Ask yourself this:

How do I treat my mind?

Do you nourish it? Do you train it? Do you challenge it? Do you hang out with it? 

If your answer to these is a no, then spend time identifying activities so that next time you ask yourself these questions, the answer is a “yes”. How’s the water intake, are you eating foods that promote brain health and thus a happy mind, am I doing activities that challenge the health of my mind, is my mind someone I even want to spend time with? 

Remember, the key to a happy mind is a healthy brain. You have to tend to the brain first and then your mind, just like tending to a garden. And you can address both in the same chunk of the day. 

Here’s my daily morning flow just as an example, something that I’ve come to realize is ESSENTIAL to ensuring my energy and morale is sustainable day in and day out. 

I treat my morning as a recipe with necessary ingredients. I am not tied to duration. I do not treat it as a task just to say I did it. It’s not forced. It’s my personal “medicine”, its my personal “prescription” for my mind, body and spirit. I make sure I get each ingredient in during my morning before I do anything work or business wise. 

Healthy brain. Happy mind. 

1. Wake up, light exposure, brush teeth, drink a cup of water, make a tea (typically a apple cider digestive tea blended with a brain health focused tea)
2. Movement. Again not tied to duration but getting the heart rate up promotes healthy release of growth hormone, cortisol, and stimulates brain circulation. Clear out remaining metabolic waste and bring in new nutrients. Workout, walk, maybe 10 minutes of just moving your body. Whatever you are feeling at that moment.
3. Cold Exposure. 2 minutes at the end of my shower. I do a round of Tummo breathwork, recite a poem and that’s it. Cold exposure stimulates healthy release of dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol along with activation of the immune system and brown fat thermogenesis. Tummo breathwork stimulates the immune system as well and your sympathetic nervous system, thus actually generating heat from the inside out. Halfway through the breakwork, I no longer feel cold. The poem I recite starts the mind aspect of this flow. 
4. Breakfast! Egg scramble with a bunch of veggies and some kind of meat, including beans, especially kidney beans. Kidney beans contain high levels of an essential fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid, which is crucial for the health and function of neurons in our brain. Beans are a source of protein and fiber which nourish gut bacteria, regulate cerebral circulation and trigger weight loss. This scramble paired with a berry pea protein smoothie loads my body and brain up with protein, antioxidants and fiber. 
5. A morning read and meditation. While I eat this magnificent breakfast, I read. My morning books are The Daily Stoic and then some kind of mindfulness/perspective book. Typically an excerpt from my morning read will trickle into my morning meditation, which I do once I am done eating. The meditation is my time with my mind and I typically just start with stillness and whatever my mind conjures up is what I’ll actively dive into and just as easily let go of, like water passing over a rock.

Build resilience. Lower stress. Create a window, open the door for the momentum you just generated to flow through with ease and tackle your day with focus, playfulness and intent. 

Healthy brain = happy mind. Get ahead and stay ahead. 

Go be friends with your mind!