Way more people than you realize are using mindset training. Image: Sports Illustrated Russell Wilson, you likely know him as the quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks and the former quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers. You might know that he is currently carrying the Seahawks in a 9-2 season, so far, and that he is widely known as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, not just for his skills but for his field awareness as well. He also holds the largest contract in the NFL, a 4-year, $140 million extension with the Seahawks and has been married to the singer Ciara since 2014. Of all those facts, there is one surprising factor that a lot of people don't know about him and this one thing has definitely helped shape the outcome of Wilson's career. It wasn't solely physical skill that got Wilson to where he is today... The Thing You Might Not Know About Russell WilsonOn top of all of his other trainers, there is one wildly important one. One of the key aspects of Wilson's week is his training with his mindset coach. Yes, just like he has a trainer for his workouts, a personal chef, a yoga instructor and a coach for football, he has a trainer for his mindset. The best of the best in their respective industries never stop investing in themselves and hiring the best people to teach them skills they need to have. Wilson is no different... Just when a lot of you might have been thinking how mindset training is some "hippie sh*t" that doesn't really work because it is "too up in the air," you learn that one of the top players in the NFL uses it. Crazy. It isn't like you need to spend hours a week on your mindset, simply 90 minutes of training and thinking is what Wilson puts in with his coach every week. What exactly does this add to Wilson's Game?Is this training worth the likely hundreds of thousands of dollars that Wilson put's into it? If you look at his stats, I would venture to guess that this training is paying off ten fold. While doing various exercises that focus around visualization, self-talk, neutral thinking and staying present, Wilson is able to add many aspects to his game that likely hinder the performance of other quarterbacks, even those at the highest level. These trainings help him to make sure he isn't carrying a bad play with him the rest of the game, and see that based on post performance, one bad play is not how he actually plays. This mindset directly impacts the number of consecutive bad plays many quarterbacks make after a few bad throws, because then all they are thinking about is not making a bad throw. When they are trying to actively avoid something, that is when they are most likely to have what they are trying to avoid, happen. This training also helps him stay present in the game, not get distracted in his thinking and be able to make the right decision when he needs to. If you have heard of mindset training before, I am sure you have heard of visualizing, and for good reason. When Wilson visualizes, it allows him to put himself in situations and feel the emotions of the situation so that he is better prepared when the time actually comes to perform. These are just a drop in the bucket of all the trainings and mindset work that Wilson has done over his career and the benefits that have come along with these trainings.  Image: ESPN Russell Wilson's Mindset Coach: Trevor MoawadProbably a name you should know but have never heard of. So, who exactly is working with Russell Wilson for his mindset training? His name is Trevor Moawad, trained sports psychologist and founder of Limitless Minds. Moawad likes to describe his knowledge and expertise in the area of sports psychology as "mental conditioning." Moawad studied at IMG Academy at the center for sports psychology and since graduating there he has had a long list of clients from the MLB, NFL, NBA and he even works with the famous Alabama football team and their coach Nick Saban. It doesn't stop there though, outside of sports he has clients within the United States Special Operations teams to help them stay on top of their game mentally, as mindset importance extends way beyond the realm of sports. Limitless Minds is a company that Moawad actually co-founded with Wilson in order to help people and companies optimize their performance through executive coaching and mindset trainings. One of the major things they focus on in their business is what they like to call "neutral thinking," which is highly focused on removing the negative thinking, instead of just focusing on the "rah-rah positive thinking." This is one of the many ways Moawad is involved in the industry outside of his personal one on one trainings. He also does many keynotes and podcasts and if you are looking to hear more about him and his story, here is one of my favorite podcasts with him >> Wrap Your Head Around That Mindset Training Actually WorksTime to let go of those beliefs that are holding you back. Naturally, it might be hard to wrap your head around the fact that mindset training actually can work to improve the performance in every area of your life. Why? Because it is unlike anything that we have experienced before. We have been trained to go to school and have teachers, grades and eventually our bosses tell us how good we are at something. We never really are trained that we can get better by doing anything other than studying. Mindset training is something that you can study but it doesn't really start to work until you actually put it into action. Taking action just isn't a concept taught in school, they like to stick with the hypotheticals. This just isn't part of the curriculum in schools and if it isn't taught in schools, many people don't think it works. Fun fact though, the school system is all sorts of messed up. You don't learn to do taxes in schools yet those are still something that we have to do every year. You aren't practicing managing people in school or making sales, yet those are things a lot of people learn and excel at every year. Mindset training is no different than training and adapting skills such as people skills or sales skills, this type for training is just not widely known yet. Perfect opportunity for you to get started and get ahead of the game then, right? Who else is using mindset training exactly?Scroll back up to the section on Trevor Moawad real quick and take a look at all the different industries that he trains. And that list doesn't even include corporations that take on trainings like these. It is no surprise that a lot of the the top CEO's, business people, athletes, performers, etc have been using mindset trainings in some way, shape or form. Why? Because it actually works, it is what helps them stand apart from the rest of the people in their industries and brings them ideas, thoughts, confidence and mindsets that others just don't have. Essentially a world of possibility starts to open up when you change the way you think and I wouldn't want you to miss the opportunity available out there because you are not sure if it works or not. Literally try it and start to feel the differences in your life. You really have nothing to lose. Not sure where to start? Here on MMNTM I have a great blog that brings you mindset workouts and topics almost every day, click here to check it out >> Just like that another day on the blog is in the books! Thanks for all the support and if you enjoyed this or learned anything I just ask one thing: bring a friend back tomorrow! Time to make personal development more "normal" because it is at the foundation of every area of our lives. Stop back with a friend tomorrow-- yourmmntm.com/blog -Taylor Get Started on Your Own Mindset Training With These Resources:How to Build Stronger Relationships and Why Some People are More "Likable" >>
Master Your Sleep, You Aren't Part of the Few Percent that Can Sleep Less Than 7 Hours a Night >> The Best Skills to Learn in Today's "Tech Era" >> Today's "Mind Hack" to Improve BOTH the Quality and the Quantity of Your Work >>
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Essential to developing personal and professional relationships. Image: LadBible The High School ExampleA look at why some people were actually so popular in high school. Before you skip this section, no it is not what you think the answer is... It is not because they were in sports, are more attractive or are more confident than others. Crazy, right? That's exactly why I thought the most popular kids were the way they were, until I started to dive a little deeper. Now that what you thought was for sure the answer is off of the table, what could it possibly be? This might surprise you, depending on the experience that you had in high school, but they were simply just more interested in other people than others were. They were interested in what was going on in others' lives and kept up to date and supported whatever they were doing. Unlike a lot of the people who claimed they were "no popular" and proceeded to go throughout their day not talking to anyone because they either didn't think they fit in or they didn't have the confidence to talk to anyone. And what does not talking to people lead to? A lack of interest in their lives. So, sorry to break the stereotype in high school or even college, but if you want to be more likable, you have to start taking a genuine interest in other people's lives. Be interested to be interesting...What Being Interested in Others MeansThis has to be genuine, plain and simple. What exactly does being interested in others mean? Well, pretty much exactly what you can assume it means. It means keeping up with what is going on in their life, what they are working on, what their point of view on topics is and supporting whatever they choose to take on. This is absolutely essential to form relationships and if you are struggling to form any meaningful relationships, I would venture to guess that this is part of the problem. Just take the example of sales people trying to keep an existing client, they have to keep constantly calling the same clients and checking in on their personal lives, wishing them a happy holidays and seeing how their kids are doing. This builds trust for the continued relationship in the business, making sure the client wants to keep doing business with them, and it is a dang effective strategy. Or even take a simpler example of going on a date, you can't just show up to a date and talk about yourself, you have to ask them questions and take an interest in what they are doing. A date is not a time to "flex" what you are doing or have done in your life, it is a time to build a genuine connection and you do so through asking questions and being interested in them. If that is new advice to you, that might be the problem in your dating life. And how exactly does this get people to like you more?Who doesn't like talking about themselves? Nobody, it is the topic that we all could go on and on about. From where we are from, to what we are working on and what our goals are, it is at the top of the list of our favorite topic to talk about. When you keep asking them questions about themselves, and then following up with questions to their responses, you start to dive really deep into the thoughts and beliefs of someone and there is no better way to connect with them. You get out of the "surface level" conversations faster and into the more meaningful conversations that you both will remember. Even if you don't say much about yourself during the time with them, they will feel as if you have created a meaningful relationship because of the conversation you were able to have. What Being Interested is Going to Add to Your LifeSo much more than you think. With the importance of relationships being so prevalent in our lives, it is no surprise that this will impact many areas of your life. Relationships help to motivate us, bring us happiness and fulfillment and help us reach those goals better than we would have been able to otherwise, and the main benefit of being interested in others is the stronger relationships you are going to be able to form. From work relationships to romantic relationships, you are going to build more trust in these people and have them enjoy the time they spend around you more, helping your personal and professional lives. This is also going to attract many more people into your life, some that you might "mesh well with." You really never know when you are going to meet that person that has a dramatic impact on your life, and connecting with more people, on more than just the surface level, is exactly how to find those people. It isn't just about stronger relationships though, when you take up an interest in other people's lives, you start to gain a wider knowledge base in return. I mean, how can you not? Diving deep into topics that people care about, you are going to know and understand so much more than you did before and this can start to open up new opportunities as well. Realize that everyone has something to teach you no matter who they are or what their background may be. Finally, you can start to understand people better, understand how they think and act and why they are thinking the way that they are. You can start to notice patterns in thinking of similar types of people and even just understand the person you are attracted to better in order to figure out how to improve the relationship. This one simple mindset "hack" can help you in so many more ways than you think, I would highly suggest picking it up if you haven't been convinced already. Training Yourself to Be More Interested by: MMNTM, the Gym for Your MindAs always, a little workout to end the blog. I don't like to leave you hanging without some ways to actually become more interested in life, so you can actually start seeing the benefits instead of just reading about them. So, here are some quick exercises to help you get more interested and start being more interested in other people... First, simply start off with being more interested in your own life. Figure out a handful of topics that you are interested in and start to pick up some books, listen to some podcasts and just start learning more about these topics. When you start to learn more about what you care about, you are going to start breaking down the topic more and realize what you need to learn about. Before you do so it's simple to say "oh I need to learn about marketing," until you actually jump in and realize there are a million subsets to learn about as well. This naturally makes you more interested and this can carry over to becoming interested in other people because you realize that everyone has something to teach you (even if it just is what not to do). Finally, when you are talking to people, just start asking more questions and talking less. This will seem weird at first but you will see how you can dive into deeper conversations by doing so, just don't keep asking basic questions like "where are you from." I'm not saying to never talk about yourself or bring up your opinion, just ask more questions than you do talk about yourself. This is going to lead to a great conversation, I can almost guarantee that. Just like that another day on the blog is in the books! Thanks for all the support and if you enjoyed this or learned anything I just ask one thing: bring a friend back tomorrow! Time to make personal development more "normal" because it is at the foundation of every area of our lives. Stop back with a friend tomorrow-- yourmmntm.com/blog -Taylor The Training Shouldn't Stop There, Here Are More Solid Resources:Get more done, produce more work and create better quality work. Image: The Wall Street Journal Everyone Else's Work DaysHow boring would it be to live like everyone else? What the large majority of people do is just show up and go through the motions. They are there strictly to collect that paycheck to help them pay for whatever it is that they want to buy next and be able too afford the life they have created for themselves. Whether that is a house they barely could afford or a car they stretched their budget for, they are just barely getting by. The funny thing is... they still strictly just do what they are supposed to do and go through the motions at work, never really pushing themselves and taking those extra steps to learn or do what they need to. When this is exactly what they need to be doing if they want to live the life they are trying to portray themselves living when they stretch their budgets. They work their whole life, playing it safe and saving for retirement, when they claim that they are actually "going to start enjoying life." Well, I don't know about you guys but to me, waiting 50 years to actually enjoy my life sounds like my own living version of hell. Skip going through the motions, we need to take more action than everyone so that we start to gain momentum and excel at a faster pace than most. That Extra "Rep" Means EverythingNo, reps aren't just in the gym. /Repetition/: The act of repeating an action or event. No, reps are not just for at the gym, they include everything that we constantly repeat on a day to day basis. You know what everyone else does? They show up and do exactly the amount of reps they are told and then leave. They set out to do 5 pushups and then end up doing 5 and calling it a day. Or, in work terms... They do the report and don't do any extra research for it, they put in it exactly what needs to be in it. They don't got out and learn any extra skills, they went to college and think that should suffice. So, what can you do? Just that and more. Every time something comes your way, go that extra step on it, do more than was asked and even put your own ideas or opinions on it. It's all about that extra rep, those reps above just going through the motions at work are the reps that mean the most. Everyone does what they are supposed to do, that will get you nowhere fast. ...and how will this make you stand out?Other than simply making your work more unique and have the ability to stand out, it is also going to start training your brain. It is going to start giving you mental endurance because no longer are you just going to be going through the motions and doing all the work that is easy, you are going to be doing more than required and getting used to doing what is hard. So, when that tough assignment or task comes along that everyone else is dreading, you can take charge and get it done. Even just going that extra step for a client that you might be on a sales call with, but might not be able to help, give him some resources on who could help him and then ask for a referral if he knows anyone that might need your services. A lot of people, in this case, would just hang up and go on with the next call, but if you turn this opportunity and other opportunities like this into more potential customers, your stats are going to start trending higher than everyone else's. Always be on the lookout for who you can take that extra step for and what you can do those extra reps on, even if it just means more calls connecting with clients than others are making. How This is Going To Change the Game For Your LifeTrain your brain for mental endurance, thank yourself later. Crazy thing is, these reps that you start doing at work can translate to almost every other area of your life as well. No longer are you just doing the bare minimum, you are training your mind to do the "hard things" and those are things that most people push off and never get done. This means you can maybe start that thing you have always wanted to start, whether it be a business, sport, lesson, skill, etc, and maybe watch a little bit less Netflix. Or, you can go above and beyond in your relationship and start to build an even stronger connection with the one you love. Or even with your hobbies, you can start doing the extra reps there every day, instead of just doing them for a little bit and not seeing any real progress of your skills over the years. Even in the gym, instead of doing the number of reps you set out to do, you start doing 3 more every set. Soon your results start skyrocketing because you are actually pushing yourself and not just showing up to the gym and going through the motions so that you can say that you were there for the day. This skill and mindset literally touches every area of your life because every areas requires practice if you want to start excelling in it. Extra reps mean extra practice. Time to PracticeI explained how adding those extra reps in work can help you in the other aspects of your life as well, but that also works in reverse. If you start doing this in other areas, it can translate to your work as well. That is why I am going to focus on areas outside of work in the mental workout for today, because we all have a million different jobs so it isn't realistic to make a general workout for that. Let's get started... Exercise #1: Add 2 minutes of cold water at the end of your shower Notes: What better way to add that extra rep than through some cold water at the end of a shower, it is both uncomfortable and rewarding. Exercise #2: Do the extra rep in the gym Notes: Or apply this to any physical activity. Add a few reps to every set when you start to think you are done. If you aren't working out, start today (a few reps are better than zero). Exercise #3: Read more Notes: Increase the amount you are reading by 15 minutes each day. Or, if you aren't reading add 30 minutes to the amount of time you spend reading. Exercise #4: Increase the podcast reps Notes: If you listen to music a lot throughout the day, decrease those reps and exchange them for some podcast reps so you can start to learn even more. Try at least 1 podcast a day that will teach you something. Just like that another day on the blog is in the books! Thanks for all the support and if you enjoyed this or learned anything I just ask one thing: bring a friend back tomorrow! Time to make personal development more "normal" because it is at the foundation of every area of our lives. Stop back with a friend tomorrow-- yourmmntm.com/blog -Taylor Leveling Up Your Life Using Your Mind Doesn't End Here, Check Out This Other Content As Well:You're lying to yourself if you think that you function well on less than 6-7 hours of sleep... Image: Pinterest "I Function Really Well on a Few Hours of Sleep"No, you really don't... I'm sure we have all tried to convince ourselves of this at some point or another, almost trying to brag to our friends about how productive we are because we don't need as much sleep. For whatever reason, it is almost a "flex" in todays day and age to be able to claim that you can be just as productive with less sleep, allowing you to learn more and get more work done. The key word in that sentence is "claim." Why? Because even though you might feel like you are getting just enough sleep, your brain might say otherwise. The recommded 7-9 hours of sleep per night is not just some random number they came up with to fit our work schedules way back when Henry Ford created the 9-5 workday. There has actually been research done to show that less than 5% of the population can effectively sleep 6 hours per night and still be fully rested and functioning at optimal brain function. I would not bet on yourself being part of that small group of people with a rare genetic condition that allows them to do so. Here is What You Are Missing Out On When You Sleep Deprive YourselfWhy would I not bet on ourselves being part of that very small percent of people that can function on less than 7 hours per night? Because the downsides, if we happen to be wrong, just don't outweigh the upsides to being right. While sleep deprived our body experiences the following:
... and how that starts to impact your day to day life.When you start to decrease your mental function in any way, shape or form, it impacts your day to day drastically. Why? Because your mind is at the foundation of every single action that you take from the time you wake up to the time you lay your head down to sleep at night. Let's paint a picture of what your day might look like after a few nights of sub par sleep schedules... Instead of having the power to stick to your diet, you might feel hungrier than usual and with your decreased decision making, maybe you decide to not follow the diet at all that day. Then, the next day rolls around, and still low on sleep, you decide that another day not following the diet won't hurt you and before you know it you have some powerful negative momentum. Or... Instead of waking up and crushing the work you have to/ want to get done, you find yourself getting more distracted than usual during the work day and end up getting nothing done during the day. Or, if you do get anything done, it is usually the easy tasks, not the hard tasks that get you closer to your goals, those just get pushed off until "some other time." The worst part of all of this is that some people get so used to getting very little sleep that they think that their sub par brain function is just "normal" and they don't even know what it is like to think at their normal level anymore. Those Extra Hours Staying Up Might Hurt You More Than They Are Helping YouYes, even if you THINK you are getting more work done. Sure, maybe you get a few more social media posts created, or you start to do that project that you have been pushing off for a while, but is it really worth you getting just a few hours of sleep to do so? I get it if it's a one night thing where you have a deadline to meet, but if this turns into a consistent pattern, you are likely hurting yourself more than your are helping yourself. When this starts becoming a habit, you start getting lazy during the day and then staying up later to get the work done, that you pushed off during the day, forcing yourself to get stuck in a constant feedback loop. The best thing when you are behind on sleep is to actually get sleep, not push it off to get a few things done that really aren't as important as your sleep. If you start mastering your sleep, the increased brain function will help you get more done during the day, making it not even a thought to stay up late to get things done because you don't need to. When in doubt, try not to mess up your sleep schedule for extended periods of time (more than a couple of days in a row), it can really throw off your positive momentum. The Foundation to Your Mindset: SleepAnd your mindset is the foundation to everything else in your life. If you have read the MMNTM Blog before, you know that I constantly stress about the importance of mindset as it is at the foundation of everything else that we do. From our confidence that drives our relationships to our work ethic that drives the meaningful work in our lives, mindset is at the foundation of everything. With that being said, I'm sure you can guess what the foundation of our mindset is after reading this article, I wouldn't just switch up topics on you now, would I? You got it, sleep is one of the biggest foundations of our mindset. Our mindsets are dramatically based around brain function and sleep either makes or breaks how well your brain is functioning each day, as you have read above. If our brain isn't functioning well, this is going to be a domino effect causing our mindsets to fall and us to fall into bad habits or not take action towards our goals that day. Start the day right, the night before. Get enough sleep and stop lying to yourself that you can function on less sleep. It is not something to "flex" as you are likely not able to function on less sleep and ultimately hurting your own results. Time to Stop Lying To Yourself and Improve Your SleepYour mind workout for today, brought to you by MMNTM: The Gym For Your Mind Exercise #1: Shower Before Bed (but not within 90 minutes of when you want to fall asleep) Notes: Taking a warm shower and then getting out into cold air actually helps lower the body temperature and helps you fall asleep better. Much like a cold bed is ideal for your sleep, just instead of your bed, it's the slightly decreased body temperature. Exercise #2: Get off of Your Phone Duration: 1 hour before bed Notes: Focus this time on reading, meditating or just thinking, instead of stimulating your brain with white and blue lights from your screen. Exercise #3: Get Rid of White and Blue Light at Night Notes: Whether that be LED lights in your house or light coming from your computer, phone or TV, get rid of these lights as they stimulate the brain and replicate day light. When you switch them out for "warmer" lights, or just use warmer red and orange lights at night, you replicate sunsets and trigger the release of melatonin in your brain. Exercise #4: Journal at Night Duration: 20 minutes Notes: What better way to use the time when you are not on your phone. You can journal about what you are grateful that happened during the day, what you learned and what you could improve on. Exercise #5: Meditate Duration: 20-30 minutes Notes: There are plenty of free guided sleep meditations on YouTube, and honestly one of the best ways to get ready for bed. Just like that another day on the blog is in the books! Thanks for all the support and if you enjoyed this or learned anything I just ask one thing: bring a friend back tomorrow! Time to make personal development more "normal" because it is at the foundation of every area of our lives. Stop back with a friend tomorrow-- yourmmntm.com/blog -Taylor As Always, I Would Never Want You To Stop Learning After One Article. Learn More Here:No, it isn't coding. Image: SYFY There is something much more important we should be learning...Maybe we aren't to the age of flying cars, as the Jetsens predicted, or we aren't living on Mars yet (Elon's working on that don't worry), but we are definitely in one of the most prosperous decades of technological growth that the world has seen. And it is only going to grow exponentially from this point on as we start to increase automation, A.I., online retailers, etc. With all of this technology getting created, you might think a hard skill such as coding might be the best choice to pursue in terms of future career choice, or even just as an extra skill to have. While in the current market of technology, this is an ever important skill, the future market for hard skills such as coding might be diminishing because of the exact technology that they are creating. That begs the question, what should we be focused on? Something that a lot of people are asking themselves. Automation is Coming, As You Likely KnowBut it is going to affect many more industries than you think. Did I interest you with that mention of the decreased value of coding above? Well, let me explain a little more... Have you heard about M.I.T. teaching artificial intelligence the fundamentals of coding so that it can code on its own, without the assistance of humans? It's happening, you can't slow down innovation and what does that mean for the need of this skill? Well, likely the best of the best programmers are going to be needed, but other than that, companies won't need these entry level programmers as they can just automate that away now. Yes, you read that right, it is not just low skill level jobs, such as factory workers, truck drivers and food service employees, that are getting automated away. It is the "secure" jobs, that they talk about going to college for, as well. Maybe just not as quickly as we see the other jobs disappearing, but they are definitely NOT totally safe from automation. Take the accounting field for example, it was predicated last year that 40% of basic accounting work would be automated in 2020. Even basic human resources jobs are likely to be reduced due to the lack of need of human workers for tasks such as payroll. While not all aspects of these jobs are going to be automated all too soon, jobs in general are likely to experience a decrease in the amount of hard skills needed. Gravitating more towards management, human to human connection skills and problem solving abilities, or what a lot of people like to call "soft skills." These are the more mental skills, not so much the repetitive skills or skills such as "hard skills." The Growing Importance of Your MindsetWhat does our mindset have to do with all of this? Well, our mindset is the foundation to the soft skills that we are trying to build. If you lack confidence, you are going to struggle with communicating your ideas to people, and guess where confidence comes from? You got it, confidence comes from that little voice inside of your head. If you aren't thinking clearly, you aren't going to be able to problem solve effectively. What does this mean for your career? It means that others are likely to have better ideas, or be able to think through problems better than you, helping them excel and not yourself. If you don't have mental resilience then you are going to struggle to be flexible and be able to bounce back after a failure. This can cause some major problems as failure is the only way to figure out what does and doesn't work on the way to your goals. And how this is going to help us...I mean, how isn't working on your mindset going to benefit you? If you increase your confidence you will be able to not just communicate your ideas better but you are also going to be able to talk with people better and connect with more people, improving the overall quality of your life. If you start clearing your mind and getting rid of "brain fog," you will be able to think through problems and come to better solutions than you were able to before. Also, clearing this brain fog will help your focus, allowing you to get more quality work done. If you start to control that voice in your head, you might just be able to take more action and be less afraid of failure. But this can also help you in your personal life. If you start eliminating your negative voices in your head, you will be happier on a day to day basis and be more enjoyable to be around. This means more friends and more connection as you won't push away people with negativity. If you start to build more confidence through your mindset maybe you will finally have the bold ability to go up and talk to that person you are attracted to. Who knows, maybe that's the person you will start a family with. Your Mental Workout PlanSo, how do you get started so that you can see these results? Exercise #1: Talk to Three New People Each Day Focus: Confidence Notes: Make sure to have a conversation, not just say "hi." Exercise #2: Take a Walk When the Weather Sucks, Then Follow It With a Cold Shower Focus: Mental endurance and resilience Duration: 45 minute walk, 3-5 minute shower Notes: Taking a walk when it's hot, freezing cold, snowing, windy or raining is likely the last thing you want to do. Exercise #3: Remove Negative Influences Examples: The news, negative social media accounts, stop complaining, take away sad music, etc. Focus: Positive thinking Exercise #4: Remove Sugar and Alcohol from the Diet for a Week Duration: All day, every day, for a week. Focus: Mental Clarity Notes: These are the biggest factors to "brain fog," get them under control and start thinking like you never thought possible. Exercise #5: Sleep Enough Reps: Daily Duration: 7-9 hours Focus: All around mental ability and focus Notes: You are not part of the fraction of 1% of the population that can get less sleep and still be on top of their mental game. This is hands down the most important thing for your day. Just like that another day on the blog is in the books! Thanks for all the support and if you enjoyed this or learned anything I just ask one thing: bring a friend back tomorrow! Time to make personal development more "normal" because it is at the foundation of every area of our lives. Stop back with a friend tomorrow-- yourmmntm.com/blog -Taylor Don't Let the Growth Stop There...It seems like everyone is missing this essential skill, this is your chance to stand out from the crowd. Image: Medium What I Found Out I Was Severely Struggling WithAnd you might be as well... I was facing constant struggle with my homework and just work in general, every time that I sat down to get stuff done, I would find myself scrolling through social media just a few minutes later. I couldn't just sit down and work for hours on end like some people can, I seemed to always be distracted and it revolved heavily around the presence of my phone in my work area. It was so easy to just pick up the phone to see if I missed anything on social media or any messages from my friends. Eventually, I started checking it without even realizing that I was doing it until a few seconds later, it was almost like an instinct. Then I would catch myself and have to regain focus on the task at hand, usually risking losing my train of thought and my idea at some point along this path of distractions. I'm sure this feels all too familiar for some of you as well, you want to sit down and focus but we just seem compelled, almost subconsciously, to continue to get distracted. Not surprisingly, guess what the cause was, and continues to be?Hands down the biggest cause of lack of focus is the decreased attention span we have created for ourselves thanks to technology. It is widely believed that the human attention span has decreased over the last decades, from 12 seconds to 8 seconds, meaning that we have a shorter attention span than a goldfish who clocks in at 9 seconds... We are constantly stimulated by technology and social media, almost to a point where we can't stay focused on one thing for too long because there is always something else out there. Even when scrolling through social media, you never just stay on one social media app for too long before jumping to the next one to see what you missed there. We are constantly jumping from task to task, never really focused on one thing for too long. Even take the example of trying to learn in college, how many of you actually sit in class and focus the whole time without touching your phone? The Good News? We Can ChangeJust like every other habit, this can be changed. All of this task hopping cannot be good for our work in any way, shape or form, and it definitely is not. When we can't stay focused on the task at hand for more than 15-20 minutes without getting distracted or having to switch up what we are doing, then we are not going to be producing and problem solving at the level we should be. Usually, it takes 15-20 minutes to just clear your mind of all the distractions and other thoughts in order to just focus on the task at hand, and then even longer to enter the "flow state" that many describe as being consumed in your work to a point where you aren't experiencing time the same way. I am sure we have all had this happen at least one point in our lives, where we were so consumed in the thing that we were doing that time seemed to pass us by faster than usual. Imagine if you could actually start experiencing that in your work? You would be getting so much more done, producing a higher quality of work and you wouldn't be sitting there watching the red hand on that clock tick away the seconds until you can go home. Our brains are a muscle in the body and just like every muscle, you can train it to be better. What does that mean? You can train yourself to improve your focus, but it is by no means going to be easy. The urges to get distracted will be real and you can't do anything other than power through them. Once people try to fix their focus, they reach this stage where it seems impossible to not get distracted and that is where they break. Then, they try to justify to themselves and others why they can't stay focused and then why they are just as productive even though they get distracted more often. Focus On FocusA rare skill in todays world. With the average attention span being 8 seconds, and many people not being able to focus on one body of work for more than 15-20 minutes, this seem likes a prime area to start leveling up in your own life so that you can stand out. Stand out through the quality of work you are producing and stand out through the quantity of work you are producing. Depending on what Industry you are in or what you are studying in school, you might hear people stress quality over quantity. But what if you could have both? We don't have to fall into the average thinking mind because it is definitely possible to produce high quantities of high quality work. How so? Imagine getting into a "flow state" for hours at a time, solving problem after problem that you were facing and creating intricate solutions? That is something that a flow state allows but simply isn't possible when you attack the problem like everyone else: think about it for a while, go on their phone, write a little bit, then answer emails and before you know it, it has taken them 3x longer than you to do the same amount of work or even less work than you would have in a more focused flow state. Don't let boring people fool you, you can produce higher quantities of high quality work if you change the patterns of your thinking.  Image: MRKTRS An Ode to Focus: Bill Gates' "Think Weeks"We all know the the brain of Bill Gates is extraordinary, that he thinks on a totally different level than a lot of us and that he is able to get so much more done in the same amount of time that we all have on a day to day basis. Well, he also has one habit that is an all encompassing reason on why focus is so important. Even Gates needs time to focus in an ever distracting world, so don't be out here thinking that you can somehow get enough done without working on your focus. Even Gates is working on his focus through what he calls "Think Weeks." Twice a year, for a full week each time, Gates sets out to the Pacific Northwest, to a small and simple cabin to take on these "Think Weeks." He takes these weeks in order to read, learn, and think about the major problems that are on his mind as well as topics that are of interest to him. No distractions, no other people, just him and his thoughts. Training his mind to focus and be free from distraction as he can take the thoughts, ideas and habits of focus back to his day to day life after each week is done. These weeks started way back in the 1980's and continue to this day for Gates, an obviously essential part of his year if they have continued for so long. Your Focus Workout- by: MMNTM, The Gym For Your MindI know you likely can't take full weeks off in order to train this habit for yourself, so why not get the habit of better focus started with some simple mind workouts? Exercise #1: Take Control of Your Morning Duration: 30 min- 1 hour Notes: When you stop responding to texts right away in the morning and start focusing on yourself, you aren't going to start the day being reactive to others, you will have control of your life. Get off your phone for this time and get real things done. Exercise #2: Take Control of Your Nights Duration: 1 Hour Notes: Same as in the morning, take control of your nights so that you aren't just responding to everything everyone else is doing, focus on yourself. Plus, when you get off your phone for this time, you start to wind your brain down to get ready to sleep, helping you sleep better. Better sleep results in improved focus the following day,. making it easier to say "NO" to distractions. Exercise #3: No Phone Use During Important Tasks Notes: When you are working on school work or just working on something important, lock your phone in your car or take it to another room. Then you can't pick it up whenever you want to. Take this one step further and don't let yourself switch what you are working on or flip between topics until you are done with the first topic. Only 2% of people in the world can effectively multitask, don't bet on yourself being that 2%. Exercise #4: Take a Cold Shower Duration: 3-5 minutes Reps: 1x per day Notes: While this on its own won't improve focus, combine it with the other exercises and it will definitely add to the focus. Why? Because when you get into a cold shower, you are immediately focused on nothing but that cold water hitting your body, helping your mind recognize what real focus is like. Exercise #5: Self Awareness Notes: Probably the hardest exercise to put to use, but whenever you feel the need to pick up the phone or change the tab or just get distracted when you are working on something important, acknowledge it and then force yourself to not do it. Easier said than done and you will likely catch yourself slipping up every once in a while still but that is fine as long as you are trying to eliminate it. Sometimes the best solution to your focus is going to be sheer will-power. Just like that another day on the blog is in the books! Thanks for all the support and if you enjoyed this or learned anything I just ask one thing: bring a friend back tomorrow! Time to make personal development more "normal" because it is at the foundation of every area of our lives. Stop back with a friend tomorrow-- yourmmntm.com/blog -Taylor Learning About Your Mindset Shouldn't Stop Here, Try These Resources:Why most of us seem to be coming to the wrong conclusions when it comes to our happiness... "I'll Be Happy When..."We have all had these few words stumble out of our mouth at some point or another, or maybe even on a consistent basis for a majority of us. How do I know this? Because I am writing this article and you are reading this article. I didn't just start writing this randomly, I choose the topic based off of past struggles and experiences and you likely chose this article off of current struggles or experiences. This is usually how our thinking goes when it comes to happiness in our lives, it's always second to something. Usually we think "I'll be happy when..." "... I get the job." "... I find a significant other." "... I am out of college." "... I take the trip I have always wanted to." "... I retire from my job." But, what if that "when" never comes?Playing Life Based on End ResultsIt's a problem we all catch ourselves trapped in. We, as a society as a whole, have trapped ourselves in this thinking that happiness is locked in the end results of achieving whatever goals we have set for ourselves. Thinking that once we reach a goal we are going to be a little happier than we were before we reached that goal and most importantly, that we won't be happy until we do so. If that is true then why are there so many celebrities, musicians and company leaders that are depressed? Why do we hear about the suicides of your favorite musicians or the drug problems they have or the problems of the people who movies you go to watch? They are at the pinnacle of their life, yet they are still struggling with their happiness. This alone should be a good enough reason not to believe the lies that we grew up believing around happiness lying only in the end results. Changing Up The Formula...How do we need to start thinking? We need to flip this script completely and start seeing happiness as a byproduct of what we are doing on a day to day basis and not as a byproduct of an end result. Happiness should, and most likely will, come through the process of working towards a goal of yours and showing yourself the progress you are making, not just through when you reach a goal. Happiness is a feeling you get when you start to challenge yourself a little more and persevere through the hard times to see what you are actually capable of. Happiness comes from the discipline in your life that frees up more opportunities than just trying to find temporary happiness through a short beach vacation or a Netflix binge. Happiness is showing yourself that you are enough and that you can reach those goals that you have set for yourself. It is almost counterintuitive, but being happier doesn't come from going out to drink and party more, or watching more Netflix, it comes from doing the hard work that we seem to be pushing off almost every day. One Essential Step to The Equation1. What You Are Willing to Sacrifice For The essential step to "enjoying the process," as one might say, is finding the things that you are willing to sacrifice for and finding happiness to be a byproduct of your work and discipline on those things. We all have those things that we are interested in and would be willing to sacrifice time and money for, in order to get closer to what we have been visualizing our lives to be. These are the things that we are willing to not go to the party for and that we are willing to get up early and work on. If you are looking for happiness to be a byproduct of your work and discipline, you have to make sure you are working on something that you actually care about, not just some basic thing such as homework or what you are already doing at your 9-5 job. Why This Can WorkTime to stop unsuccessfully trying to be happier on a day to day basis. Even though it seems like happiness would come from more time relaxing on a beach or watching Netflix and scrolling through social media, where you don't have to think or stress yourself out, that actually is not the case at all. Honestly, you can only be so happy sitting on a beach all day drinking or watching Netflix, sooner or later the return on happiness starts going down because you just get used to doing those things. I realized this during my month long break during college, I thought it was going to be the best thing ever but honestly I was just getting sick of Netflix and kind of wished I had homework or something to challenge myself. Our minds want to be challenged, and when we start doing so then we can start to find happiness, it isn't the other way around. When we start to build discipline and challenge ourselves, we start conquering the one thing that holds almost all of us back... the fear that we aren't "enough." There always seems to be someone that is better than us at ______ and we never give ourselves enough credit. When we start to actually show ourselves that we are "enough" and are capable of more than we originally thought, this does wonders for our mindset and happiness. Don't beleive me? The only way to know is to actually try. Your Happiness GymHere's a little workout for your mind. Exercise #1: Read Duration: 1 Hour Notes: Start pushing yourself intellectually, can't get closer to your goals unless you learn about all the things you currently aren't as informed on. Exercise #2: Hit the Gym or Take a Walk Duration: 1 Hour Notes: Break a sweat, do those extra reps and start really pushing yourself. Don't just show up, you become happier through the hard work, not taking the easy way out. Exercise #3: Stay off Your Phone Reps: 2x per day Duration: 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour at night Notes: Get the momentum for the day started on the right note, not allowing others to dictate your day. Same goes for the last hour, plus it will help you sleep better. Exercise #4: Do Something You Care About Duration: 1-2 hours a day Notes: Learn that instrument, start a blog, start writing music, start that social media page, start that business... you know what you want to do so why haven't you been doing it? Just like that another day on the blog is in the books! Thanks for all the support and if you enjoyed this or learned anything I just ask one thing: bring a friend back tomorrow! Time to make personal development more "normal" because it is at the foundation of every area of our lives. Stop back with a friend tomorrow-- yourmmntm.com/blog -Taylor Your Mindset Is A Fascinating Place, Don't Let The Learning Stop Here...College has its ups and downs, here's how to ride the wave a little smoother. Image: JETMag I Know, I Have Been There.I know exactly how you are feeling, heck I still feel it every once in a while. We all think freshman year is going to be all fun and filled with parties, but at least at my school after the first few months the parties died down a little and I started to get hit with the realities of college. I spent a lot of time with people, but I was with people that I didn't seem to connect with as well as my high school friends, I started to spend a lot of time alone and classes seemed to be taking over my life. And from the people I have heard from, a lot of kids have a similar experience. Sure, you might see your friends to go eat, to go to the gym and in class, but those are just a fraction of your days. The amount of time we end up spending alone in the dorms is wild. I would have never thought about all of this free time in college actually being a negative. Especially coming out of high school where everything is planned for you and you see your close friends for 8 hours each and every day and then even more after school. Everyone has different class schedules in college and that was never something that I considered, so I found myself sitting in my dorm for hours at a time, something that really took a mental toll on me. Our Preconceived Ideas of CollegeThe first thing that we think about when we think of college is probably Project X type parties, I know this is a high school based movie don't judge the analogy, but even bigger and better. You head into college hearing that it will be the best four years of your life, from what seems like everyone that you are talking to. You think you are going to meet the best people in your life, and I'm not saying you won't, but this just adds to the pressure if you don't find these people. You also think that each and every moment is going to be filled with some new adventure, some new person, some new friends, some new activities and that you will never be bored. and then the reality of what college is hits...Sure, the first few months are pretty solid, I am not going to lie, but then the winter started to roll around for me and everything started to die down. People were hanging out less, just settling into their own schedules and really only planning things on the weekends. Classes actually started to be a lot of work and effort had to be put in outside of the classroom, I couldn't cruise through like I did in high school. Maybe your class schedule doesn't line up with your friends and you end up going to the gym and eating alone more often than you would like. The amount of free time you have starts to be more of a curse than a blessing as you don't know what to fill all of this time with, I just started to go to the gym twice a day to kill some boredom. Slowly but surely, as the years go by, you realize college might not have been all that it was hyped up to be and the "real world" is looming closer and closer. The Good News: It's All in Our MindsOne of my best realizations. The good news here is that this really is just four years of our lives, and I sure hope it isn't the best years of our lives because why would you want 70 years of boring in your life? I would sure hope you found something meaningful to do over the course of those years, not wishing you were reliving the college days forever. College is really what we make it, much like the rest of life. This is definitely a stepping stone into the "real world" which definitely is what you make it out to be. You can start looking at every day and every situation in college through a negative lens because it wasn't what you thought it was going to be, but that will just reinforce this bad habit that you might carry the rest of your life. What does this negative mindset lead to? Less opportunities, less people wanting to be around you and less happiness, just to name a few things. Or you can realize that everything is in your control for the first time and it is up to you to take advantage of this, the great realization of college. Using Your Mindset to Revamp Your College ExperienceA strategy that is applicable for every other area of your life as well. Image what your experience could look like if you started to invest into yourself, the investment that you can make without any money and that pays the best rate of return. All this free time you are spending on Netflix and YouTube, why not spend at least a little bit of it to build up that confidence, feel a little more happy and enjoy your time a little more? Your mind is like a muscle, you can add skills to it, grow it and exercise it. This just takes a little bit of practice as everything does, just like you were practicing for a sport, just that it is the sport of life this time. Pushing yourself mentally shows yourself that you are able to do more than you think you can, building your confidence and helping you carry this to other areas of your life. No longer are you just going through the motions each day waiting for the weekend, you are working on yourself and other people will start to notice. Our minds are at the foundation of everything in life, might as well craft a strong and resilient foundation so that we can attack other areas such as relationships, work, homework, sports and everything else, with a little different attitude. This is the biggest realization for me in college so far and I wouldn't want you to miss out on all of the benefits as well. A Quick Mind Workout For Your Busy ScheduleExercise #1: Take a walk Reps: 1x per day Duration: 45 minutes Notes: It is even better when the weather sucks and you go take a walk, that builds the ultimate mental toughness. This is hands down one of the best habits I built for my mind in college because you can think through everything and get those UV rays to help your mitochondria function a little better. Exercise #2: Clean Up The Diet Notes: Cut down on unnecessary carbs, cut out sugar and alcohol almost completely. You will start to think way clearer. This is hard as crap because all of these things seem almost too plentiful in college. Exercise #3: Read More Reps: 1x per day Duration: 1 hour Notes: We aren't in high school anymore, challenge yourself intellectually to learn a few new things every day, not reading is not cool. Exercise #4: Stop Complaining Duration: All day every day. Notes: Once you start thinking about every time you want to complain, you will realize how much you actually do so on a daily basis. This gives us a negative lens of the world to look through and impacts how others see us too. Time to change that, start looking at the opportunities every time you want to complain. You will realize this is the hardest of these exercises to execute on. Just like that another day on the blog is in the books! Thanks for all the support and if you enjoyed this or learned anything I just ask one thing: bring a friend back tomorrow! Time to make personal development more "normal" because it is at the foundation of every area of our lives. Stop back with a friend tomorrow-- yourmmntm.com/blog -Taylor Don't Let The Learning Stop There...Why Instagram Removing Likes Might Be The Best Thing For Your Mindset >>
How Your Mindset Is Becoming Infinitely Valuable With The Rise of Technology >> I Finally Found Out Why I Have Been Struggling to Build Habits >> A Morning Routine Might Not Be For You, But At Least Avoid These Things Each Morning... >> With so many people complaining, let's look at the positives if Instagram actually does remove "like counts." Image: Tube Filter If you have been scrolling around on Twitter or even just reading the "tech news" lately, I sure you have stumbled across an article with a headline something along this lines of "Instagram is Removing Likes This Week: Here is what That Will look Like..." And surprisingly, the news isn't wrong this time, they just aren't 100% right either. Instagram is only testing out this feature on a number of users within the US this week, something that they already have been doing in other countries previous to this. That doesn't mean that they aren't going to implement this change in the not too distant future though and that is something we have to weight the benefits and downsides to. All I have seen regarding this news is the negative side, or people complaining about the potential change and how it would be the "worst thing to ever happen." They are not surprisingly missing the fact of how much good this change could do for the population as a whole, potentially helping the mindsets and happiness of the users that "live for the likes." Why is Instagram Testing This?For some very valid reasons. Well, they are a tech company so you can expect them to test anything and everything that they would need to in order to create a more powerful user experience. And in the day and age of rising social media use correlated with rising unhappiness and depression, a better user experience might encompass taking away some of these features that are contributing the most to the problem at hand. This could be the first of many steps Instagram and other social media companies take in order to help combat this growing problem in children and adults inside and outside of the United States. For some, the game of user experience and creating the user interface on apps, websites and other pieces of technology might see a SLIGHT decline in the focus on keeping people on their platforms as long as possible, in exchange for the greater good of society. Why People May Be ConcernedMore people then not I see complaining about this move. People are concerned for very good reasons, or at least the people who have businesses and brands on Instagram that is. A brand or business that has a presence on Instagram relies heavily on engagement on their pages and if you take away one of the key measures of engagement, then how would people know that they are a reputable brand and didn't just buy all of their followers? Well, that is a valid point here but the comment section will still be available and in reality, it shows a much stronger audience engagement, for followers of that page, if there is an engaged comment section. It is easy for someone to scroll past and like a picture without even knowing who posted it or what exactly the image was about, but people only comment on the pages they find interesting and engaging. Also, housing a brand on Instagram, much like these "Instagram Influencers" are doing, you are bound to run into problems like this all the time. From algorithm changes that don't allow your posts to be organically found anymore, to now the removal of likes. You can't just rely on one platform for your whole brand and business, because what if that platform goes "extinct" for whatever reason, like the once powerful Myspace, this can and WILL happen eventually as new platforms step in and gain traction. For the people who are just on Instagram with their personal pages and worried about the removal of likes, it is definitely not going to impact these pages as much as a business and this might be a sign that they are too worried about the perception of their life on Instagram. Who really cares how many likes your personal page got, do you even know everyone liking your pictures or is it just a number? And for many people that number is never high enough, you start off wanting 100 likes, then 1,000, then you see a page with 10,000 likes and want that. It literally is never going to be enough for these people. Seriously take a step back and look at how much Instagram is influencing your life, and why you would be "mad" if they took away likes, is it really going to impact your life drastically? But, the positives might outweigh the negatives in the long run...Social Media and the Rise of Mental Health ProblemsHow social media may be contributing to this. It is no new research that social media is contributing to mental health problems, loneliness and sadness across the world. We spend all day on these platforms comparing our lives to the lives of the people that we follow, and soon start to think about how "boring" our lives are. We scroll for hours and hours through pictures of places we aren't going to, things we don't have and fame we wish we had. What is this doing to our minds? It is making us depressed that we don't have these things even though we have never put forth the effort to get them. So, what do we do? Go on social media to avoid thinking about this and end up getting even more sad or comparing our lives more and more to these "other people." Social media also has us more connected than ever. We are constantly on Snapchat talking with our friends and this makes us feel more connected than ever, why would you even need to hang out with people if you are constantly in contact with them? Well, think this for long enough and you start hanging out with less and less people and the feeling of loneliness increases ten times, even though we are "talking to" a ton of people each day. Technology and social media has started to replace those persons to person conversations in our lives, the exact conversations that help us feel needed and wanted. "Real world relationships" are increasingly important now that we are seeing less and less people, because we can simply snap them instead of actually meeting them for lunch. It is no wonder then that a majority of Americans report that the often feel lonely during the course of a day. How Removing Likes Might Be The Best Thing For Your |
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