I’ve been am amateur neuroscientist for a couple of years now. The interest was prompted by a coaching training program I immersed myself in for two years called Conversational Intelligence (C-IQ). The program was founded by a woman named Judith Glaser who passed away over the course of four years, while still conducting coaching call programming. She was a force and she ignited the latent neruo-nerd in me.

Since I’m all about depth and health as I kick off the year. I spent the morning in my apps (WHOOP + MyFitnessPal) trying to figure out how to balance my protein, carb, and fat intake and figuring out if my WHOOP app really tracks all the calories I burn in one day. Along with the other mundane tasks of privileged domestic life like dishes, laundry, coffee, making the bed, examining my face for more wrinkles, etc. What swept me away from this exciting Sunday morning of ritualistic activity? An article on engaging my BRAIN (of course).

This is written more like a list of what we all need to do this year (and the first one is a real treat):

Learn to juggle - It’s a complex skill that you can practice daily and have fun! There are tons of videos on YouTube that will help you through this.
Learn Something New Every Day - This is a great reminder that we live in a world where auto-pilot is easy (see my mundane morning rituals above). Here some inspired ideas: learn a new language, study a musical instrument, dance (see TikTok for frequent dance challenges).
Get Enough Sleep - Full disclosure, I didn’t know where to start with this until I got WHOOP. It was a present this December, so I’m new at knowing about my sleep. What’s the big deal in relation to the brain? Sleep is the time for repair and restoration of the bran which allows for the future growth of your neuroplasticity.
Exercise - Now maybe you see how well aligned this list is with my personal OKRs?! Exercise impacts the quality of your motor skills, memory, and ability to learn. Physically, exercise is also increasing the oxygen to your brain and releasing hormones you need for expansion.
Be Mindful - Meditation seems to be the “go-to” way to do this for the people I know well. Essentially, mindfulness is the quality of being present in the moment and being conscious of your feelings and emotions when they pull you away from your focused work. This practice touts a rewiring of the brain that can help you reduce mental ruminations and emotional reactivity AND increases working memory and cognitive flexibility.

I plan to refer to this list often and start my juggling program today!

I was with a group of girlfriends this week. We organized a meeting to do "something," but we weren't really sure what we wanted to accomplish. By the end of the two hours we had shared a lot, finished a couple bottles of wine, and gotten some personal struggles out in the open. One of my epiphanies from this gathering was that I avoid doing things because I'm afraid of failing. One way to get over fear is to take action around the thing you fear the most. Here are two things I failed at this month.

Writing

I wanted to blog daily or at the very least once a week. I posted three blogs in January. Three is better than none, but not even close to my goal. I did write five thank you notes, and I'm committed to writing 200 this year. I just did the math and I need to send 16 thank you notes a month to be on track for my goal. This means I'm already 11 thank you notes behind for the year. I have a few choices at this point. I can beat myself up about my lack of discipline around writing (both blogs and thank you's), I can do nothing, or I can look forward and commit and plan around doing better.

Here are some blogs that I started but never finished:

Writing my Bio...who cares
What do you want to be when you grow up?
The secret is out: If you hate your job, people can tell
You're not as selfish as you think you are

Exercise

I wanted to get back on my morning gym schedule. This wasn't a resolution for 2016. It was a realization that I had last year. I have a better day when I get up in the morning and exercise before I start my work. Because I have a fairly unpredictable work schedule every week a morning workout stabilizes me by providing me with routine. I exercised in the morning before work five times this month (nuff said).

January Reflection Questions:

What got in the way of accomplishing what I had intended?
What will I do differently this month?
How will I hold myself accountable this month?