“Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.”
– Dalai Lama
Wellness Tip:
Optimize Your Brain Health
Who wants “a fit, more agile, sharper brain” that’s full of energy and vitality? ✋ According to brain guru Jim Kwik, optimizing your brain health comes down to 10 key things.
Firstly, the foundations of all health: stress management, good diet, sleep, and exercise. Then, some less obvious ones:
- A positive peer group: “Who you spend time with is who you become.”
- A clean environment: “Your external world is a reflection of your internal world.”
- Positive self-talk: “Kill your ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts).”
- Continual learning: “You can create new brain cells until the day you die.”
Check out the full video for more. What could you do to improve your brain health today?
Productivity Tip:
Overcome Defensiveness
At work, defensive behavior can damage relationships and be a barrier to professional growth. What if you could learn to be less defensive and see criticism as a gift?
Defensiveness takes many forms, from making excuses to blaming others. What does your defensiveness look like? The first step to changing your behavior is becoming aware of it.
Next, acknowledge your feelings but make the choice not to act on them. Aligning yourself with your deepest values can help with this, as can cultivating a growth mindset.
Read more about overcoming defensiveness here. It’s not easy, but you can start now.
Routine Breakdown
Jim Kwik, Entrepreneur, Author & Podcast Host
Ever tuned into the popular Kwik Brain podcast? If so, you can probably guess that Jim Kwik has his morning routine pretty well figured out. He says he:
- Records his dreams.
- Gives thanks. “I like to end my day with gratitude and start my day with gratitude.”
- Makes his bed. “Do it with excellence so you take excellence throughout your day.”
- Does 3 minutes of exercise to get heart pumping (not his main workout).
- Spends a few minutes journaling. Lists 3 things personally and 3 things professionally he wants to achieve that day.
Why it works:
- Research shows that recalling our dreams makes us more creative.
- Gratitude is good for health, happiness – even our relationships.
- In surveys, morning bed-makers are more productive for the rest of the day.
- Morning exercise – even a few minutes – leads to more time in deep sleep.
- Writing down our goals makes us more likely to achieve them.
We love this quote from Jim about gratitude: “You don’t have to wait for a greater life to be grateful: you can be grateful and you’ll have a greater life.” Do you use the Morning Review section of Panda Planner for daily gratitude? Let us know how it works for you!
