Mind-Body Check-in - Tuning the Levers that lead to Excellence

Mind-Body Check-inTuning the Levers that Lead to

Excellence

Engage your Mind• Think of a goal.

• Think of a chronic willpower struggle.

• Think of a habit that needs improving.

I’m Alright• Too tired?

• Too busy?

• Too overwhelmed?

I’m Alright• We’re all alright

• But are we excellent?

Excellence

Excellence• What does it mean to you?

Excellence• Factors of

Excellence• happier & healthier• more satisfying and

long-lasting relationships

• more money• longer life• more stable emotions

• better social skills• better physical

health,• increased

mindfulness, like-ability, and sense of control

• more acts of altruism.

Excellence• Excellence (Google defn.) - the quality of being outstanding or extremely good.

• i.e. your best self

Excellence• How often are you your best self?

• Would you like to be better, more often?

Excellence• You

• Excellence = Your best self

Excellence• You

• Intelligence• Willpower


Excellence

• Willpower

• But how?

Willpower

Willpower• Benefits

• happier & healthier• more satisfying and long-lasting

relationships• more successful• more money• longer life

Willpower• Benefits

• more stable emotions• better social skills• better physical health,• increased mindfulness, like-

ability, and sense of control• more acts of altruism.

WillpowerYou

+ more Willpower

= more Excellence

Willpower• What is it?

Willpower• What is it? “Self-control”

Willpower• What is it? “Self-control”

–When you feel an internal conflict, willpower is your ability to make the better choice.

Willpower• Muscle

– Strong, Forceful, Yang Energy.• Mindset

– Soft, Flexible, Ying Energy.

• It can and should be both.

• Baumeister, Roy F., Kathleen D. Vohs, and Dianne M. Tice. “The Strength Model of Self-Control.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 16, no. 6 (December 2007): 351–55. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00534.x.

• Inzlicht, Michael, and Brandon J. Schmeichel. “What Is Ego Depletion? Toward a Mechanistic Revision of the Resource Model of Self-Control.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 7, no. 5 (September 1, 2012): 450–63. doi:10.1177/1745691612454134.

• Job, V., G. M. Walton, K. Bernecker, and C. S. Dweck. “Beliefs about Willpower Determine the Impact of Glucose on Self-Control.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110, no. 37 (September 10, 2013): 14837–42. doi:10.1073/pnas.1313475110.

Willpower• What can coffee tell us about our Willpower?

Willpower• What can coffee tell us about our Willpower?

• The 5 Stages of Grief– Denial– Anger– Bargaining– Depression– Acceptance

Willpower• Workshop 1 – Self √

–A Goal you want to focus on–A chronic struggle you want to overcome

The 3 Tools of Willpower• Your Environment

• Your Mind

• Your Habits

Your EnvironmentThe First Tool of Willpower

Your Environment• Expectations

• Distractions

Your Environment• What creates your environment?–Home–Work–Friends, and Top 5 people–Daily paths

Your Environment• Your environment shapes you.

–Mentally and Physically

Environment• Win Without Fighting

–Put the desired behavior on the path of least resistance.

• The people with the “best” Willpower… don’t use it!

Willpower• Workshop 2 - Environment

–Expectations in Your Environment• Home, work, friends, routine

–Distractions in Your Environment• Phone, Internet, too many commitments

–How can you make it easy to do the right thing?

WillpowerYour Mind

Your Mind• Belief

• Awareness

• Acceptance

Your Mind• Willpower in the 1800s

–Toughness, toil, and tread. –Virtues from the Victorian Age.

Your Mind• Controlling through strength,

pride, and ego uses the muscle.–Too much Yang, not enough Ying.

Your Mind• Explore the real cause

–Ask: “What do I really want.”

Your Mind• Explore the real cause

–Ask: “What do I really want.”–It’s like using aikido to re-direct

• resistance into understanding• Yang into Ying• Coffee grief » “Acceptance”

Willpower• Workshop 3 - Mind

–Beliefs about Willpower• Challenge them

–Awareness about Willpower• What’s really going on?• Food √

–Acceptance• + Resilience, Bounce-back-acity

WillpowerYour Habits

Your Habits• Ever complained about not having

enough energy?• Ever got down on yourself for not

doing enough?• Finding yourself failing in your

willpower efforts?

• Let’s talk about…

Your Habits• The Foundational Habits of Willpower

–Sleep–Diet–Exercise

Your Habits• Sleep…exciting!

• Things we don’t pay for, we don’t always appreciate.

Your Habits• Don’t talk to me about not having

enough willpower if you’re not getting enough sleep.

• Get enough sleep and the world’s your oyster.

• Don’t and play your day with a handicap.

• Don’t and box Mike Tyson with a hand tied behind your back.

Your Habits• A Healthy Habit House

–Sleep• Bedrock (get it?)

–Diet• Foundation

–Exercise• Walls

Willpower• Workshop 4 - Habits

–Sleep• How consistent are you 6.5-8 hours?

–Diet• Are you depriving or enjoying?

–Exercise• Do you ever smile?


Excellence

Excellence• Q&A

–Primers• Goals, Willpower struggles, Environment, Mind, Habits, Sleep, Diet, Exercise

*Excellence Hack• Attention

–The most important resource–120 bits per second–Count of Monte Cristo

• "What would you not have accomplished if you had been free?” • "Possibly nothing at all; the overflow of my brain would probably, in a state of freedom, have

evaporated in a thousand follies."

–Freely imposed non-freedom is very liberating

*Excellence Hack• Attention

–David Blaine, The Iceman, LeBron, Ghandi, people with seemingly endless willpower.

–The 3 Tools of Willpower combined• Environment• Mind• Habits

*Surprise Challenge*• 30-Day Willpower Challenge– I am going to take the 30-Day

Ramadan Fasting Challenge.–Not any of the religious elements–Only the fasting elements

• No food or fluids from ≈ 3:45am – 8:30pm

– We’ll see what happens. I’ll journal the struggle.

Excellence• You


ExcellenceIf you want to be excellent more often

you need the energy and the willpower to do the better thing, more often.

ExcellenceThe answer…

• Don’t use it!–don’t use willpower, so you have it when you really need it!

Excellence• 4 Tactics• Small Levers• Exponential Results

Excellence1. Design your Environment.

• Win without fighting• Make it easy to do the right thing



2. Listen to the Resistance• Search for the root cause [Ying]




3. Develop Better Foundational Habits

• Sleep, diet, exercise (in that order) [Yang]




3. Develop Better Foundational Habits

• Sleep, diet, exercise (in that order) [Yang]

4. Ruthlessly Eliminate Distractions– Guard your attention with your life

Excellence• You


Excellence

• You• Excellence = Your best self


Excellence

Documents

Mind-Body Check-in - Tuning the Levers that lead to Excellence