Bonnie St. John, celebrated author, Olympian, and leadership consultant, shares her science-backed strategies for boosting focus, drive, and micro-resilience. Topics include cultivating optimism, optimizing metabolism, using holiday spices and breathing exercises to neutralize stress, and the importance of setting boundaries for focused work. They also discuss overcoming challenges, the role of emotions in resilience, and the significance of staying hydrated for cognitive performance.
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Quick takeaways
Microresilience involves incorporating small actions and habits to boost focus, drive, and energy.
Clarifying our purpose and integrating it into daily life helps us stay motivated and focused on what truly matters.
Taking short recovery breaks and managing our metabolism can enhance performance and maintain optimal focus and energy levels.
Deep dives
The Power of Microresilience
Microresilience focuses on the small actions and behaviors we can incorporate into our everyday lives to enhance our resilience and well-being. It involves making minor shifts in our mindset and habits to boost focus, drive, and energy. Rather than solely relying on macro resilience solutions like healthy eating and exercise, microresilience emphasizes the importance of recovery, intentional rest, and purposeful renewal throughout the day. By incorporating simple practices like deep belly breathing, using smells and sounds to calm the amygdala hijack, and flipping negative thoughts into positive reframing, we can enhance our performance, manage stress, and maintain high energy levels.
Tying Purpose into Daily Life
Finding and clarifying our purpose is essential for rejuvenating our spirits and sustaining a sense of fulfillment. By engaging in exercises that identify our values, meaningful goals, and personal motto, we can define our purpose more consciously and intentionally. Once we are clear about our overall purpose, we can then integrate it into our daily lives by finding ways to make it present throughout the day. This may involve using touchstones, such as pictures or objects, to remind us of our purpose, or redesigning activities to align with our values and bring us joy. Tying purpose into our daily routine helps us stay motivated, energized, and focused on what truly matters.
The 16-Second Cure and Recovering Along the Way
High-performance individuals understand the importance of recovering along the way, rather than solely pushing themselves until they drop. Research shows that taking short recovery breaks between tasks can actually enhance performance and productivity. By integrating micro recovery practices into our routines, such as deep belly breathing, using smells and sounds for relaxation, and labeling emotions to regain control, we can replenish our energy levels and maintain optimal focus and mental clarity. The 16-Second Cure, based on observing successful tennis players, reminds us to engage in between-the-points behaviors that rest our minds and bodies, helping us perform at our best.
Micromanaging Your Metabolism
Micromanaging your metabolism involves making intentional choices throughout the day to support your physical and mental energy levels. This includes staying hydrated by drinking water and avoiding drastic fluctuations in blood sugar levels by consuming low glycemic foods. Recognizing which activities drain your energy and which ones give you energy can guide you in making small adjustments to your routine. By identifying the activities that drain you and finding ways to redesign them to align with your values or bring you joy, you can optimize your energy levels and replenish yourself throughout the day.
Daily Practices for Microresilience
To incorporate the principles of microresilience into our daily lives, we can create a personalized daily plan. This entails selecting the tools and practices that resonate with us and align with our goals and values. Each day, we can set reminders or use alarms as prompts to perform these practices, whether it's engaging in reverse reframing, engaging in touchstone activities, or implementing between-the-points behaviors. By intentionally integrating microresilience practices into our routines, we can cultivate resilience, enhance overall well-being, and sustain peak performance even in challenging and fast-paced environments.
Bonnie St. John is a celebrated author, Olympian, leadership consultant, and Rhodes scholar who has overcome some tremendous odds to become “one of the five most inspiring women in America.” Needless to say, she’s a fascinating individual with some wonderful stories and advice to convey to listeners. On today’s episode we focus on her latest book, which is full of science backed/immediately effective strategies to help you bring your ‘A game’ no matter what life throws at you. We discuss “micro-resilience” tactics like cultivating optimism, optimizing your metabolism, and using holiday spices and breathing exercises to neutralize stress. Enjoy the show!