Find Inspiration, Ego Holidays, Sometimes Nothing Will Help Like a Good Night Sleep
Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one:
Inspiration can be a powerful force that we often neglect. Figure out what gets you fired up, whether it’s music, a good quote, a friend or someone to look up to, and use that to get you going.
We can all take a break from ourselves and work on thinking more of others.
There is no replacement for good sleep.
Starter Mindset Tip: Find Things to Inspire You
Inspiration plays a crucial role in driving motivation and sustained effort over long periods of time. Ensure you are using it to your benefit. We all have things that can act to inspire us, it becomes a matter of figuring out what they are. Challenge yourself to come up with unique things that you can count on to get you going on those days you are needing a little extra motivation. It may help to have something in mind for different aspects of life. For work try to find someone who you can look up to. For exercise, maybe it’s some good music or watching an elite athlete in action. For a creative task maybe it is looking through art. Whatever the case may be and whatever the particular activity is, you can be sure there is something out there that can inspire you.
Health Recipe: Take An Ego Holiday
Timing: A day or two
Level of Difficulty: Difficult
Serving Size: Large and filling
Spiciness: Picante
INGREDIENTS
You and the absence of you
REASONING AND BENEFITS
Have you ever felt like you needed a break from yourself? This mindset tip is a tricky one and not for the faint of heart. It involves setting aside some time, a day or weekend where you deliberately try to let go of yourself and focus entirely on things outside your own identity. It allows you to achieve many things including becoming less self centered, more aware of how narrow our perspectives are, it can give you a better idea of those things that are acting as sources of stress, and broaden your thinking. Choose a day where this is set as your goal. It may be challenging at first, so don’t be too hard on yourself.
INSTRUCTIONS
Choose a particular day in advance, maybe a weekend, where you don’t have a lot going on and dedicate it to taking an ego break.
In conversations, let go of thinking about the next thing to say as it pertains to yourself. Don’t talk about yourself at all. Try not to say the words ‘I’, ‘my’, ‘me’ etc.
Do things for other people. Think about what other people are going through.
Observe thoughts and feelings as they arise without attaching them to your sense of self.
Simply observe without judging.
PRO TIP: This recipe can enhance your listening skills and curiosity, pay attention to these things and if you are having trouble focus on these as the initial goals.
* Come up with some sort of mantra for these days along the lines of ‘there is a world going on independent of me.’
** Put aside self growth for the day and avoid thinking in terms of yourself. When your brain inevitably comes back to your opinions or problems, acknowledge them as passing phenomena without identifying with them.
*** Get outside. Being in town, nature or around other people helps to disengage from the identity of self.
Dessert Quote:
"The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep." E. Joseph Cossman quoted in Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
