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How Often Do You Exercise Your Mind?

Squats, deadlifts, presses, push ups, pull ups, lunges, curls, sit ups….reading?  Exercising is not just for the body, it should also include the mind.  Do you actively workout your brain?

I am not talking about doing those quizzes online, “who would you be if you were a cartoon?”  “ who is your spirit animal?”  “what does your choice in footwear say about your future?”  No, not at all. I am also not referring to your level of brilliance in ‘words with friends’.  I am also not talking about learning what your boss wants you to learn and know. I am really getting at the fact that;

your brains need to be exercised just like the rest of your busy muscles.

We have just got back from an amazing conference.  Two days of listening, taking notes, masterminds, so much learning.  I was never really interested in boring business stuff, until, it wasn’t so boring anymore because I wanted to learn more about how to make myself grow mentally and apply that to my own business.

I married a man who was never employed for very long.  He was always wanting to be his own boss and has been an entrepreneur for most of his adult life.  It really is a different way of life on so many levels.  The biggest one, in my opinion, is that his mind never stops processing things for his job because all aspects of that job are ultimately up to him.  When you have a boss, you have the luxury of leaving your job at your job.  As a result, Doug has always been a constant learner.

But, even if you work for somebody else, you can and should be learning all the time.  The best part about having somebody else calling the shots in the day is that you get to choose what you do with your own spare learning.  The options are then totally endless.

When you are planning to make changes in your world any changes, it opens up the option to learning new and different things, and the options really are endless.

  • If you are planning on a new workout routine, learn what you can about training styles.
  • If you are planning on changing your eating routine, learn about nutrition and ways to prepare your food.
  • If you are planning on a new hobby, explore the options.  When you pick one, learn all you can about it.
  • If you are wanting to join a club, group, organization, investigate it.
  • If you are wanting travel, find out all you can about your options, cultures, weather changes, politics.

Really, there should never be a time that there is nothing to learn.  We should always be open to continued learning.  We are no longer in school, so stop thinking in terms of that brick building that you were forced to be in.  Start realizing that now, you can learn when, where, how, and whatever you want.

There are a lot of people that ‘hate’ the idea of going back to school, but you need to rethink about the fact that you are likely learning new things all the time, maybe it’s about time to choose what you will be learning.  Take some of that time you have and open your horizons just a little.

The amount of active learning really is up to you.  Simply doing something new, will open up the possibilities for learning.  Picking up a book and reading, even if it’s a novel will expose your mind to new thought.  The most important thing is to be open to the new.  As we age, it is harder for us to learn, but not impossible.  

So, make a point of thinking about something that has always interested you.  Gardening, cooking, knitting, photography, dog obedience, hockey, travel, languages, sewing, woodwork and so on and so on.  Just learn one new thing a day, every day, each day.  You will become a way more interesting person and will grow in ways you can’t even imagine.

 

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. -Pele

 

Apple Pie Crepe Cake

 

Bring on the autumn apples.

Truth be told I love to bake.  If you know me at all, you know this already.  I will bake for just about any occasion.  I inherited the love of baking from my mom who still bakes regularly and it’s just her and my dad at home.

When my kids were little I baked nearly every day.  Biscuits for lunch, cookies for after school, if somebody might pop by because it was cheap.  I have tried just about everything, or at least I thought I had until our daughter went to culinary school and became a pastry chef.  Boy did I find out how much I didn’t know.

When we started eating clean almost 6 years ago, baking was the first casualty.

I rarely did it because of the sugar, fat, flour, chocolate…..you name it.  But as I have grown into our new world, I have experimented a lot.  Alternates to traditional flour, nut milks, coconut oil, and all sorts of new things.  But, the more I learn, the more I see that if you keep things ‘real’, it can still be yummy yet not bad for your plan.

At first glance, this seems fussy, but it’s not.  It is something really light and full of flavor.

Let me know what you think.

Apple Pie Crepe Cake

10 Ways to Boost Your Mood

Ugh!!

As I write this it is Monday morning.  The weekend was fine.  No big deal.

I am tired and I am feeling no motivation to do anything but to roll over and go back to bed.

I know most people feel this way on a Monday, they don’t really like their job or at least the fact that it comes so early on Monday morning anyway.  But, why do I feel this way and what do I do about it?

First of all, I have no reason to feel this way.  I actually love what I do.  I do research for my blogs, I write for you, I am studying for a class I am taking, I get to do it all from the comfort from my home, it is sunny out today, and I got an extra hour sleep because we changed our clocks this weekend.  Yet, after all of that, I still feel kind of blah.  It happens to all of us.

Our motivation is not supposed to be constant.  How can it?  Our circumstances change daily and sometimes hourly. So why are we so hard on ourselves about our motivation?  I think it’s because we pay so much attention to what other people do and say especially through social media.

Never before in our history have other people’s opinions been so available as they are now.  The reality is that we don’t actually need them, yet we get them, good, bad, motivational, depressing, shocking, whining, depressing, mean-spirited, loving and everything else you can and can’t imagine.

Even those people with the best intentions can be a distraction to our agenda.  Motivation is a really tough thing to harness.  But, how do we still move forward and pull ourselves up to get things done?

 

Here are a few things that I hope will help you.

     1. Give yourself permission to have those feelings.

  • Believe it or not, we all have these feelings, some more than others, so just accept it, concede that today is not going to be your best day and deal with it.

     2.  Spend a small amount of time to see if you can find the source of your feelings.

  • Sometimes, there is an actual reason for those feelings.  Did we get bad news, have a disagreement with a friend, are we feeling physically unwell, are we in a tough spot right now?

     3. Decide that regardless of the source, you aren’t going to stay in the doldrums.

  • Sometimes just deciding to pick yourself is all you need to get things back on track.

     4. Change your situation.

  • Sometimes this is easier said than done, but if possible, get up and move where you are.  If you can work from another place, sit at another desk, change your lighting, put on some music you like, go wash your face, just make a change.

     5. Eat something that helps your mood.

  • We all have foods that just make us feel better, do that.  There are also foods that are known mood boosters:  Dark chocolate, Cereal, Oysters, Water, Spinach, poultry, Lentils, Bananas, Oats, Salmon, Brazil nuts, Coconut, Kale, Ginger Tea, eggs.

     6. Get a little exercise in.

  • Exercise is a known mood booster.  I am not talking about stopping your work day and go get a workout in, unless you can, but getting a little extra movement in counts.  Something, anything.

     7. Turn social media off for a while.

  • Social media is only a ‘highlight reel’ of other people’s worlds.  They only tell you what they want you to know.  It’s typically extremely filtered.  So, turn it off and get authentic.  Talk to a friend, call or in person.  Getting real will help.

     8. Know that tomorrow is a whole new day to start over.

  • Looking forward to something either later that day, tomorrow, or something, can and will give you hope and something to aim for and can pick up your mood.

     9. Fake it until you make it.

  • I have mentioned this before, your body can’t tell a forced smile from a fake one, so fake it for a while and you will actually begin to feel better.

     10. Spend some time in quiet meditation.

  • Slowing your mind, quieting your space, relaxing, all work to lighten your mood.  Quiet meditation has been around for a long time for a reason, it works.  

 

Keep in mind, these are not things that will cure a clinical depression.  You may need professional help if this yucky mood lasts for a long time.  But if there is anything that can be done to make you feel better, naturally, I am all for it.

 

“Remember this, that very little is needed to make a happy life.” — Marcus Aurelius

 

9 Fresh Ways to Upgrade Your Morning Toast

We always seem to look for the easy, the quick, the tastiest way to do anything.

 Ok, I get that.  Why wait for all that.  We have become a society of convenience and quick.  A drive through society that applies to everything.

With that in mind, breakfast has become a casualty in this new pace.  It is, as we know, so important, but we just don’t take the time to do it right.  Maybe we would if it tasted better and really was simple.

Fitbit is not only tracking your movement these days, it is moving into the food accountability world.  Their blog is always full of great articles and this one caught my eye because of its simplicity.

Most of the toppings for these toasts should be in your pantry already.  If they are not, put them on your shopping list.  Small steps, eat the first meal of your day with some great healthy ingredients and you will set yourself up for a much better day.

Healthy Morning Toast