Podcast Episode #57
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Extraordinary Life Podcast from the creator of the Extraordinary Life Tribe, Crystal Obregon, the self-development podcast propelling you forward toward your goals, using science backed high performance habits. Reach the next level in your physical and mental health. See new heights in your relationships.
[00:00:18] Gain clarity on your purpose and live your extraordinary life. Welcome your host writer, speaker and coach, Crystal Obregon.
[00:00:30] Hi there. This is Crystal from Crystal Obregon Coaching with Episode Number 57 of the Extraordinary Life Podcast. This will be a short one. Short, but sweet. My boy is back to school and my husband and I both seemed to have avoided COVID this time around.
[00:00:51] I'm trying to get back into my morning routine since it seemed to fall completely apart over the summer. [00:01:00] Yes. I know it's still summer, but when school starts so early, it doesn't entirely seem like it. I'm also trying to get back to my regular supplement routine. As I had been successful in reducing my hot flashes and headaches to practically none.
[00:01:17] And also I had been sleeping through the night on a consistent basis. All of those things haven't been the case for the last week or two. So I'm really motivated to make it happen. So yesterday morning, as I'm recording this, I woke up at about four in the morning. Which I've been doing fairly consistently.
[00:01:39] And normally I would try, try, try to get back to sleep, or maybe even get up for a little while before returning to bed. When I do that, I then get up around seven or eight and my morning routine doesn't happen because the rest of the household is up and about. So this time I [00:02:00] decided that I just get up and stay.
[00:02:03] I'm usually asleep by 10:00 PM. So I had gotten a little less than six hours of sleep. I thought that I'd used the time instead of trying to sleep and successfully. What I did is I took my morning routine to the limit. I won't do this every morning, but it did help remind me why I do it. And I do it because it works and it makes me feel good.
[00:02:32] Some of the mindset work that I do in my morning routine is some of the most important work I do. So I got up, I unloaded the dishwasher while I made my coffee. And then while I drank my coffee, I wrote in my gratitude journal because it had been an entire month. I dropped off when I thought I'd cracked my tooth on vacation and I was in pain.[00:03:00]
[00:03:00] Hard to be grateful at that moment, I can be grateful because I didn't crack it. I just saw my dentist and he couldn't see anything wrong, which means I probably did sprain the tooth ligament biting down on the piece of olive pit in my salad. So that really is a thing. I also went on to read a chapter in a book I'm reading called, Prosperity, by Catherine Ponder.
[00:03:29] And then I folded my kitchen laundry while listening to the first module of a course on tapping or EFT that I just started. And then when I was done with that, I did the tapping meditation that went along with it and followed it with my regular 20 minute meditation that I like to do from my Deepak Chopra app. Since no one was up, I decided to do a quick mop of the kitchen floor, which had [00:04:00] been on my to do list and then started breakfast for the family.
[00:04:04] After my son went to school, I logged into my yoga class, which is usually my Tuesday morning thing, but I hadn't done it for a while after that. Not only did my mind feel good, but so did my body. This was a very exaggerated version of my morning routine. I hope it's obvious that one. I'm not gonna get up at 4:00 AM every day.
[00:04:28] And I'm also not going to do all the things that I did that morning. But it did make a difference. And I got the feeling of the routine back so that I was more motivated this morning when I woke up to do my regular morning routine. And I also had a really good night's sleep as well. This goes back to the whole idea of habits.
[00:04:52] Sometimes you wanna get back to an old one and sometimes you may want to start a new one. How long [00:05:00] does it take to create a habit or get one back? I've heard everything from three weeks to three months. But what if instead we asked how many repetitions of an action you have to take before it becomes a habit.
[00:05:16] This is a more powerful question because it's more action oriented. It takes you out of the passive mode of waiting for time to pass and puts you in charge of the process. After all, it's the action that helps rewire your brain for success.
[00:05:33] Studies have shown that your brain can physically change in just a couple of weeks when you learn new things or create new habits. This is called neuroplasticity and it's a relatively new area of brain science. We all grew up believing that the brain was static. And once you reached a certain age, there was no way to change it. That whole idea of you can't teach old dogs, new tricks.
[00:05:58] That's been tossed out the [00:06:00] window. As researchers have found that adults have been able to physically change their brains based on their actions. There's a specific process called reach R E A C H to help rewire your brain also known as creating new neural pathways in your brain.
[00:06:20] The first part is repetition are for repetition and the more repetitions of an activity you do, the more likely rewiring will occur.
[00:06:32] The second part is E for effort. You have to put some work and enthusiasm into making rewiring happen, going through the motions. Doesn't count. The third is a for attention, basically. You just have to pay attention. You need to be in the moment as you're doing the activity. The fourth has to do with the level [00:07:00] of complexity.
[00:07:01] The more challenging your habit or activity, the more your brain will rewire. For example, learning to speak a new language requires more rewiring than drinking a glass of water. First thing in the morning, the last part of the process is health. The healthier your body and brain are the more ready your brain is for change.
[00:07:24] So lay the groundwork for change by getting exercise and sleep and eating a healthy diet. There aren't any hard and fast rules about how long the process takes. But the easier a habit like drinking a glass of water when you wake up, the fewer reps are required. A more challenging habit, like planning your meals ahead of time, might take more reps.
[00:07:49] Personally, I find the idea of repetition, much more empowering than waiting around for a habit to stick. Being intentional about getting [00:08:00] those repetitions in puts you closer and closer to making the activity part of your lifestyle.
[00:08:07] On that note, I've decided to make my seven day wellness challenge available. It's free and it has one easy habit each day for seven days with some education about why you'd want to do the habit in the first place.
[00:08:25] It will help you start or restart some habits. And because they're fairly simple, they'll also help you build your confidence and trust in yourself so that you can tackle some more difficult habits. During the challenge. I'll also give you some info about some of my other wellness challenges that I'm putting on sale through at least the end of September, if you're ready to really tackle some bigger wellness goals. Following your dreams and achieving your goals requires energy.
[00:08:59] And what better [00:09:00] time to jump on the bandwagon than late summer early. I'll have a link to the details for the challenges in the show notes. And remember, the first step in creating change is really just one step. Have a great rest of your day, and I will see you in here next week. Bye for now.
[00:09:25] Thank you for listening to the extraordinary life podcast with writer and coach, Crystal Obregon.
[00:09:30] We'd love to connect with you outside of the podcast, too. To find more helpful insights, show notes and more about Crystal, go to Crystal Obregon.com. O B R E G O N, where you'll also find info for the Design Your Decade Workshop. This workshop will help you to stop drifting and start creating. Until next time be extraordinary.
