Brain Link. Everything begins in your brain including your thoughts, choices, and actions. Think of mindset as your personal, built-in GPS, a guidance system that you program. Your thoughts create your mindset—the lens through which you identify, perceive, respond to, and act upon what happens both inside and outside of you. Only one idea can occupy the brain’s working memory at a time. Negative thoughts trigger the recall of negative memories. Positive thoughts trigger recall of positive memories. Self-talk arises from your mindset. Self-talk tells your subconscious mind what you want it to help you do and achieve. Either you control your mindset and self-talk or outside factors will.
We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that other people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. We are in charge of our attitude. —Ralph Marston
The human brain forms the structural basis of all human thought and behavior. In adulthood the average brain weighs slightly under three pounds in females and slightly over three pounds in males.
Humans use portions of all their brain all the time. However, estimates suggest that only about 20% of what goes on in the brain comes to conscious awareness. Interestingly, thought is so complex that science has yet to discover how it actually occurs. There have been many attempts to describe it although no metaphor really does the brain justice. Carl Jung likened consciousness to the tip of an iceberg seen above the water line. B. J. Baars compared it to a narrow spotlight on the vast stage of the brain.
The subconscious mind exists between the conscious and unconscious minds. Information the brain thinks you need to access easily while awake appears to reside in the subconscious—which never sleeps. It works 24/7 and is actually busier during the hours that your conscious mind is asleep than when you are awake. It is always thinking, and it has an uncanny sense of whether you are serious. If you think you can do something, the subconscious mobilizes its considerable resources to help you. If not, it does little if anything to help you. Estimates are that around 80-90% of brain neurons are involved in subconscious thought plus all the neurons in the body.
The unconscious mind is a portion of the brain believed to know everything that has happened to you during your life to date. This includes your birth process and perhaps some of what happened during the later portion of your gestation. It is also thought to know whether you were wanted and if you are the sex your parents hoped for. This information is buried so deeply, however, that it can be challenging to bring it to unconscious awareness. According to Psychology Today, the subconscious can also be a source of stress, pushing a person toward compulsive behaviors such as anger, overspending, and self-defeating thoughts.
Unconscious processes are fast, efficient, and without deliberation or conscious planning. —Daniel Kahneman “Thinking Fast and Slow”
View the Educational Video #1. Drink a glass of water to hydrate your brain. If possible, stand and walk in place for at least a portion of the video to increase blood flow to your brain.
Your thoughts and expectations serve as the master plan for your subconscious mind. So, whenever you think of something, your subconscious mind will do its best to make it come true. —M. Farouk Radwan, MSc
Mindset is a mental attitude or disposition that predetermines your responses; a set of opinions about something that strongly influences your inclinations. It establishes your direction, tells you where you are headed on the metaphorical map of your life and gets your brain on board (or not). Think of it as a lens through which you identify, perceive, respond to, and act upon what happens both inside and outside of you. Life experiences can influence the type of mindset you develop, but no one can create it for you. That is up to you. Bottom line: everything starts in the brain, and it begins with a mindset.
Use your brain by design for success. Go where other brains have not ventured and leave brainprints for them to follow. —Arlene R. Taylor, PhD
Thoughts, language, and actions basically follow a predictable pattern. You think thoughts (mindset). You speak to yourself silently or aloud (self-talk). You take action (behavior). Together they influence the course of your life in every way imaginable. You develop your mindset early in life from what you hear people say to you, what you hear others say about you, and what you observe your care providers doing, i.e., their behaviors.
Your mindset matters—it affects everything. —Peter Diamandis
In her book Mindset, Dr. Carol Dweck describes two general types: a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.
1) Those with a growth mindset believe that improvement is possible. They are open to learning and pursuing it. They obtain information, turn it into knowledge, apply it, rehearse, learn from their experience, are aware and vigilant, and course correct as needed.
2) Those with a fixed mindset believe that who they are is carved in stone. It’s a done deal. Therefore, when they perceive failure, they tend to feel unlucky, worthless, and often give up. Somehow, they internalize that improvement is impossible—for them. When you think you can’t, you can’t. The brain does not mobilize its amazing resources to help you until you think you can.
Attitude is the little thing that makes a big difference. —Winston Churchill
In studies of children aged 4-6, researchers found that the kids had already developed a mindset. It was either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. The children were told: “You have a choice: you can redo an easy jigsaw puzzle, or you can try a harder one.” Children with a fixed mindset chose to redo the same puzzle because they wanted to succeed and look smart. Children with a growth mindset chose the new harder puzzle so they could improve, learn something new, and become smarter.
A growth mindset does not force you to purse something. It just tells you that you can develop your skills. It is still up to you whether you choose to do so. —Carol Dweck, PhD
Your mindset matters. It affects everything—from the business and investment decisions you make, to who you select as friends, to the way you raise your children, to your typical stress levels, to how you approach your work life, and your overall sense of well-being. This includes lifestyle choices that involve epigenetics, which is everything except genetics. Studies have shown that in some cases, epigenetics has even been able to override genetics, at least partially.
We are what we think. All that we are, arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. —Buddha
Your mindset can be changed. If you grew up with a fixed mindset, you are the only person who can flip the switch from a fixed to a growth mindset. Remaining healthier and younger for longer is possible: it all begins in your brain with a growth mindset. Sometimes just switching to a growth mindset can make all the difference in the world, even impacting your lifespan. In the process, if you choose a growth mindset, your rate of making mistakes may decrease even as your rate of success increases. You may find yourself less fearful when needing to learn added information and build it into your daily lifestyle. Mindset is not just one big attitude. It can involve many small attitudes about a great many things. Cumulatively they become a big attitude.
Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. —William James
Listen to Chapter #1 of Just the Facts audiobook. If possible, walk around the room while you listen. At least walk in place. You may need another glass of water.
Your habitual attitudes form neural circuits in the brain. If you choose to maintain a specific attitude, the brain can literally rewire itself to facilitate that attitude. —Doc Lew Childre & Howard Martin, HeartMath
Your mindset drives your self-talk that results in your behavior. It alters your neurochemistry, which in turn impacts your immune system. It influences everything from happiness and wellness to success and longevity. Although mindset happens internally, what occurs outside your brain and body tends to mirror what is happening on the inside. Your mindset has a way of aligning in harmony with either the negative or the positive. Those who are deemed successful typically are known for being able to move from mistake to mistake with no loss of enthusiasm. The choices you make automatically or by conscious consideration are influenced by your mindset.
There is no such thing as multitasking. What you can do is switch between tasks quickly, not undertake two tasks at the same time. And, when you are switching between tasks, you are doing neither, well. —Lon Safko
Studies have shown that attempting to multitask increases mistakes and sometimes injuries. Interestingly the two hemispheres in the male brain are more autonomous that those in the female brain. The male brain can sometimes do two tasks simultaneously as long as each primarily uses a different hemisphere.
Your brain can only do what it thinks it can do. Your job is to tell your brain what it can do. What behavior do you know would improve your life? If your mindset is not serious or your fixed mindset thinks you can’t, your brain will not help you. If your growth mindset believes you can do it, your brain will marshal its considerable resources to help you.
Joyfulness in your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.
Studies have shown that only one idea can occupy the brain’s working memory at a time. Negative thoughts trigger the recall of negative memories. Positive thoughts flood working memory with positivity, triggering recall of constructive memories. Either you choose to control your mindset or outside factors will. Negativity rarely (if ever) solves anything. Usually it creates even more problems, triggering the stress response.
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. —Maya Angelou
As an aside, the brain’s working memory has something known as an Event Boundary. When the brain moves through a doorway into another room or environment, working memory is scrubbed to allow the brain to concentrate on whatever will be happening in the next room or area. If you are simply going into that room to get something, say to yourself as you enter the doorway, (your given name_____, you are getting the scissors). This can avoid your having to walk back into the first room so your brain could remind you of what you wanted from the second room.
Every waking moment we talk to ourselves about the things we experience. Our self-talk, the thoughts we communicate to ourselves, control the way we feel and act. —John Lemb
The term Self-talk is simply a label for what you tell yourself silently or aloud. Self-talk follows your mindset and includes your beliefs, what people tell you, or what you hear them say about you. It has an enormous impact on your life by creating your reality, influencing your thoughts and feelings, and triggering your behaviors. Negative self-talk is unhelpful and can lead to discouragement, self-pity, a sense of hopelessness or helplessness, failure, and depression. Positive self-talk helps you achieve goals that include joy and good health, enhanced relationships, and a potential increase in longevity. In some studies, more than 90% of participants reported that they had an inner voice that they could hear.
We all have voices in our head which talk to us on an almost constant basis. Our voices give us messages continually, and what they say to us affects us. —Juliene Berk
What you tell yourself is critically important. Stop telling yourself what you do not want to do or to have happen. Tell your brain only what you want to do and to have happen. Phrase it in the present tense as if it is already a done deal. The brain tends to get in gear and help you when it believes something is happening now.
Be careful what you say to yourself. This is the most important (human) voice that you are going to hear. —John C. Maxwell
The conscious mind can use language. What you say is translated into a picture or mental image in your mind’s eye. The subconscious mind does not use language per se. It follows the picture or mental image and tries to turn what it sees into an action, into reality.
Nearly one fourth of our entire day we are doing our self-talk while engaged in other tasks. —Heavey & Hurlburt
Daniel M. Wegner, PhD, has pointed out that what you tell yourself and the words you use make all the difference in the world. If you say, “Don’t think about the white bear,” a representation of a white bear goes into working memory, and you tend to think about it even more. Based on brain-imaging research, say only what you want to have happen, and speak as if the desired behavior is already in place. This is critical for altering behavior.
Your self-talk is the channel of behavior change. ―Gino Norri
Research by Dr. Ethan Kross found that using your “given name” and the pronoun “you” in self-talk empowered study participants, so that what others saw as a threat, they viewed as a doable challenge. Your brain functions much like a sponge. Using ‘I’ and ‘me’ subjectively hooks into your ego and self-esteem level. Using your first name and the word you helps depersonalize things slightly and indicates that you are working with your brain. For example, you might tell your brain, “Jordan, you are saying aloud what you want from the next room as you pass through the doorway.”
Over half of all self-talk is unrelated to what we’re doing. —Killingsworth &Gilbert
Following are some additional examples to get you started.
1) “Marla, you are drinking a glass of water 30 minutes prior to eating.” Dehydration is linked with brain shrinkage and an increased risk of dementia. Many people drink little to no water a day, choosing colas and sugary juices and drinks that do not take the place of water in the brain.
2) “Mark, you are walking for 20 minutes before breakfast.” According to the Arthritis Foundation, a study from the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville found that men between the ages of 71 and 93 who walked more than a quarter of a mile per day had half the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than those who walked less.
3) “Janeesa, you are exercising for 20 minutes before you eat breakfast.” The exercise turns on fat-burning enzymes that according to Candace B. Pert, PhD, can continue to be active for several hours.
4) “Lopez, you are in bed at 10:00 pm.” Studies have shown that the sleep prior to midnight is of higher quality than sleep after midnight. One hour of sleep before midnight may be worth 2-3 hours after midnight. Studies have shown that losing just one hour of sleep per night over time will shorten your life.
Self-reflection has been shown to be associated with beneficial qualities whereas self-rumination has been linked to anxiety and depression. —Racy, van Seggelen, Verhaeghen
Studies by Laura Berk reported that effective parents, teachers, and caregivers instruct children about the useful, step-by-step language for mastering any task through role- modeling effective self-talk. In turn, the children are more likely to use the language in their self-talk to teach themselves. For example, the child may say to themself: “Jack (or Jill), you are doing this.”
Most power is lost in one’s own mind by thinking negative thoughts, by worrying about the future, by focusing on the past, as opposed to thinking positive, strong, and happy thoughts. —Frederick Lenz
Listen to Chapter #2 of Just the Facts audiobook. If possible, walk around the room while you listen. At least walk in place. You may need another glass of water.
A positive mindset and self-talk plus consistent practical application of information—turned into knowledge through personal experience— matters! Understanding the science behind each component can motivate you to apply it in a way that works for you and that you will maintain for the rest of your life, helping you stay healthier and younger for longer.
An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. —Benjamin Franklin
Your thoughts create your mindset—positive can-do or negative cannot do. Henry Ford knew this. History hints that this is the reason he pressed ahead and finally created a vehicle that was affordable for the average family. It is your job to tell your brain what it can do.
Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right. —Henry Ford
Affirmations are positive, present-tense, words and phrases designed to impact both the conscious and subconscious mind. They can affect mindset, self-talk, habits, and behaviors. Some studies suggest that done correctly and appropriately, nothing else is as effective. Affirmations help you tell your brain what you want it to do in a way that creates the picture of what you want in your brain in a one-step process.
Generally speaking, affirmations are used to reprogram the subconscious mind. —Kathryn J. Lively, PhD
It is possible to train your mind to think positively instead of negatively. Yes, life is challenging. However, what you think about the challenge and how you deal with it can make a dramatic difference. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson has been quoted as encouraging individuals to view challenges as opportunities. He believed that every challenge or even every tragedy contained an opportunity. If you trained yourself to look for the opportunity, you would be able to take control of the situation and even turn it into a positive. If it were impossible to turn it into something good, at least something good could come out of it. Train your brain to look for the opportunities.
When our stories are dysfunctional, we are dysfunctional. The way you tell your story of reality (replaying the past or catastrophizing the future) connects directly to the way you behave. If you want to change the way you approach your life, you’ll need to change the story. Stories never make change happen; they open (or close) the doors, allow you to feel comfortable or uncomfortable, and invite a change. —Eric Jensen, PhD/Suzuki, Feliú-Mójer, Hasson, Yehuda & Zarate.
Think of your mindset and self-talk as the stories you tell yourself. Sometimes they are positive, other times negative. Sometimes they are real, other times slanted in your favor or with little basis in reality or even in truth. Reign yourself in from ruminating, from rehearsing the past; from agonizing about the future, or from trying to predict what might happen.
To help keep your internal stories honest, positive, and helpful:
1) Stay focused on what you are doing in the present moment, no matter what that something is. You will make fewer mistakes if both your brain and your actions are focused on the same thing in real time.
2) Quickly recognize your mindset and self-talk stories and keep them positive (not negative or neutral). Worry and anxiety are forms of fear that are a waste of time and energy. Churchill has been quoted as saying on his deathbed that he had experienced a lot of trouble in his life—most of which had never happened.
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens to you. —Khalil Gibran
Your everyday life is chock-a-block with a constant stream of self-talk (often referred to as ‘inner chatter’) and over 90% of adults report they have an inner voice. —Winsler, Feder, Way & Manfra
The brain is designed to deal easily with positive words and instructions. They result in a 1-step process for the brain. For example, “Keep your hands away from the stove” is a 1-step process. The words create a picture for the subconscious to follow, showing your hands away from the stove. The internal mental picture shows the subconscious that is what you want to have happen.
The brain finds it difficult to deal with negatives because they require a two-step process. For example, “Don’t touch the stove” is a negative instruction that requires a two-step process to figure it out. The word ‘don’t’ is supposed to alert your brain that it is expected to do something different from what you just said. But what precisely should you do? The brain could guess at a number of actions, none of them correct. Besides, this takes time.
With a two-step instruction, the brain first creates a picture of touching the stove and then—if it even registers the don’t, understands it, and guesses correctly—the brain must change the mental picture into the one that shows keeping your hands away from the stove. When the subconscious misses the ‘don’t’ altogether, it simply creates a picture of touching the stove. This is crazy-making for children whose brains are nowhere done in terms of language. They often reach out and touch the stove and then are punished for disobeying. Go for the positive one-step style!
I cannot always control what goes on outside. But I can always control what goes on inside. —Wayne Dyer, PhD
Studies have shown that people tend to talk to others in the same self-talk style they use with themselves. No doubt you’ve heard someone berating another—perhaps at home, school, church, clubs, work, when out shopping, while riding the bus, and so on. It is sad because negativity does not promote learning to say nothing of enhancing interpersonal relationships. Moreover, the brain of the person receiving the berating likely does not appreciate being spoken to that way.
Which of the following styles is likely to be more effective in the long term?
1) Don’t yell at the children! Versus: Please speak gently to the children. Their little hearts are fragile.
2) Don’t forget your homework! Versus: Put your homework in your book bag now so you’ll have it when you leave for school in the morning.
3) Don’t hit the dog or kick the cat! Versus: Please speak kindly to the dog and cat. Be gentle with them. Take a moment to pet them. Help them feel loved by this family.
Practice using the recommended positive self-talk style with yourself and others. Mental states are particularly susceptible to affirmation. Affirmation is the mind’s programming language. —Jean Marie Stine
Your brain-body energy is intricately connected with mindset, self-talk, and the internal mental pictures created. Positive self-talk patterns strengthen the immune system and increase energy levels. Negative thoughts and feelings deplete energy. Anxiety and anger are energy eaters. A negative self-talk style can turn into a vicious cycle that drags you down. Pay attention—since all you are is energy! A positive self-talk style brings an extra bonus: studies show that you tend to communicate with others in the way you talk to yourself.
Develop a growth mindset and positive self-talk. Learn to speak to yourself as you would to your best friend. In fact, be your own best friend. After all, you are the only person who will be with you for your entire life! When you learn to speak positively to yourself, you will tend to begin using that same style in communicating with others. This is more likely to result in a desired outcome. It may not achieve 100%, but studies suggest a potential 85% advantage.
When you think positively about the day ahead, you increase the levels of both your mental and physical energy. —Jon Gordon
There is a connection between your mindset and self-talk and your energy levels. If you “get out of bed on the wrong side,” as the old saying goes, course-correct immediately. Avoid decreasing your own levels of mental and physical energy for the day ahead by a negative mindset and self-talk style. Energy levels do tend to fall somewhat as you age. Thinking and speaking positively is one way to potentially help maintain your energy.
If you allow the voice of doubt or fear to enter your thoughts, you will lock out your confidence. —Ron W. Stier
1. Alter your mindset if you have slipped into the unfortunate habit of complaining, whining, being grumpy, or thinking and speaking negatively. First thing in the morning think of something for which you are thankful. Choose to create and maintain a positive mindset and self-talk. Every time a negative thought surfaces, change it into a positive thought or follow it with positive self-talk. What you tell yourself silently or aloud and how you frame it can makes all the difference in the world.
Your life does not get better by chance; it gets better by change. —Jim Rohn
2. Learn from your mistakes and from those of others. As Eleanor Roosevelt put it, you cannot live long enough to make them all yourself. Course-correct quickly and move on. Forgive yourself for your mistakes—they simply verify you are human. It is important, however, to take steps to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again until they become a mindless habit.
Your subconscious mind is always listening to and believing in everything you repeatedly say to yourself or about yourself. Avoid becoming your own enemy of progress. —Edmond Mbiaka
3. Choose to forgive yourself and others. Be aware of the Physiology of Forgiveness. According to research by internationally renowned cardiologist Herbert Benson, MD, being unable to forgive yourself (or the faults of others) is harmful to one’s health. Potentially it can even shorten one’s lifespan.
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. —Khalil Gibran
4. Boot up your brain when you awake like you would access an energy source to boot up your computer. There are several options. For example:
1) Take two or three brain breaths. Inhale to a count of four, hold your breath to a count of twelve, and exhale through pursed lips to a count of eight. Repeat this whenever you feel sluggish.
2) Do mild aerobic exercise for 20 minutes before you break your sleep-time fast. According to Candace B. Pert, PhD, this stimulates your metabolism, and the effect can last for several hours. Avoid walking, running, and exercising near roadways where there is a great deal of vehicle exhaust—especially on a sunny day. Vehicle exhaust is considered a harmful chemical pollutant and is definitely not good for the brain.
3) Eat breakfast—break your fast—and give your brain fuel for glucose. While body cells can utilize carbs, proteins, and fats for energy, healthy carbohydrates are the best and the preferred source for brain cells.
Insufficient oxygen means insufficient biological energy that can result in anything from mild fatigue to life threatening disease. —Dr. W. Spencer Way
View the short Birds ‘n Brains #1 video. If possible, stand and walk in place for at least part of the video to increase blood flow to your brain. Do you need a glass of water?
One of the unique things about the human brain is that it can do only what it thinks it can do. The minute you say, “My memory isn’t what it used to be,” or “I can’t remember a thing today,” you are training your brain to live up to your diminished expectations. ―Deepak Chopra, MD
1. What type of mindset did you see role-modeled growing up?
Was it primarily positive or negative? Kind or unkind? Empathetic or hard-hearted? Is your current habitual mindset a positive can-do growth mindset or a negative cannot do fixed mindset?
Every thought you think causes a reaction in your mind and body. For example, if you think you will not perform well in a speech you must give, your breathing and pulse rate will likely begin to increase as soon as you start talking. This physical reaction is due to your thoughts about your performance.
Think about what you want to have happen. Tell your mind what you want to have happen using an affirming self-talk style. See it in your mind’s eye and create a picture for your subconscious to follow.
The most important work you will ever do in your entire lifetime is within the walls of your own mind. —Keith Howes
2. How were you spoken to growing up?
Did you hear typically affirming can-do or disaffirming cannot-do words? Were you primarily told what not to do instead of what to do?
What did you hear others say about you—especially if they were unaware that you were listening?
Based on how you were spoken to in childhood or what you heard said about you, you may have a great many thoughts, negative or positive, running through your mind and influencing your behaviors. Become aware of your thoughts. The moment you become aware of a negative thought, choose to reframe it into a positive thought or replace it with a different positive thought.
3. Is your habitual self-talk negative or positive and empowering?
Studies have shown that the average person growing up in an average moderately functional family heard 10 negatives for every positive. In a dysfunctional family the ratio may be more like 30-40 negatives to every positive. It will take some practice to over-ride those old internal messages lodged inside your brain. Metaphorically, just reach up and turn down the volume when you hear negative words from your past.
Stop talking about what you do not want to have happen. Say only what you want to have happen in positive, present-tense language as if it already is happening. Practice, practice, practice. When you catch yourself using negatives or future tense, course-correct immediately. The brain tends to get in gear when it thinks you need something done now. Not next week, next month, or next year. That’s one reason for the importance of speaking in present tense.
Studies show that most people tend to talk to others the way they talk to themselves. When you are tempted to say something negative, think of something positive and say that instead—or say nothing and just smile. Since negativity drains energy, choosing to think and speak positively can increase your energy.
4. Are you self-aware of your mindset and self-talk in the present moment?
The missing link so-called in the process of personal and professional improvement may simply be a lack of self-awareness. Socrates is credited with saying that the unexamined life is not worth living. At first reading that may seem rather harsh. However, when viewed against the personal and professional contributions individuals could make on Planet Earth if they were more self-aware, maybe not.
If you are unaware of your own mindset and how you talk to yourself and others in the present moment, you may miss the opportunity to be silent or to rephrase your communication in a more positive and affirming style. Eventually, you may miss becoming the person you were designed to be. Thus, you may deprive Planet Earth of what only you could offer, since there has never been a brain just like yours nor will there ever be another brain just like yours. Your brain is unique.
Learning to be mindfully present and aware in the moment can help you catch yourself as you start to say or do something negative. It allows you to course correct quickly. Eventually you can catch yourself before you exhibit an undesirable behavior and make a more desirable choice. Emotional Intelligence is one of the strategies that fits hand in glove with mindset, self-talk, and self-awareness in the moment.
This is where you will win the battlein the playhouse of your mind. —Maxwell Maltz
5. For those who read Scripture.
1) The famous Lord’s Prayer is written in a positive one-step style.
This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. —Matthew 6:9-13
2) Be transformed by the renewing of your mind —Romans 12:2
3) If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you . —James 1:5
4) As he thinks in his heart, so is he. —Proverbs 23:7
If you want to know what your thoughts were like in the past, look at your body today. If you want to know what your body will be like in the future, look at your thoughts today. —Rudolph E. Tanzi & Deepak Chopra, MD
Remembering new information requires repetition, association with something that is familiar, novelty, and allowing yourself to experience the emotional resonance. Spend the whole week on Module #1. Reread the module; relisten to the audiobook excerpts; rewatch the videos. On average it requires four times through new material for the adult brain to really absorb it and turn it into a new behavior. If you want positive and long- lasting results, rushing through the material—just because you can—may sabotage your desired outcome.
Practice, practice, and practice a growth mindset and a positive self-talk style. Get an optimum amount of sleep so your brain has time to consolidate or transfer what you are learning from short to long term memory. Drink plenty of water to keep your brain hydrated so it can generate the mental energy you need. Get plenty of sleep so the hippocampus can transfer what you are learning from short-term to long-term memory.
I don’t mind running with turtles. —Sondra Faye
If you begin to feel sluggish, you might stand up and move around for a minute or two, drink some water to hydrate your brain, and try doing some Brain Breathing. Here is the formula:
1) Breathe in through your nose to a count of four
2) Hold your breath to a count of twelve
3) Breathe out through pursed lips to a count of eight
Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity. —Bruce Lee
Spend some time standing while you work if at all possible. Perhaps you can obtain a desk feature that allows you to sit in front of your computer or—with the press of a lever—stand while you work. Try standing or walking around while are talking on your mobile phone.
According to Terry Small, touted as Canada’s leading learning skills specialist, standing while you work improves concentration by increasing blood flow to the brain. Standing for just two hours during an average workday can burn an extra 280 calories. Over a one-year period, this might provide a weight loss of 20 pounds. Be creative. Think of small things you can do, that when combined can turn into a big thing. That’s an example of how slow and steady can win.
Slow and steady will get you where you want to go. If you put too much pressure on yourself for results too quickly, you will quickly give up. —Jennifer Young
