accomplish the same goal. If you are most likely not going to pursue one of those approaches with any particular zeal, then there is no point feeling hemmed in by it and feeling guilty that you are not doing it. Instead, look at all you could do that way you put yourself in the driver's seat. I hope you feel the same way about Before Breakfast. I have produced almost one thousand unique episodes at this point, all of them with some bit of advice on how to take your day from great to awesome. Ideally, you view this show as a so of ideas and possibilities, not assignments. You do not have to try every tip you hear. Some might not be wise for your life, and some might just sound silly or unappealing for your particular situation, and that is fine. These ideas are options, just ideas you could try out if you wanted to. If a tip appeals to you, that is wonderful. If not, you can let it pass on by. 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 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 Pod.

Hey everybody, I'd love to hear 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 Pod.

You can also shoot me.

You can also shoot me.

An email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

An email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.

Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.

Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.