Personality: Life Changing Success Habits
Updated: Jan 4, 2019
1- Wake up early: 4:30 am - 5:30 am
WHY?
Reduces risk of breast cancer by 40-48%[1]
Productivity is directly proportional to sleep consistency[2] Productivity peaks first thing in the morning.
Reduces stress levels [3]
Enhances your creativity [3]
Improves your decision-making skills [3]
Day-long positivity [3]
HOW?
Know your circadian rhythm [4] and calculate the hours you are sleeping currently.
Your sleep has 5 sleep cycles and each cycle lasts between 70-100 minutes. In order to get a restorative, healing sleep, you should complete the 5 sleep cycles.
Ideally:
5 X 70 = 350 % 60 = 5.8 hrs sleep
5 X 100 = 500 % 60 = 8 hrs sleep
(New moms, third shifters, on-call professionals -> you can use the Circadian Rhythm knowledge to adjust you sleep)
Aim to wake up between 4:30 am to 5:30 am however, don’t jump into it head-on. Otherwise, you will disrupt your circadian rhythm.
For example: If you are used to waking up at 9:00 am, wake up 30 min early every day until you reach your desired early morning wake-up time (BEST: 4:30 am to 5:30 am) I used to wake up at 4:00 am to get in maximum reading (USMLE) done between 4-9am and used to get all the work done even before my baby woke up at a set time of 9:00 am. Adjust your time accordingly.
By doing so, over a course of a few weeks or so, your circadian rhythm will adjust and your biological clock will wake you up with no need for an alarm clock.
2- Daily Reading
WHY?
Prevents Memory Loss [5] Delays dementia
Prevents Depression [6]
Relaxes You [7]
Brain workout [8]
Longer life [9]
Increases emotional intelligence [10]
HOW?
Create a reading list of books you have wanted to read (My reading list will be on the website in a couple days)
Start reading at least 30 min daily and increase to 1 -2 hour a day
If you struggle with concentration, try the POMODORO technique. Read in 25 min increments with a 5 minute break. I modify it to 50 min of reading and 10 min of break. One of my favorite apple apps is called “Be Focused-focus timer.” (Iphone App or Android App – you can use similar apps. But you don’t have to have the app to focus. Just place a timer on your clock)
If you have children, get them to read at least 20 min daily. For example: I finished shakespeare at the age of 10 and felt that it taught me empathy and increased my emotional intelligence.
Try not to take a break from reading
3- Daily Meditation
WHY?
Reduced anxiety and depression [11]
Decreases pain [11]
Slows aging! [12]
Increased happiness
Increased mindfulness
HOW?
There are different kinds of meditation which you can do for 20 min each day.
Easy to do
Mindfulness: (Excellent for busy people with no time)
Mindfulness means that you are aware of your thoughts, i.e. you are “with it”, you are “fully present” with your thoughts. It means you know where you are, you know what you are currently doing, and you are NOT reacting too much or overly to the happenings around you. The first question that comes to mind is where can mindful meditation be done ? Well, the simple answer is … anywhere ! The preference is your own. Place-wise, usually people prefer to sit in a quiet place, close their eyes, and work on their focus, i.e. empty out the thoughts and focus on a particular “free” item, such as their breathing. Time-wise, you can be mindful at any point of the day, including while you are commuting, or doing any chore.
Transcendental:
A personally assigned mantra; such as a word, sound, or small phrase… that is repeated in your head. You practice this thought and reminder usually 20 mins/day while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed and no distractions. For example: I am so beautiful, I am so confident, I can do xyz, etc.
Metta: (loving kindness)
Metta meditation, also called Loving Kindness Meditation, is the process and practice of ‘well-wishing’ others. People tend to use specific words and phrases that would evoke warm-hearted feelings in their subjects.
References
[1] R. Richmond, E. Anderson, H. Dashti, S. Jones, J. Lane, L. Strand, B. Brumpton, M. Rutter, A. Wood, C. Relton, M. Munafo, T. Frayling, R. Martin, R. Saxena, M. Weedon, D. Lawlor, G. Smith. (2018). Investigating causal relationships between sleep traits and risk of breast cancer: a Mendelian randomization study. bioRxiv 457572; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/457572
[2] https://www.sleep.org/articles/sleep-and-productivity-at-work/
https://sleepjunkies.com/tips/sleeping-increases-productivity/
[3] Waterhouse, J., Fukuda, Y., & Morita, T. (2012). Daily rhythms of the sleep-wake cycle. Journal of physiological anthropology, 31(1), 5. doi:10.1186/1880-6805-31-5
[4] https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/what-circadian-rhythm
[5] Robert S. Wilson, Patricia A. Boyle, Lei Yu, Lisa L. Barnes, Julie A. Schneider, David A. Bennett Neurology Jul 2013, 81 (4) 314-321; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31829c5e8a
[6] Williams C, Wilson P, Morrison J, McMahon A, Andrew W, et al. (2013) Guided Self-Help Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Depression in Primary Care: A Randomised Controlled Trial. PLOS ONE 8(1): e52735. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052735
[7] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/5070874/Reading-can-help-reduce-stress.html
[8] https://www.rd.com/culture/benefits-of-reading/
[9] http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu/
[10] D. Kidd and E. Castano, (2013), Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind, Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1239918
[11] Goyal M, Singh S, Sibinga EM, Gould NF, Rowland-Seymour A, Sharma R, Berger Z, Sleicher D, Maron DD, Shihab HM, Ranasinghe PD, Linn S, Saha S, Bass EB, Haythornthwaite JA (March 2014). "Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis". JAMA Internal Medicine. 174 (3): 357–68. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018.
[12] Luders E, Cherbuin N, Kurth F (2015). "Forever Young(er): potential age-defying effects of long-term meditation on gray matter atrophy". Frontiers in Psychology. 5:1551. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01551.