REDESIGN (WEEK 1)
DAY 2: SELF REFLECTION
On Day 2 in your workbook fill out the “daily flow chart” that helps you to identify habits you want to do more of and habits you want to do less of.
DAY 2 MICRO-SCIENCE
Neural Pruning
Your brain gets rid of neurons (brain cells) that it deems unnecessary, through a process called neural pruning. The brain wants to be as efficient as possible, so it prunes down cells that don’t get used very often to save energy. The brain only takes up 3% of a persons body weight but sucks up 20% of the bodies oxygen and glucose levels. This disproportionate relationship means the brain needs to be as efficient as possible. Therefore, your brain gives you a chance to learn new “skills” up until age 19 and then cements those learned “skills” into place in order to make less work later on.
- FACT: Teenagers lose an average of 30,000 synapses(on/off switches) in their brain per day
- TAKEAWAY: The habits you formed as a teenager come to define who you are later in life. After age 19 it becomes significantly harder to change your brain’s subroutines.
DAY 2 MEDITATION
Sitting in Silence
Today is the day to break the habit of always “doing.” Moving from one thing to the next without stopping. So often we hear the alarm go off in the morning, move straight into checking our emails, next we’re turning on the radio, and before we know it we are off to work. Most of us go everyday from point A to point B, right down the line and forget that we are human “beings” not human “doings.” So today’s task is to get more in touch with the “being” side of things and just sit in silence, not allowing our minds to tell us what to do every second of every day.
- FACT: Subjects in a research experiment were left alone in a room with only an electrified button, which they had touched previously and knew really hurt. Within 15 minutes of being alone with only their thoughts, 67% of all men and 24% of all women had touched the button and knowingly shocked themselves.
- TAKEAWAY: People would rather be in pain then left alone with their own thoughts. In our culture, we have become addicted to comfort and any time without our smartphones, daily pleasures, and quick distractions are downright painful for us
DAY 2 MEDITATION
Do absolutely nothing for five minutes (set a timer): try not to think, no movement, no TV, no music. Just you and silence and then start to becomes friends with your own mind.
DAY 2 MOVEMENT
Change in Possible
So often we believe it’s too late to change a behavior. However, the brain is always changing every second of every day, it’s basically always on standby awaiting your command. It resists change, but once you continually go down a road the brain will eventually hop on as well. Sometimes, the initial push to change a behavior is the hardest. So for today we are going to prove to the brain that change is possible and we are going start with the little things.
- FACT: Domestic violence offenders were told to open all doors for one month with their non-dominant hand in order to practice their impulse control skills. A month later their domestic violence rates had dropped by 40%.
- TAKEAWAY: Practice your impulse control in one area and get results of that same skill in another area.
DAY 2 MOVEMENT
The task for today is to eat just one meal with your non-dominant hand. It will be frustrating and a little slow. To ease your annoyance, think of all the great new synapses that are forming in your brain as you slow down and enjoy what your doing.