Breakthroughs Start With the Basics
When your world feels out of control, one thing you can control is yourself. It may seem illogical to actively care for yourself while your world is seemingly on fire or crumbling around you, but a guaranteed path to breakthrough is paved by focusing on your individual health and wellness. Doing so directly ties to transformation in your external circumstances and those around you.
Whenever I meet with my therapist, throughout our conversation she always asks the following questions. How are you sleeping? How’s your appetite? Have you gotten any exercise? She knows I love to travel, so we always talk about a trip I have just returned from or one I have coming up. It always works to light me up and creates a fun sense of excitement. There are always external circumstances going on that feel huge, frustrating or unchanging. We discuss them, and over time, they actually do change. Even though they feel so impossible in the moment, when I look back over the previous six months, year, and more, I see huge shifts and movement I made through each challenge, hardship and goal.
Circumstances change. It may not feel like they can, but they always do. If you find yourself in a perpetual state of being that feels stuck, observe your thoughts. They may stem from a subconscious belief that things don’t change or people don’t change or change is hard.
Radical acceptance of my current circumstances is key to every breakthrough I have made. No denial. No ignoring. No praying or positive thinking and proclaiming my way out of the truth of my feelings and experiences helped without first surrendering in radical acceptance. From there, action begins. And by action, I focus on completing activities that prioritize how I sleep, eat, move and play.
Are you in need of a breakthrough? I encourage you to shift your laser focus from external circumstances and huge life goals for a moment and talk to yourself (I like to journal and/or record my voice to play back and listen), a therapist, coach, or trusted friend or loved one about those four things on a consistent basis. Connecting with someone to express yourself and be accountable is essential. Doing so garners the effectiveness of two-way dialogue which helps to solidify and amplify positive outcomes.
I want to focus again on the constant of change, a state we resist so much, yet are powerless to control because everything changes and is changing at this very moment. My mind goes to the story of Rip Van Winkle, who wandered off into the woods to escape his problems and fell into a deep sleep under a tree for 20 years. Although he was asleep for all that time seemingly, not changing, he actually did change, very, very much. He woke up with a long beard, and everything around him looked completely different. Even when it seems like your life is in a standstill, you are changing and everything around you is, too.
The belief that nothing or no one changes can be a disempowering premise to stand on. A more empowering one is to believe everyone and everything is always changing. However, to have the most powerful impact, you must take your focus off of anything external and focus on yourself, and more specifically, the health of your mind and body. I contend that if you focus on the basic elements of your existence—sleep, appetite, exercise, and play—and form healthy, consistent habits in those areas, you will see massive shifts in your life and biggest challenges over time. I know, you want change NOW. You want circumstances to look, feel and be different TODAY. Take a breath. Surrender. And start with a micro-focus on those four things.
To feel changes and see results, one must first set a firm foundation for the results to rest upon. Allow sleeping, eating, movement and play to be the building blocks for your breakthroughs. Each area connects to your brain function which directly dictates your results.
Research shows that adding 20 extra minutes of sleep makes you more alert, improves performance levels and boosts your mood. Set an intention to get 20 extra minutes of sleep by going to bed earlier, waking up later, or scheduling time for a power nap on your calendar. If none of those options work for you, substitute with a “sleep proxy” such as meditation, going for a reflective, unplugged walk, or other forms of mindfulness practices.
When it comes to eating, my goal is to be mindful during meals and practice intuitive eating as much as possible. I learned about intuitive eating from nutritionist Lauren Stickney, who explained that intuitive eating is based on bio-individuality which means there are as many diets and ways to eat as there are people. One practical way to be more intuitive when you eat is to eat before you’re starving. Delaying your meals until you are ravenous can lead to you eating in a way that doesn’t provide the most nutritional value. There are many more ways to practice intuitive eating and if you’re interested, look into it.
Along with eating, we must drink enough water to stay hydrated for optimal health and to support our brain functions. Our brains are made up of 70-80% water and drinking it is proven to increase our ability to focus and lower stress. Water flows like a river through our brains transporting molecules across cells to communicate with each other so that we can move, create, think, and focus. Set a goal to drink half your body weight in ounces of water every day to help feel your best.
Movement and exercise are vital to our well-being, especially when it comes to experiencing breakthroughs. We rely on our brains to think of solutions to our problems and exercising increases our ability to do so. Exercise opens portals in the right brain and allows us to think more creatively. Exercise also decreases stress and anxiety, which if left unchecked, can lead to the formation of fear-based thinking patterns that influence our decision-making abilities.
Lastly, incorporating novelty and play into our work-focused, results-driven lives, can do wonders for our health and ability to overcome difficulties. Our brains are dependent upon trying new things and having adventures and challenges in life. When we challenge our brains, our brain cells grow, make us smarter, more creative and give us more ideas to draw from to be more insightful. When we take a new fitness class, talk with our friends in funny accents, or indulge in any purposeless activity for the sheer reason of being silly and having fun, the reward circuitry in our brains activate and the happy hormone dopamine is released. When’s the last time you took a different route home from work or tried a food you’ve never had before? Playfulness doesn’t have to be complex. Even simple, new actions give our brains a boost it needs and are vital for problem solving and can even cultivate healing.
In these times, we can externalize so much that we feel out of our bodies and like our bodies, in part, turn against us. Instead, let’s ground ourselves with the realization that areas within our absolute control are our own bodies and minds. From there, we can make moments to reflect on stagnation or progress in how we sleep, eat, move and play. Together, those areas of focus will form the cornerstone upon which we will experience breakthroughs and guarantee our ultimate success.
Keshawn Hughes is a strategic communicator, wellness advocate and neuroscience enthusiast. She helps individuals and organizations improve their lives and business outcomes by providing practical methods and data-based principles along with lessons from her own personal and professional development journey. Learn more about Keshawn and ways to optimize your life at keshawnhughes.com.