You Need to write down a few ideas each day to keep the creativity flowing and the idea muscle exercised. You Need to be physically healthy. And You Need to keep the gratitude muscle exercised EVERY DAY. Wisdom from James Altucher

For most people, gratitude is often only expressed after experiencing a momentous occasion, such as receiving a promotion at work or getting married to the love of your life.

But gratitude doesn’t need to be reserved only for momentous occasions. You can also be thankful for something as simple as a delicious piece of pie.

And, fortunately for us, this feeling of gratitude can do a lot for you.

In the book “Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier,”  psychologist Robert Emmons shows that people who regularly practice gratitude by taking time out of their day to notice and reflect upon the things they’re thankful for have scientifically been proven to experience a nearly endless list of benefits and advantages.

According to many studies, practicing gratitude has been shown to improve your physical health, develop a stronger immune system, reduce symptoms of depression, increase one’s well-being and happiness, enhance empathy, improve quality of sleep, enhance self-esteem, increase mental strength, and help you experience more positive emotions such as joy in your life. (and improve your business as well! Sara Ohara).

So, the question we should all be asking ourselves is, how can we practice gratitude so that we can experience all these benefits as well?

Well, there are nearly infinite ways to show our gratitude, but one of the most popular and proven gratitude exercise available is journaling.

Journaling is probably the easiest gratitude exercise available because it’s the most simple. All it requires is a pen and paper.

Here’s how it works: Every morning, think back on the day before, and try to write down 3 things you were especially grateful for that day.

It can be something as little as a cup of coffee at your favorite coffee shop, or as grand as the love of your significant other.

But keep in mind as you’re doing this exercise that the best way to reap the benefits of gratitude is to notice new and fresh things that you’re grateful for every day.

While you might always be thankful for your great family, just writing “I’m grateful for my family” day after day doesn’t keep your brain on alert for fresh grateful moments.

Get specific by writing “Today my significant other gave me a shoulder massage because she knew I was really stressed” or “My sister invited me over for dinner so I didn’t have to cook after a long day.”

By doing this, you’ll start to train your mind to focus less on the bad things that happened in your day and more on all the good things that happened to you.

This will start to slowly change the way you perceive situations by adjusting what you focus on a daily basis.

So, try it out. Do this exercise every day. Over time, you will start to see the profound effects gratitude will have on your well-being and your outlook on life.

Thanks for your Wisdom Vincent Carlos

“Today I don’t feel like doing anything, I just wanna lay in my bed.” Bruno Mars

How often have you felt like that? You might just need a rest. But what if you feel unmotivated every single day? That, my friend, is called a slump.

In the past, the greats regained motivation through exploration. Before recording the White Album, The Beatles trekked through Northern India and studied transcendental meditation. Steve Jobs did the same, met a guru, and invented the iPhone.

But with borders closed all around us, the closest thing to wanderlust is grabbing a pizza across town—not quite as invigorating.

The good news is motivation surrounds us; we just need to know where to look.

Here are ways on how to increase your motivation when you’re in a slump.

1. Unplug (but for Real This Time)

Take your lunch to a park, or go for an urban hike.

Listen to the sounds of nature. Smell the plants and flowers. Focus on being entirely in the present moment, and you’ll realize the world didn’t suddenly end in 2020.

2. Put Some Motivation in Your Ear

I’ve found that all it takes is one rousing speech to change your mindset.

Pop in your headphones, and do a Google search for “motivation.” There are thousands of speeches on YouTube, even mega-mixes of motivational speakers like Joel Osteen, Wayne Dyer, Les Brown, etc. TEDx has inspiring speeches by Dan Pink, Angela Duckworth, Tony Robbins, and more.

3. Give Back to Others

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. Mahatma Gandhi

It’s counterintuitive, but it’s true.

These acts of service make your problems look and feel smaller. Most importantly, you feel more empowered to overcome any challenges you face.

Try this: Go to volunteermatch.org and find a charitable opportunity that is meaningful to you. I promise that giving back will lessen the weight of your problems.

4. Call Your Most Positive Friend

We’ve all heard the adage, “you are the sum of your five closest friends.” It’s true because what our peers say affects us.

If you suffer from negative family members or peers, their cynicism will slowly infect you. Instead, drown them out. Spend more time with people that are ‘glass-half-full’—those that look for the upsides.

5. Find Your Creative Side

One unseen benefit of the quarantine was that many people finally had time for creative projects. By invoking our imagination, we can often break through mental blocks. This can help us increase our motivation to do things.

Have you ever wanted to write poetry, play an instrument, or paint? Stop talking about it and start doing it. Pull out a piece of paper unleash your artistic side to break through your slump.

6. Start a Gratitude Journal

“The struggle ends when gratitude begins.” Neale Donald Walsch

Let’s take some lessons from this horrible pandemic—a simple but profound one: just appreciate everything that we have.

Build a habit of writing down three things you’re grateful for in your journal every day – or at least one!

7. Sweat Out Stress

I am a firm believer that an incredible workout (and a delicious recovery meal) can cure almost any bad day. It’s no coincidence that so many successful people like to run or bike.

Getting into a physical state brings levels of mental clarity like nothing else.

Get your endorphins flowing!

8. Disable the Distractions

The average person gets interrupted once every 8 minutes.

Put your phone on do-not-disturb, or shut it off completely. Do the same for your desktop. If you’re in a noisy environment, get noise-canceling headphones or earplugs.

Follow the Pomodoro Method and set a timer for 25 minutes. After one Pomodoro, take a 5-minute break, then start again.

You will find yourself getting better results, creating a virtuous cycle of motivation.

Final Thoughts

Everyone encounters a slump at least once in their lives, but what differs from person to person is how they handle it. Hopefully, these tips will help you overcome that slump and be the best that you can be.

Thanks for your Wisdom Chris Tubbs

Yes, these are challenging times but we do hope everyone still has lots to be Thankful for.

If you’re like most people, during these days of COVID-19 you can’t fully access your knowledge, experience, skills and strengths.

Why? It’s brain science. When you’re low on energy, the first thing you lose is your executive function–affecting your ability to focus, analyze information, regulate your emotions, be innovative, and make smart decisions.

The good news is this: by putting aside just a bit of time each day, you can boost your own energy.

1. Got 5 seconds? Tap into gratitude.

Tapping into a mindset of appreciation is a powerful way to help pull through difficult emotional situations. In fact, done frequently, expressing gratitude can literally change your brain, help increase well-being and productivity.

It makes sense. When you start to appreciate the world around you, your perspective becomes clearer. This allows you to better control negative feelings, focus your thinking, and shift more easily into goal-oriented behaviors.

What you can do right now:

Close your eyes and identify one thing you are grateful for. Take three deep breaths as you bring to mind the sights, sounds and smells associated with your gratitude.

This literally changes your brain chemistry, flushing out stress hormones and releasing a flow of energy hormones throughout your body, making you more creative and calm.

2. Got 2 minutes? Make a micro-connection.

When you experience a moment of connection with someone, this releases feel-good, high-performance hormones in the brain–elevating your energy and giving you that quick boost you need.

And not only that: The limbic system of your brain (the emotional center) is an open-loop system. This means emotions can be contagious when people communicate face-to-face. In fact, studies have shown that through quality conversation, the heart rates of two people can actually mirror each other.

What you can do right now:

Talk to somebody! The key is in ensuring you engage in meaningful conversation.

Instead of asking people how they’re doing, ask them what they’re doing–that is, what they are interested in lately. Show genuine curiosity, be mindful and present, and don’t get easily distracted. Acknowledge what matters most to the other person. Then, share what matters most to you.

3. Got 5 minutes? Dump the depleters.

Your brain has a limited amount of “RAM”–and will become bogged down if too many “applications” are open at the same time.

Distractions such as too many meetings, multi-tasking between projects, and the ongoing need to pay continuous partial attention exhaust your brain’s ability to continuously produce quality work.

What you can do right now:

Dump your undone tasks in a task management system or simple to-do list. This will reduce the “Oh, I’d better remember to do that!” type of messages that tend to flare up at the most inopportune times, interrupting you in the middle of flow.

And don’t forget about employees: you can help manage their energy by minimizing the number of meetings you hold at the office.

4. Got 10 minutes? Rewire your energy.

Brain science shows we feel before we think. Negative emotions deplete your energy, making you less focused and less likely to get things done.

However, there is a way to essentially “rewire” your brain to suppress and better control those unwanted and unhelpful feelings. It requires strengthening your anterior cingulate, which is essentially the “clutching mechanism” between your rational and emotional brain.

What you can do right now: 

Find ten minutes every day to sit, focus on your breathing, and observe your thoughts and emotions. While breathing out, say aloud one of these words: peace, gratitude, or compassion.

As with the five-second gratitude exercise above, meditation is perfect for a quick energy boost, allowing you to get immediately back to the task at hand.

5. Got 20 minutes? Install power generators.

Your body consists of mitochrondria, which are like micro-power plants embedded in your muscle tissue. The more mitochondria in your body, the more energy you feel.

Lean muscle mass holds up to ten times more mitochrondria than “soft” muscle mass. So, anything you can do to stress your muscles and make them a little leaner will help your body grow more mitochondria, and produce more energy.

What you can do right now:

Try this 20-minute mito-making workout–no gym equipment required!

• Warm up with 5 minutes of light stretching.
• Do 30 seconds of burpees.
• Rest for 90 seconds.

Do the above steps five times. Then, cool down with five minutes of light stretching.

Thanks for your Wisdom Brady Wilson

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• Someone who understands Facebook is explaining it to me
• Good health
• My health and my family
• LIFE!!!
• Having you for my teacher!
• GRATITUDE IS THE BEST!
• Learning new stuff!
• That I am taking your FB class, it has been informative
• Your class!
• Family and friends who are like family to love and be loved in return.
• Family & friends.
• Recycling and waste pickups
• My parents
• You for asking this question!

Then someone asked what I was Thankful for and I replied: “Right this minute I am thankful for this day that I spent teaching my very enthusiastic students about Facebook and eBay. I could go on and on and on…”