A positive mindset helps your brain perform significantly better than a negative, neutral, or stressed mindset. According to Inc.com, there are five things you can do in 23 minutes to transform your entire day.
1. Write down three acts of gratitude
What three new things are you grateful for? Write it down. For long-term effect, Achor says do it for 21 straight days. He says the reason this is so powerful is you’re training your mind to scan for positives instead of negatives. This activity is the fastest way to teach optimism. It will significantly improve your optimism and raise your success rates even six months later. Time length: 2 minutes.
2. Journal one positive experience
Write in detail about one positive experience you’ve had during the past 24 hours. Bullet point each detail you can remember. According to Achor, this allows your brain to relive the experience, which teaches your brain that the positive behavior matters. It works, he says, since the brain can’t tell the difference between visualization and actual experience. In essence, you’ve just doubled the most meaningful experience in your brain. If you do this ritual every morning for 21 days, your brain reprograms with this trajectory of meaning running throughout your life. In fact, research found that patients suffering from chronic pain or disease who did this for six weeks in a row had dropped their pain medication by 50 percent six months later. Time length: 2 minutes.
3. Exercise
Even if you hate exercise, Achor says that a short burst of fun cardio activity (think hula hoops, working in the garden, dancing, or a brisk walk with the dog) works wonders. The reason why exercise is so key to your morning routine is that it literally trains your brain to believe “my behavior matters,” which then carries (positively) into other activities throughout the day. Time length: 15 minutes.
4. Meditation
Breathe and watch your breath go in and out for two minutes. This allows your brain to focus on one thing at a time and be present in the moment. Achor says it will “raise accuracy rates, improve levels of happiness, and drop stress levels.” He did this with Google employees with great success. Time length: 2 minutes.
5. Express kindness through a text or email
The most important of the five: Write a positive email or text every morning praising or thanking someone you know. And do it for a different person each day. Achor says people who do this become known as positive leaders with strong social connections–the greatest predictor of long-term happiness. Time length: 2 minutes.
Click here to read the full article from Inc.com.
