Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Seek Novelty

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Experiencing, How the Brain Learns, Learning, Novelty, Reading, Sousa, Variety, wisdom

In Sousa’s (2017) book, novelty is something the brain loves. It is stimulated by new things. In fact, it is monumentally more receptive to novelty than the mundane. Why? Because the brain is wired for survival. New things could prove fatal, right?

Assuming we are pursuing novelty in our environment that is safe, it will stimulate us. So, it would be wise to seek out new things to do to attain this maximized stimulation and increased potential for retention.

Experience New Things

Remember the last time you went to a new store, restaurant, or location? You feel more alive. You are anxious to see the menu, products, or sites. You sense new smells, new color combinations, new visuals. It is an amazing experience to visit a new place and enjoy all of it.

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Do New Things

Have you ever gotten into a rut? It’s boring, time drags, and exhausting. Go places you don’t typically go to. Maybe a museum? Maybe a flea market? Maybe a farmer’s market? What about a great bookstore? How about catching a show with your local amateur acting group? A new hiking trail? Maybe you could take a new route to work?

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Learn New Things

I enjoy learning new things. I’m learning MS Publisher. I’m taking a beginning Algebra course. I’m taking a Neuro-Linguistic-Programming (NLP) course. All of these courses introduce novel information. This information can be used for all sorts of things as your brain internalizes the information and integrates it with the knowledge you already possess.

You want to learn to draw, pick up a new language, or take great pictures with your iPhone? Take a course, find a local workshop or class, or find a meetup where you can interact with new people and learn a skill at the same time.

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Read New Things

I like to read articles from numerous sources like the Atlantic, Inc, and Forbes. I enjoy articles by Scientific American. I try to read as much as I can during the week and stretch my mind by reading other’s work and understanding their point of view.

In today’s polarized climate, it is so easy to fall into an ideological bucket and lose one’s ability to really think through an issue. I try to avoid the extremes of an argument by reading articles from both sides of an issue and finding what I believe the real solution is: somewhere in the middle.

If you enjoy Science Fiction and Thrillers, read Literary Fiction, read a classic, or read a mystery or romance novel. The change is stimulating, particularly if you find a great author.

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Novel experiences make for an enjoyable life. A life lived fully. So get out there. Do something different, even if it involves trying something new at a favorite restaurant. Your brain will thank you.

If you would like to learn more about how the brain learns, read Sousa’s (2017) book below under reference. It is a fascinating and informative read.

Until next time…

Dave

Reference

Sousa, D. A. (2017). How the brain learns. (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. ISBN-13: 9781506346304

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – It’s Sunday Night, and All is Quiet

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Blogging, Comments, Flexibility, habits, Meditation, motivation, rituals, Variety

Hey there!

I was reading through a few blog posts and saw the time. It’s Monday Motivation time. I’ll time this post if I finish early or just post it at midnight. I love the variety in the blogs I follow. One had a family visit to a great tropical resort, another is in Japan, and yet another got to the gym and knocked out some treadmill work. We are all so unique, yet the same. We like to write (obviously), we like to tell our stories, and we like the occasional response to our work. I try to respond to all the blogs I read, hoping folks will do the same on mine. I really enjoy getting comments. It makes my day!

OK. Off we go!

This week I’ll be following my daily regimen. Writing, reading, learning, meditating, coding, exercising, and all the rest. I enjoy my rituals. I schedule enough work to keep me busy and the rest of the day is mine. Rituals are nice because they slowly become a habit. I do not follow a daily schedule, because I would rarely follow it. I get all of my stuff done. It’s nice to have some flexibility in the day and attack what I want to when I feel it.

One thing I do is cluster like tasks together. When I’m done with this blog post, I’ll hit my journaling, posting quotes, sharing articles, and letter writing. Tomorrow during the day when I’m fresh, I’ll do some work on my classwork and coding exercises. I’ll get my exercise in, and I try to meditate every afternoon between 2:30 and 4:30 pm. I like this time of day because there is little chance I’ll fall asleep. I tried morning meditations and before-bed meditations, but I always fall asleep. The afternoon sessions are perfect.

I hope all of you have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenges

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Improve, Organization, Set Goals, Spread Your Wings, Trying Something New, Variety, Weekly Challenge

As we start our New Year, here are some challenges to get off to a good start:

#1 – Write three things you want to accomplish by year’s end.

Or

#2 – Put together a tracking mechanism in MS Excel, Google Docs, or on paper that you can use to track the habits you are trying to establish in 2020.

Or

#3 – Read Mini Habits or Elastic Habits books this year!

That’s all I got for this week. As always, respond in the comments when you complete one or more of these challenges.

Have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Keep it Interesting

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Consistency, Do Something, Exercise, healthy living, Interest, Showing up, Variety, wisdom, workout

We’ve all tried to bunk our gym session or dance class. A single routine can get monotonous. That’s why I have decided to make my fitness regime fun by incorporating different workouts into my schedule. From dancing to yoga, I plan to keep it as interesting as possible so I’m never bored of working out.

Disha Patani

I’ve read a few books recently that are about habits. The first was Atomic Habits by James Clear; the other was Elastic Habits by Stephen Guise.

I enjoy synthesizing information and coming up with uncommon connections between this data. In Atomic Habits a lot of attention is given to setting the prime conditions for habit formation. Elastic habits look to form a variety of lateral and vertical targets for daily habits. Both of these align well with today’s quote.

If you follow my workout routine every week, you can see the amount of variety that I apply to my workout routines each week. I do this because the variety is what keeps it interesting. My efforts in the gym are not about having a perfect body; my efforts are about feeling good and staying healthy. Some weeks are really intense and others are just going to the gym and knocking out the day’s workout.

The benefits we glean from exercise come with consistency. You won’t get any benefit from working out once a month. You’ve got to get in your exercise every day.

Besides consistency, we also have to keep in mind that we have lives outside of the gym. Some days you’ll be so busy that all you can do is get in a 10-minute walk. Some days you’ll be motivated to do your workout. On other days you’ll go through the motions.

The key to all of this is consistency. Let’s say you go to the gym every day for a month. Some of those days will be great workouts; others not so much. What would happen if you missed a few days? I would argue that you may miss one of those magical gym days when you are energized, focused, and just feel great. If you miss these days, you not only miss a workout, you miss a great workout. So keep going.

The gym is not the only route you can take. You can work out at home. You can take a long walk around a park or your housing area. You can lift weights. You can do cardio. You can do Yoga or Pilates. You can use dumbbells, barbells, machines, or cables. You can do supersets, compound sets, rest-pause sets, pyramids, or tri-sets. You can vary the body parts you exercise, you can vary the reps you push for, and you can vary the amount of rest you use. You can use a pre-designed workout routine, or even wing it. The point I’m making here is a workout done is better than nothing done, even if you only show up and do the minimal amount. Your consistency will build and slowly but surely, you’ll have a habit of exercising. Check that off your list!

Well, it’s time to say goodbye for now. I hope you have a great Wednesday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge

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Expanding, Exploration, Growth, Pushing Boundaries, Spread Your Wings, Variety, Weekly Challenge

This week’s challenge provided by the 5-minute Journal:

Take a cold shower. As cold as you can take it. For as long as you can.

This will be a tough one.

Alternate challenge:

Read something that is totally opposite of your belief system to open your mind. If you are liberal, read something conservative. If you are conservative, read something liberal.

Example:

Conservative reading: article on Rush Limbaugh’s site or the Daily Wire. Liberal reading: read an article on the NY Post, Washington Post, LA times, or CNN.

I try to read as broadly as I can. You’ll know when you’ve hit your boundary, you’ll be triggered. I believe we need to stop fighting from extreme positions and meet in the middle. There is no perfect ideology, no perfect political affiliation, no perfect opinion. They are just opinions. Each opinion is worth listening to or reading about to arrive at a truly informed position.

Post in the comments when you accomplish one of these. I look forward to your responses.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday – 30 Day Challenges

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30-day Challenge, Adding Spice to Your Life, Excitement, Getting Out of a Rut, Matt Cutts, Ted Talk, Trying New Things, Variety

Image by Adam R from Pixabay 

Enjoy this short video by Matt Cutts. He explains how great it is to do something new each month for 30 days. This is a fun video, and it is also inspiring. Enjoy it. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll inspire you to try something you’ve always wanted to, for just 30 days.

Until next time…

Dave