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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of IHeart Radio.

Good morning.

This is Laura.

Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

Today's tip is to consider what concept or idea will define your upcoming year.

In both looking forward and looking backward, it can be helpful to think about what will set this year apart.

I know a lot of people choose a word for the year.

I generally don't, but I understand the appeal.

A word can help define a mindset,

which you can then use as you weigh different choices.

Perhaps this is the year of saying yes, or the year of gratitude, or the year

of intentionality. You could also define a year by a particular habit you hope to start or stop.

This is the year you quit smoking, or the year you become a runner, or the year you learn Spanish. I like this

framing because it makes a goal an aim and a defining experience, part of your identity, rather than a

chore. New Year's resolutions occasionally feel oppressive, but a theme changes things. If you think of the upcoming

year as the year you quit smoking, then it is not you versus smoking. It's a year when a defining

experience is the change in your relationship to smoking. It takes this to do to a whole new level.

As for the year you become a runner, you are not saying you will run for 45 minutes four times a week at 6 a.m.

I mean, some people would do well with that structure.

But for other people, that might not always be feasible in a busy life.

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