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motivation

RESET Your Brain

We’ve officially reached the halfway point of 2023 and our monthly theme on the Kwik Brain Universe app is reset. If you haven’t joined yet, you can sign up, here. This is your one-stop-shop for all your courses. It’s also the best place to connect with other lifelong learners, along with being the first to find out about new events, groups, and programs.

When it comes to reaching your goals, it’s important to do a check-in, reset your brain, and make small changes to continue your forward momentum. Maybe the first six months of the year have been a struggle for you. If so, that’s okay. You can find your greatest strengths in your biggest struggles. All it takes is one step in a different direction to change your entire trajectory.

STEPS TO R.E.S.E.T

When you envision your goal, it might seem like a good idea to paint the perfect picture of that positive future. And while that’s sometimes a good place to start, it’s not always the case. If that vision feels too far away, it can actually trigger a stress response in your brain. Instead of feeling motivated, you’ll more likely end up in fight, flight, or freeze mode. And that can be extremely demotivating.

One of the best things you can do when faced with overwhelm is break things down into small, simple steps. They help your goal feel manageable and allow you to focus on smaller, more easily achievable goals. This helps you not only feel safe—which alleviates stress—it builds momentum and energy because you’re able to make progress.

To help you remember how to reset your brain, all you have to do is remember R.E.S.E.T.

Routine:

I believe the treasure you seek is hidden in your daily routines. I’m a firm believer that how you start and end your day matters, which is why I have both a morning and an evening routine. I go over the four basic elements of both, here. And here’s a more detailed look at my ideal morning.

It’s important to remember that these episodes and lists aren’t meant to be absolutes every day. They’re meant to be your ideal goal. No one has a perfect morning—not even me. But I try to do as many of them as I can without adding stress to my already busy day. Some important areas to create routines around are sleep, meditation, healthy eating, exercise, and journaling. These all have tremendous benefits for your mental and physical health.

A routine doesn’t help if it’s overwhelming or stressful, so customize yours to fit your schedule and lifestyle. If you’re creating a new routine, start small. Remember, little by little, a little becomes a lot. Take one habit and build from there.

Emotions:

Your emotions are a barometer. They are meant to help you assess your mental state and warn you when you’re nearing overwhelm and burnout. It’s important to honor your emotions instead of resisting them.

That might be easier said than done. It can be tempting to try and bulldoze your way through a difficult day. But when you do that, you’re more likely to make mistakes, find yourself in conflict with others, or overlook important details. It might feel like you’re moving forward, but when you ignore your natural warning signs, you might actually be moving backwards.

What you resist persists. Whatever you’re avoiding is likely what you have to face in order to move forward. The obstacle is always the way. Take time to pause and really listen to what your emotions are trying to tell you. Maybe you need a break. Or help. Talking to someone might unlock a new approach you never considered before. You might need to take a step back and look at your previous steps. Did you miss an important lesson? Or take a shortcut that is now creating the obstacle?

Before your emotions take over, be sure to spend time acknowledging them. Journaling every day is a wonderful way to organize your thoughts and spend time with your emotions. It reduces anxiety and gives your brain the space it needs to process problems and analyze situations. Remember, your emotions are sign posts. Don’t forget to use them.

Sever:

It can be hard in our modern world to actually disconnect, but it’s incredibly important for your mental health. You want to sever your connections to the digital world from time to time.

When was the last time you went out to dinner without your phone? Or turned off the internet and read a book or played a game with your family? Social media and streaming companies spend billions of dollars to find ways to keep you online. Their ultimate goal is to get you addicted to their products and services.

Technology is a wonderful tool. It connects you to people you love, can be used to learn and grow, and can even be a source of inspiration. But like any tool, it’s all about how you use it. Fire can cook your food or burn down your house. You want to be sure that you are using it—not it using you.

In my book, Limitless, I use the following quote from the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre: “Life is the C between B and D. B is birth; D is death; C is choice.” Ultimately, you have the choice to decide what to focus on and how to spend your time. Difficult times can define you, they can diminish you, or they can develop you. Make sure you spend your time focused on the things that matter and not endlessly scrolling or binging media.

Explore:

Curiosity is one of the most important emotions to cultivate along with gratitude. When you’re curious, you’re less fearful—just like when you’re grateful. But curiosity extends past learning about new things. It can also help you overcome obstacles.

Think about a time someone was upset at you. Imagine how the situation could have changed if you had been curious instead of angry. Curiosity leads you to ask questions, prompts you to look at things from a different perspective, and go outside of your comfort zone. It’s been suggested that curiosity is one of the reasons positive emotions exist. It can enhance your connections, lead to higher levels of motivation, and give you a sense of purpose.

Don’t be afraid to try new things. Even something as simple as listening to a new playlist, trying a new exercise routine, or going to a new restaurant can spark new ideas and energize you in surprising and unexpected ways. You might feel stuck not because you’re doing too much. But because you’re not doing enough of the things that inspire and motivate you. Ask questions, say yes, and embrace curiosity in everything you do.

Think:

Part of pursuing a goal is stepping back and evaluating them. It can be too easy to lose sight of your goal in the drudgery of life. You want to remember why you had the dream in the first place. If you’re stuck, it might be because your goal isn’t aligned in your heart and mind.

One of the most important things to remember is that there’s a difference between goal-setting and goal-getting. You can listen to our numerous episodes on goals, here.

You want to make your goals S.M.A.R.T.:

  • Specific — Make your goal as specific as possible with well-defined steps and verifiable results. Instead of saying I want a raise, define what a good raise looks like and how you can go about getting it.
  • Measurable — You have to measure your progress so you can see how far you’ve come. If you can’t measure your goal, you can’t manage or track it.
  • Action-oriented — These are the steps that push you forward and give you direction. What actions can you take every day to make progress?
  • Realistic — Be realistic about your time frames, your outcomes, and dreams. If your company never goes above a 5% raise, a 15% goal isn’t realistic. Make sure you can actually achieve your goal.
  • Time-Bound — While you can stretch your goals out as long as you want, the longer it takes to reach it, the more likely you’ll lose motivation. Challenge keeps you engaged, so set a time frame and stick to it.

But you also want to make sure they have H.E.A.R.T.:

  • Healthy — If you get a promotion at the cost of your health or relationships, you haven’t gained—you’ve lost. Always make sure you’re balancing your goals with your mental, physical, and relationship health.
  • Enduring — Every goal will be hard at some point. Make sure your goal will get you through the hard times and difficult situations by attaching a strong emotional element that motivates and drives you.
  • Alluring — Imagine everything achieving that goal will bring. Maybe a promotion means more money for a bigger house, a dream vacation, or a new car. Don’t be afraid to dream.
  • Relevant — No matter what your goal is, tie it to your life. How will learning to play the ukulele make your life better? Will it bring you closer to someone? Create a link to an ancestral history? Personal goals drive you forward and give you purpose.
  • Truth — If you pursue a degree because your parents want you to, the odds of you sticking with it when things get hard are low. Find your truth. Know your truth. And stick with your truth.

KEEP SHOWING UP

When it comes to your goals, imagine what you want most. See it, feel it, believe in it, and then work daily for it. If you need to, break your goal down into smaller goals, and then break those down into small, simple steps.

Pursuing your goals isn’t about forcing an outcome. It’s about finding flow. You want to push and challenge yourself with stretch goals, but you also need to give yourself time and space to recover from setbacks so you can learn and grow along the way.

There is no goal too big if you are realistic about how to reach it. Never shrink what’s possible to fit your mind. Expand your mind to fit what’s possible by upgrading your mindset, motivation, and methods to give yourself the tools and resources to meet your biggest dreams.

If you’re struggling to stay on track, don’t beat yourself up. Often, a simple reset fixes the problem. Try rebooting your brain and realigning yourself with the HEART of your goal. Make sure to acknowledge your hard work and celebrate each success along the way—no matter how small. Remember, there’s a version of you that you haven’t met yet. Keep showing up and doing the work until you’re introduced.

As an added bonus, watch this video for four things you can change to maximize your results?

THE EMPATHETIC ELEPHANT: DECIPHER YOUR BRAIN TYPE

Congratulations on taking the quiz and unlocking the C.O.D.E. to your unique brain type. You’ve taken the first step towards understanding how to leverage your strengths and develop strategies to overcome your biggest challenges. As an Empathetic Elephant, you have incredible strengths you can use to overcome any challenge in your learning and life. 

If you haven’t taken the test yet, be sure to visit mybrainanimal.com to find out which brain animal represents you.

THE EMPATHETIC ELEPHANT

The Empathetic Elephant is the collaborative connector. You have exceptional emotional intelligence. Thanks to your ability to understand others on a deeply emotional level, you’re able to forge strong connections. Teams are better with you on them. You’re supportive and cooperative, and your empathy enables you to mediate conflict, facilitate open communication, and enhance a positive atmosphere wherever you go. You understand how other people can lift each other up, encouraging them to weave their strengths together to create an unstoppable force. This makes you a master negotiator, an uplifting cheerleader, and a just peacekeeper. It doesn’t matter whether you’re helping your children get along or managing a diverse group to launch a new product line, you will find a way to bring them together, see different points of view, and flourish as a united team.

UTILIZE YOUR ELEPHANT STRENGTHS

Your communication skills are your ultimate strength. And you can take these skills to the next level by practicing active listening and fine-tuning your empathetic responses. Elevating your ability to provide clear messages to anyone you’re interacting with is guaranteed to strengthen your interpersonal relationships and enhance your teamwork abilities.

Some easy ways for you to hone these skills are by regularly participating in group activities. Join clubs, organizations, or professional networks to strengthen your collaboration and build a strong support system. If there aren’t any appealing options at work or in your personal life, create one! You have everything you need to not only talk people into joining, but ensuring that every interaction is meaningful and engaging.

You want to make sure you don’t end up taking too much on, so you to be sure to delegate tasks as you learn people’s preferences and strengths rather than taking them on yourself. And because you effectively gain the trust of your team members, you know you can count on them to complete their assigned responsibilities.

Whenever you face conflict, you can rely on your ability to find common ground, maintain open lines of communication, and foster an atmosphere of mutual respect between all parties. Whether this obstacle is between you and another person, or between members of your team, you can facilitate and guide everyone to reach an amicable resolution.

ELEPHANTS WORKING WITH OTHERS

Every animal type has their own strengths to contribute when working with others. The goal of a successful team is to use your strengths to complement others and contribute to a more effective and balanced group dynamic. Here are some specific strategies you can employ when working with other animal brain types.

The logical Owls can often get lost in spreadsheets and data. Their methodical approach to problem-solving can sometimes come across as dismissive or cold. This is where you can help them see things from others perspectives. And you can help others see the practical value in their analytical skills and structured approach. This means you can guide the Owl to collaborate with teammates through increased communication and cooperation.

Agile Cheetahs are always ready to move and you are the perfect person to help them find which way to go. Even if you can’t solve their specific problems, your ability to understand everyone’s strengths and weaknesses means you know exactly who can. Their quick-decision making can be a little uncomfortable for you, but thanks to your clear and direct communication style, you both can have a constructive discussion that allows you to find a middle ground.

The out-of-the-box ideas and innovative solutions of the creative Dolphin appreciate your collaborative skills. Especially when their ideas are too far out of the comfort zone and they’re having difficulty finding buy-in. That’s where you come in. Your focus on teamwork, group cohesion, and your ability to bring people together make any work environment one where the creative Dolphin feels comfortable enough to let their ideas flow and trust that they’ll be heard. 

IMPROVE YOUR ELEPHANT WEAKNESSES 

Every animal type has challenges you can work on to improve your performance. By focusing on personal growth, you can become self-aware enough to overcome these obstacles and become your best self.

One area you’ll want to work in is your ability to make a confident, well-informed decision when consensus isn’t possible. Your communication skills are top-notch, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always be able to get everyone to see eye-to-eye. Sometimes, you’ll have to step in and make the call, one way or the other, and stand behind it.

You’ll also want to practice working independently. Your ability to bring a solid team together makes it easier for you to surround yourself with high quality people. But that can also mean you take a backseat to others, relying on their judgement instead of your own. You have good instincts so be sure you learn how to trust those instincts by learning how to make progress on your own as well as with others.

Spending time alone won’t simply increase your trust in yourself, it will help you grow your confidence. Even though you have the natural ability to facilitate collaboration, you want to work on being able to assert yourself and express your opinions and ideas. Making sure everyone else’s voice is heard and respected is one of your strengths. But you want to ensure that you demand the same for yourself.

By focusing on these areas of improvement, you’ll learn how to make confident decisions and trust that your own voice is a valuable resource for every team. This will give you a more balanced and effective approach to work, learning, and personal growth.

BETTER ELEPHANT PROBLEM-SOLVING & DECISION-MAKING

Each animal brain type has unique cognitive preferences that you can use to improve your problem-solving and decision-making abilities.

As an Elephant, you can leverage your strong communication and collaboration skills to involve others in the problem-solving process. This allows you to gather diverse perspectives and insights, which leads to better outcomes. While you want to learn how to trust your own instincts, there is nothing wrong with gathering information from trusted and knowledgeable resources to help you out.

Once you’ve reached a decision, you can help build consensus among team members and stakeholders. Because you’ve taken everyone’s input into account, the decisions and solutions you make are sure to more effective and sustainable in the long run.

You can trust that no matter what obstacle or problem is in your way, your empathetic nature will consider the human impact of whatever solutions you’re weighing. You want to balance maintaining your objectivity so that no matter what the outcome, you’ve reached it carefully, choosing the best out of a variety of well-informed options.

CONCLUSION

As an Elephant, you have incredible strengths and cognitive gifts. You can leverage these abilities to overcome challenges, improve your performance, and unlock your inner genius. Learn how to work independently, fine-tune your natural communication skills, and turn the world into an unstoppable team so you can make anything possible.

Remember, these brain types are not strict categories, but a framework to help you explore and embrace your unique qualities. You may even find multiple brain types resonate with you. Everyone is a one-of-a-kind combination of traits and abilities. That’s why your brain type isn’t a limitation, but a foundation from which you can build and expand.

This information can help you tailor your learning approach, seek environments that complement your strengths, and surround yourself with individuals who can support and challenge you. When you embrace your strengths, cultivate your weaknesses, and embark on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth, you can unleash your truly limitless potential.

TAKE THE QUIZ

So, are you ready to uncover your brain type? Find out if you embody the agility of the Cheetah, the wisdom of the Owl, the creativity of the Dolphin, and the empathy of the Elephant. Take the quiz at mybrainanimal.com and unlock the power of your remarkable mind.

THE CREATIVE DOLPHIN: DECIPHER YOUR BRAIN TYPE

Congratulations on taking the quiz and unlocking the C.O.D.E. to your unique brain type. You’ve taken the first step towards understanding how to leverage your strengths and develop strategies to overcome your biggest challenges. As a Creative Dolphin, you have incredible strengths you can use to overcome any challenge in your learning and life. 

If you haven’t taken the test yet, be sure to visit mybrainanimal.com to find out which brain animal represents you.

THE CREATIVE DOLPHIN

The Creative Dolphin is the visionary. You generate original ideas and find unique solutions to complex problems through out-of-the-box thinking and strong intuition. Imagination is your playground. You approach challenges with a fresh perspective, looking from all angles, even ones no one has considered. Impossible isn’t in your vocabulary. That doesn’t mean you’re trying to constantly reinvent the wheel. Instead, you enjoy building on what already exists, and either expanding their potential or taking a different approach. You thrive when you’re encouraged to offer new viewpoints and love brainstorming new ideas. At home, you breathe new life into Taco Tuesday and can craft a brand-new marketing campaign for a lagging product at work. You’re guaranteed to come up with an idea no one else has thought of. You shine in environments that embrace your creative spirit and can feel stifled in places that require you to conform to strict convention.

UTILIZE YOUR DOLPHIN STRENGTHS

As a creative, you have the ability to engage in creative endeavors to enhance innovative thinking. You can use your imagination to unlock new ideas and explore unique approaches to any problems you encounter. It may not seem like it, but activities like painting, writing, or brainstorming can be used to sharpen your problem-solving abilities as you learn to see things from a different perspective.

One way you can enhance your creative side is by creating a stimulating environment. Design your workspace in a way that promotes creativity by incorporating elements that inspire you. Things like mood boards, plants, pieces of art, photographs, or anything else that speaks to your creative side. And don’t forget the power of natural light.

Part of planning your day should incorporate time to recharge your creative well. Mindfulness exercises, such as journaling and meditation, help you tap into your intuition and gain insight into your thought process. Creativity can easily become blocked with too much pressure or stress, so you want to be sure to make time to decompress and relax.

You also excel at collaboration, though it’s easy to get lost inside your dreamscapes. Make sure you find time to regularly seek out others for feedback and brainstorming sessions. You may be reluctant to leave your world and interact with other people, but you’ll find that you end up feeling not just inspired, but energized from the collective ideas generated.

Dolphins Working with Others

Every animal type has their own strengths to contribute when working with others. The goal of a successful team is to use your strengths to complement others and contribute to a more effective and balanced group dynamic. Here are some specific strategies you can employ when working with other animal brain types.

It might feel strange to team up with the logical Owl, but you and the Owl complement each other’s strengths and offset your weaknesses remarkably well. You can introduce innovative ideas and solutions and the Owl can provide a structured framework to implement them. Owls love solving puzzles which means you can use their curiosity to bring any creative endeavor to life. Their analytical approach combined with your creativity and open-mindedness can create interesting answers for any problem you encounter.

Working with the agile Cheetah can feel like you’re on creative overdrive. No matter what you dream up, the Cheetah is ready to spring into action and make it happen. Their efficiency and adaptability can help you find strengths and pitfalls in new ideas and programs, giving you clear direction on how to focus your efforts for maximum productivity. You can help the Cheetah find new approaches to their set routines and practices, while they can help you get better at execution and momentum.

Dolphins and Elephants are natural partners. You both value collaboration, even though your motivations for connecting are different. The Elephant wants to ensure everyone’s voice is heard and this can be an advantage for you, since depending on the team structure, you dreamy and out-of-the-box ideas might be otherwise dismissed or can be difficult to get buy-in. At the same time, they can help make sure you get the feedback and creative input you need to help you overcome obstacles or roadblocks when it comes to creating and executing new plans.

Improve Your Dolphin Weaknesses

Every animal type has challenges you can work on to improve your performance. By focusing on personal growth, you can become self-aware enough to overcome these obstacles and become your best self.

Even though you can come up with exciting new approaches to outdated problems, you want to focus on and develop are your organizational skills. Creativity often happens in a whirlwind. It can be easy for you to lose track of time when working on a project—even getting lost in the project itself as you discard various elements in search of the right fit. Find a way to add structure to your day so you can stay focused and productive on all areas that matter, not just the one demanding all your attention in the moment.

Another way to help stay on track is to practice your analytical skills. It can be too easy to chase a shiny new idea, but sitting down and mapping the idea out can save you a lot of time, energy, and resources in the end. Rather than making progress only to start all over when you hit a dead-end, a little planning can hone your creative instincts into sharp tools that you can wield effectively. This will also help you learn how to prioritize your tasks and projects effectively. Understanding how to focus on the most important objectives first will ensure timely completion and lead to you getting more done in less time.

By focusing on these areas of improvement, you’ll learn how to analyze your tasks and organize your day so you can tackle every creative idea quickly and efficiently. This will give you a more balanced and effective approach to work, learning, and personal growth.

Better Dolphin Problem-solving and Decision-making

Each animal brain type has unique cognitive preferences that you can use to improve your problem-solving and decision-making abilities.

Your natural inclination for creativity and imagination means that you can generate innovative solutions to problems. Even if you’ve been told to think more conventionally, you should stay open to exploring unconventional ideas and approaches. Your out-of-the-box thinking can often yield answers no one else thought of and that makes you a valuable asset to any team.

Take your creative thinking one step further by looking for patterns and connections in every task. Learning how to assess and analyze while creating will strengthen your problem-solving abilities and help you master identifying patterns, trends, and connections between seemingly unrelated pieces of information.

This practice will also help you learn to consider the big picture from a holistic standpoint. Every problem has broader context and every decision has long-term implications. By taking a step back and not focusing on just the smaller problem at hand, you can learn to think on a larger scale and successfully avoid obstacles in the future.

CONCLUSION

As a Dolphin, you have incredible strengths and cognitive gifts. You can leverage these abilities to overcome challenges, improve your performance, and unlock your inner genius. Learn how to enhance your creative workspace, practice analyzing your priorities, and turn the world into a vision board so you can make anything possible.

Remember, these brain types are not strict categories, but a framework to help you explore and embrace your unique qualities. You may even find multiple brain types resonate with you. Everyone is a one-of-a-kind combination of traits and abilities. That’s why your brain type isn’t a limitation, but a foundation from which you can build and expand.

This information can help you tailor your learning approach, seek environments that complement your strengths, and surround yourself with individuals who can support and challenge you. When you embrace your strengths, cultivate your weaknesses, and embark on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth, you can unleash your truly limitless potential.

TAKE THE QUIZ

So, are you ready to uncover your brain type? Find out if you embody the agility of the Cheetah, the wisdom of the Owl, the creativity of the Dolphin, and the empathy of the Elephant. Take the quiz at mybrainanimal.com and unlock the power of your remarkable mind.