Q: Anxious or Depressed? What’s Your Immediate Bridge Back to Enthusiasm?
A: Honor your fundamental habits. Already Eating, Sleeping, Moving, Breathing/Focusing well? Great– Double-down on these habits! This needs to be your protocol when you’re feeling your worst (or your best but that is a discussion for another day). Are you feeling overwhelmed at work or at school? Did your girlfriend/boyfriend break-up with you? Did you lose a game? Managing your energy should be the first step to ‘flipping the switch’ back to your natural happy state. If you’re blessed with good health, this is the one aspect of your life that is 100% in our control. Once you have built your energy, you can focus your newly generated energy on your next important project or relationship.
This is not rocket science, but it’s shocking that this isn’t the first thing that psychologists prescribe to their patients and the first thing check-on for any ailment. It’s literally a magic pill. If it could be packaged as such, the share prices of the pharmaceutical company that invented the drug would skyrocket. There would be nothing fictitious about this advertisement that Matthew Walker shares in his book “Why We Sleep”
“Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It
enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. It
keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards
off colds and the flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and strokes, not to mention diabetes.
You’ll even feel happier, less depressed, and less anxious. Are you interested?”
Walker is talking specifically about sleep, but he could be talking about any fundamental habit. (i.e. Check out John Ratey’s quote on nutrition and Jonathan Heidt’s similar quote on the power of meditation. The evidence supporting these claims has been documented in more than 17,000 well-scrutinized and scientific reports to date. Our emotions and energy levels throughout the day constantly diagnose our need for this all-natural wonder drug, yet all too often, we ignore the signals along with this free prescription– and still seem baffled when we experience the consequences. On the other hand, we’ve all been rewarded with good feelings after a great workout, a night of sleep, claiming meditation session, so it should be no surprise how great surprised how bright the future looks when we practice these habits.
So, the next time that you’re down, get to work building your energetic foundation!
Actually, here is your ‘in the moment’ protocol:
Jonathan Haidt’s on Meditation: “Suppose you read about a pill that you could take once a day to reduce anxiety and increase your contentment. Would you take it?
Suppose further that the pill has a great variety of side effects, all of them good: increased
self-esteem, empathy, and trust; it even improves memory. Suppose, finally, that the pill is all
natural and costs nothing. Now would you take it? The pill exists. It’s called meditation.”
John Ratey’s magic from Spark: “I tell people that going for a run is like taking
a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin because, like the drugs, exercise elevates these
neurotransmitters. It’s a handy metaphor to get the point across, but the deeper explanation
is that exercise balances neurotransmitters — along with the rest of the neurochemicals in the
brain. And as you’ll see, keeping your brain in balance can change your life.”
