[Music] we live in a world that idolizes instant results and dramatic changes so naturally I think this pushes many of us to set these really ambitious goals and I don't know about you but if I make a really big goal and I don't stick to it I start to lose trust in myself I start to think I'm the problem I lack motivation or wellpower but what if the issue isn't us what if the issue is the method cuz if there's anything that I've learned learned it's that true progress comes from small daily commitments the micro
habits just tiny everyday actions that over time compound into significant change and so today I want to share some micro habits with you that have changed my life normally when people talk about micro habits they mean flossing your teeth and making the bed those are great too but I'm going to talk a little bit more about mindset shifts and a brief thanks as well to my favorite meditation app in the whole world headspace for partnering with us on today's video we're going to check chat more about them at the end I've gotten into the habit
of telling myself no more day zeros what are day zeros in project management terms it's the planning phase before any real action takes place like how many times have we told ourselves I'll start my essay tomorrow I'll start exercising tomorrow I'll start eating better on Monday even though setting these intentions is great I feel like it's those day zeros that are often holding us back the AU Dale Carnegie once said in action breeds doubt and fear but action breeds confidence and courage so I keep reminding myself no more Waiting for Tomorrow When today is already
here after all today is yesterday's promise of I'll do it tomorrow so even if the day feels like it's almost over there's always time to write one sentence for that essay do one plank prep one quick jar of overnight oats it's nothing Grand it's just one thing but at least one isn't Zero from the time that we were just little children we've been taught to apologize and of course do apologize if you've done something wrong but I feel like it's also become so second nature for us to say sorry for the most trivial things even
when we've done nothing wrong and I think this is especially true for myself and other fellow Canadians were known for saying sorry for just about everything but I think over time it can really start to diminish our selfworth and one of my goals these last years has been to try to increase my self-confidence a bit and one micro habit that's been helping in that is to shift away from the default apology to instead saying thank you so instead of saying I'm sorry I'm talking so much I'll say instead hey thank you for listening instead of
saying I'm sorry I'm running late I'll say thank you for waiting for me it's just so much more empowering it makes us feel better about ourselves and it also makes the other person feel valued too it's a win-win and the same thing goes when we're receiving compliments in the past I used to downplay or brush off compliments thinking I was being modest but when someone is offering praise they're gifting you with their admiration and to dismiss it is to downplay yourself and also to refuse someone's heartfelt gift so the next time someone gives you a
compliment just accept it and say thank you this is probably one of my favorite micro habits it just makes me so happy a while ago I read this piece by an author Kurt vonet and he was talking about a simple habit that his uncle Alex practiced whenever a good moment would pop up in life's seemingly routine moments uncle Alex would stop and say well if this isn't nice I don't know what is it was his way of grounding himself and cherishing The Simple Pleasures in life that we often Overlook and ever since I read that
I've gotten into the micro habit of just vocalizing that sentence out loud so if I'm working and the Sun is just pouring out onto my face I'll actually pause to feel it and I'll say if this isn't life I don't know what is and I know the original quote says nice but I just like the way life sounds better so that's what I've been saying if I'm sipping my first cup of coffee in the morning and it's just hitting the spot I'll say if this isn't life I don't know what is if I see a
beautiful sunset on my way home or if I hear somebody playing beautiful music you get the idea sometimes I get so caught up in the next big thing that highlighting these little joys has helped me to reconnect with life's daily magic we've all been told our whole lives that stress is bad for us and that we should try to avoid it at all costs right but stress is just an inevitable part of life and I'm the kind of person who if you tell me not to stress I'm going to start stressing about the fact that
I'm stressing and so recently I listened to this audiobook called the upside of stress it's written by a psychologist Kelly mcgonagle and it has been like life changing so mogal suggests that stress isn't the Real Enemy but our perception of it is if we believe stress is harmful it often will be it's kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy but and this is super cool by simply reframing how we view stress we can change the whole biological response mgal shared several studies where for example if before an exam students are told that hey the stress that
you're feeling it's actually helpful the rapid heartbeat the quickened breathing this is all preparing your body for Action if students were told this they actually reported that they felt more focused during the exam and they performed better too and this is all just because they were told that stress could be beneficial and as a result their bodies acted accordingly their blood vessels instead of constricting stayed relaxed anxiety and inflammation in the body decreased and even helpful hormones were released and so ever since learning this I've tried to get into the micro habit of reframing my
stress instead of telling myself I shouldn't feel this I should calm down I try to instead channel that energy into making things happen instead of seeing the stress as something that's hindering me I tell myself you found a challenge but you're excited about this you've got this it's a small mindset shift but it's been transformative stress has gone from being something that consumed and controlled me to now actually being an ally we've all had moments where we impulsively react too quickly maybe it's an unexpected comment from a partner or sudden traffic a last minute project
change how many times have we wished that we just took a little pause before diving head first into a response or reaction we all know that Speedy reactions can sometimes lead to misjudgments and missed opportunities to understand the big picture so I've been actively trying to create space between receiving information and formulating a response giving myself permission to digest and just let the information marinate I've gotone into the habit of just taking a deep breath anytime I feel emotionally charged and it's almost magical how this simple pause has completely change the quality of my responses
I think it's made my communication a lot more clear and thoughtful and calm and I do attribute a lot of this also to Having learned about meditation because in meditation we're encouraged to acknowledge our thoughts and to sit with them and then to let them go without judgment and so with that I do want to thank our friends over at headspace for sponsoring today's video headspace is this incredible meditation app that I've personally been using for about a decade now but before I discovered headspace I used to think that meditating was really boring and I
often just couldn't sit with it for a long time but I think that's why I've appreciated in used headspace all these years is that their meditations are guided and they're narrated by some of the most incredible instructors when we train the mind we're learning to listen not only to our own thoughts and feelings but also to those around us us but even if you feel like sit down eyes closed meditation isn't your thing they have plenty of other mindfulness content on the app as well things like breathing exercises and sleep content they just general mindfulness
activities that you can do while you go on a walk for example and because we're on the topic of micro habits meditation doesn't have to be something that takes 30 minutes or an hour headspace offers sessions that can be finished in as short as 3 to 5 minutes so if you've ever been curious about meditation I highly recommend giving headp space a try I promise you're going to love it and for a limited time they're actually offering a 60-day free trial of the app you can grab it by either scanning this QR code right here
or just click the link I'll leave for you in the description box below and I'm curious to know if there are any mindset shifts or micro habits that you've implemented in your life if you're willing to share it I'd love to learn about it and I'm sure others would as well so I'll see you in the comments thanks so much for hanging with me today friends I really appreciate it pickup liims signing off and I'll see you in the next video and then I'm going to kind of go like yeah you record is it working
I mean it is work but I almost think it's too funny to get in this video ready have to not laugh hold [Music] on
