Struggling with the working year stretching ahead of you now the holidays are over?
As Professor Selena Bartlett reveals, adding a few simple habits to your morning routine can set you up for the day – and give your brain an essential boost of positivity.
What was the first thing you did when you opened your eyes this morning? Did you grab your phone, scan social media, read emails and then slowly drag yourself out of bed?
Is the fun of the holidays, lazing around and celebrating with friends fading fast as the computer on your desk reboots?
Now imagine being able to start your working year with more joy, energy and motivation.
A simple way to get started is to try a new morning routine. As soon as you open your eyes, immediately look out the window and think of three things you’re grateful for.
It could be as simple as being grateful that you can wiggle those fingers and toes; grateful for your pets, children and loved ones; grateful that the sun is shining, the birds are singing and nature is smiling at you.
This one simple change to the morning routine is akin to booting up your brain for positivity.
Studies have shown that giving thanks and expressing gratitude releases dopamine and serotonin, two neurochemicals that help to make you feel good and are responsible for your emotions and the health of your brain.
Think of your brain as a machine that tends to attract fear more than pleasure. When you constantly scroll social media and the news headlines, the don’t-feel-so-good chemicals are switched on and the brain acts as if it’s under attack.
The more the brain feels under attack, the more armour – aka neural pathways – it builds to protect itself. But this armour doesn’t always serve you well.
For example, as you lie in bed doom-scrolling, 30 minutes may pass and you end up missing your first meeting of the day. Or after looking at everyone else’s holiday celebrations, the FOMO sets in and you no longer feel happy or motivated.
By becoming more aware of what you pay attention to first thing in the morning, you’re making a choice to promote the release of feel-good chemicals in the brain.
Through this practice of putting a thank-you into your morning routine, you begin to override the brain’s ancient fight-or-flight response, a survival mechanism left over from our caveman days, when we really were “under attack” from constant threats and danger.
If you don’t remember to do this new practice every day, don’t beat yourself up about it – it takes time to start something new and create a new habit.
The trick is to try, and then repeat it as often as possible. Before long, it will become your new morning routine.
To gain an extra boost of positivity, try saying “thank you” to someone else – the taxi driver, the person who serves you at the post office, your colleagues, your loved ones.
The many positive side effects of doing this include boosting your brain health, building better relationships, feeling happier and becoming better at dealing with adversities so that you bounce back from challenges with strength and motivation.
What a great way to bring joy, energy and motivation into the new year – today and every day.
As we learn more and more through neuroscience, and start to really see inside the brain, one thing is clear: brain health is becoming everyone’s business.
Why don’t you make it yours? Today.
