With the New Year just upon us, resolutions are probably still in full swing. Many of us want to get out of debt, lose weight and or get in shape, and maybe change our overall life circumstances.
All those things take changing habits and behavior. To change our habits and behavior we need to re-program our brains and bodies. To re-program our brains and bodies we need to feed them usually differently than we have in the past.
HOW DO YOU FEED YOUR BRAIN?
Change What You Listen To:
One powerful way to help re-program your brain is be carefully choosing what you listen to. There is nothing wrong with listening to Elvis Classics on Sirus Radio on your 45 minute commute to work everyday. But what if you took half that time and listened to Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace CDs to help you learn how to get out of debt?
I love NPR as much as the next person but what if three times a week you listened to some Health and Wellness Training CDs to help educate you about your health challenges.
But Dr. Mary I love to get in the groove in the morning with the top 40 hits… well that’s fine, but what if you picked just a few favorites to get you going in the morning, or even transitioned to listening to music that had great rhythm but was sending your brain a positive, uplifting and spiritual based message. My favorite is listening to KLOVE… try it for 30 days and just watch how the mood of you and your family changes.
Here are some of my tips:
1. Be Intentional
What areas of your life do you want to work on?
Spiritual Wellness: Maybe you want to start reading your Bible more but can’t fit it into your days. You now have the option to listen via a smartphone app I have the Daily Bible App that has a Daily Plan helping you listen and read the Bible in a year.
Define what it is you are resolving to change and then choose books, audios, and radio shows, or TV shows that can help you TRAIN YOUR BRAIN.
2. Stay Motivated
How will you stay motivated?
Probably the hardest part of our willingness to change is motivation.
Physical health is an area that we can easily fall off the wagon or lose our motivation. One of the tips I use is to watch things that will re-motivate me. I love health documentaries on Netflix, or audio books on gluten intolerance, or a motivational book or blog by other people who have released weight or changed their health.
Maybe your goal is to get more sleep this year. I highly recommend watching the Nova Special Sleepless in America. It was very powerful for both my husband and myself. We made a commitment to change our sleep patterns after that and it has been two weeks and we both have felt so much better physically and emotionally.
Daily, weekly or monthly choose reading, listening or watching material that will help you stay motivated.
3. Repetition
They say the mother of all learning is repetition. When we repeat something, we pick up new ideas, get re-motivated, or even understand things at a deeper level. Listen, watch or read the same thing over and over so it really penetrates your brain. It all starts with your brain and thoughts. Change your thinking and you can change your habits.
4. Use Technology and Save
I bet I could find another $200 to $500 in your yearly budget. $500 could help you pay off debt, get a yearly gym membership, buy you a monthly cleaning lady visit, a nice weekend away, or even a weekly babysitter.
What if you transitioned your cable and or Sirius Radio to Netflix, Hulu, or Audible? There are many primetime TV shows that if you are willing to wait a day or week, you can watch for FREE on the Internet. Because most TV’s are becoming Internet capable. This is a huge savings.
But if you are like me and have kids, you need cartoons, learning shows etc. to stay sane. Netflix for about $8 a month will do the trick. Need your movies? Well upgrade Netflix to about $16 a month and you can get newer movies in the mail.
Your smartphone has multiple apps on it for FREE to help you listen to programs, sermons, and just about anything you want. My three favorites are my Bible app, Elevation podcast, and Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership podcasts. Audible is a membership site with minimal monthly fees that lets you own books to listen to at a fraction of the cost of the book.
5. Combine Your Activities
Most moms I work with have very limited time. “I don’t have time to read.” “I don’t have time to exercise.”… Well there are always solutions to every problem. If you are making it a priority, then you need to find ways to get the activities in to make the change.
WALK and LISTEN
EXERCISE and WATCH
DRIVE and STUDY
With the technology solutions I just gave you, you can now combine all these activities. Your phone can be playing a book on tape while you have a morning walk, your laptop can be playing your favorite inspirational TV show while you are working out, and your car can become your new learning university on wheels.
Audible and my smartphone are my favorites because I am in a season of life without a lot of time for quiet sit down reading but I can listen at least an hour broken up throughout my day from walking, shower, dish doing or driving. My Audible membership is the best $14 a month I spend a month on me.
The last tip or warning I will give you is:
BE CAREFUL
You have to be very cautious of who and what you listen to.
Something may sound positive, uplifting, and even ring true but it may be specifically leading you down a road of fruitlessness. Years ago I used to listen to this CD trainings that on the outside seemed very powerful spiritually and life changing.
These individuals had and have thousands of people following them, ordering their monthly trainings and trying to utilize what they learned. One day my eyes were really opened to how empty these teachings were. I recognized it from the results that the people got who took these trainings. YIKES! That was a WAKE UP CALL…
There are even SECRET SOCIETIES out there that have these books they have written that say they have all the SECRETS to WEALTH, HAPPINESS, SUCCESS. BE CAREFUL anytime you have to qualify to be able to read a book or have to pay money repeatedly to be a part of something.
Here is a list of great reads, watches, or listening I did in the past month…
Train your brain daily with positive focused learning and watch how it helps mold your behaviors
Audible
Unstoppable by Christine Caine
What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast by Laura Vanderkam
The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst
From Paupers to Princes by Kris Vallotton
Smartphone Apps
Daily Bible
Elevation App – The Power of Same by Steven Furtick
KV Ministries – Healthy Families by Kris Vallotton
Netflix
Fat Sick and Nearly Dead 2
Tiny House
Forks over Knives
Property Brothers
Grace Unplugged movie
Silver Linings Playbook movie
Signing Time (learning sign language with my kids)
Internet TV
PBS Nova Special Sleepless in America
PBS Call of the Midwife Christmas Special
Tiny Houses
Tree House Masters
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. It’s strictly for informational, educational, or entertainment purposes ONLY. The products I talk about are not meant to diagnose, prescribe, treat or cure any illness or disease. Any information I give you about them is for informational or entertainment purposes only. They have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. Please seek the qualified health professional of your choice when making health decisions for yourself, your family and your pets.
