Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).
W ith one decision — an action made by your brain — you will begin a journey to wellness that will offer you increased energy, lower stress, and better sleep (among the many other benefits you have already read about). We want that one decision to last for a lifetime, which requires a renewed mind and sustained focus. In a world where so many distractions compete for your attention, it is more important than ever to stop the busyness in your head and focus on God’s plan and priorities for your life. The bottom line is that whatever gets your attention gets you.
Unfortunately, it is the loss of focus that causes many people to cycle through hopeful starts and many failed stops as other things vie for their attention. We will help you optimize your brain health, renew your mind, increase your focus, and live with a purpose-driven mind-set.
All of the information in this book is designed to help you win the war between the thoughtful part of your brain that knows what you should do and your pleasure centers that always want gratification now. Your pleasure centers, deep in the brain, are always looking for a good time: They crave the double cheeseburgers, will stand in line for the fresh cinnamon rolls, and convince you to stay on the couch in front of the TV for another hour instead of going for that run.
“To be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:23–24).
Left unchecked, your pleasure centers encourage thoughts such as
We deserve it.
Come on, let’s have some fun!
You’re so uptight!
Live a little.
I already had one bowl of ice cream; just one more won’t hurt.
I’ll be better tomorrow. I promise.
Without focus, your brain can ruin your health. To balance your pleasure centers, there is an area in the front part of your brain called the prefrontal cortex, which helps you think about what you do before you do it. It is the brain’s brake that stops you from saying or doing stupid things. The prefrontal cortex is called the executive part of the brain because it acts like the boss at work and is involved with executive functions, such as focus, forethought, judgment, planning, and self-control. It thinks about your future, not just about what you want in the moment. Instead of thinking about the chocolate cake, it is the rational voice in your head that helps you avoid having a big belly, is concerned about your bulging medical bills, and has the ability to say no and mean it.
When your prefrontal cortex is strong, it reins in your pleasure centers so that you can enjoy life, but in a thoughtful, measured way. To get healthier and happier for the long run, it is critical to strengthen your brain.
CHANGE YOUR BRAIN, CHANGE YOUR HEALTH
YOUR BRAIN IS THE MOST AMAZING ORGAN. Even though it is only 2 percent of your body’s weight, it uses 20 to 30 percent of the calories you consume and 20 percent of the oxygen and blood flow in your body. It is the most expensive real estate in your body that requires the most resources. It has 100 billion nerve cells and more connections in it than there are stars in the universe.
When your brain works right, you work right. When your brain is troubled, you are much more likely to have trouble. With a healthy brain, people are happier and physically healthier, because they make better decisions. People with healthy brains are often wealthier and more successful because of those better decisions. (Are you beginning to see a pattern?) When the brain is not healthy, people are sadder, sicker, poorer, and less successful.
It is your brain that pushes you away from the table, telling you that you have had enough. It is your brain that gives you permission to have the third bowl of ice cream but chooses berries instead. If you want better health, strive to have a healthier brain. Ultimately, boosting brain health is about three specific strategies: (1) brain envy — you have to passionately care about your brain, (2) avoiding anything that hurts it, and (3) engaging in habits that boost its health.
Brain envy is a term Dr. Amen coined after looking at tens of thousands of brain SPECT scans of patients at the Amen Clinics. A brain SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) scan evaluates blood flow and activity patterns in the brain. Dr. Amen’s research clearly shows that healthy SPECT scans come from people who make smarter decisions and act in a way to bring health and goodness into their lives.
Yet few people ever think about their brains, much less care about them. We let little kids hit soccer balls with their heads, do dangerous gymnastic routines, or play tackle football. In football and hockey, we cheer big hits, now known to cause lasting brain damage.
Saving My Brain
“A number of years ago my friend Doctor Cyrus Raji and his colleagues published a study reporting that as a person’s weight went up, the size of his or her brain went down. That horrified me. I never want to purposefully do anything to harm the health of my brain. That information motivated me to get to a healthy weight so I could have a healthy mind.
“I first saw my brain in 1991 with the then-new technology of brain SPECT imaging. My brain looked older than I was. It motivated me to have what I call ‘brain envy’ and make radical changes with my health. I stopped drinking diet soda, started sleeping more than six hours a night, began exercising more, and focused on having more fun. I was vigilant about keeping sugar out of my diet, boosted my vegetable and lean protein intake, and made sure to always eat breakfast. Over time these things have become a natural part of my life.”
— Dr. Amen
So why don’t we care more about our brains? Because most people never see their brains. You can see the wrinkles in your face or the fat around your belly and do something when you don’t like how they look, but the brain is different. If you could look at your brain, all of a sudden everything would change. You could see if yours is troubled and do something about it.
Since most people will not have the opportunity to look at their own brains, here are seven warning signs your brain may be in trouble. If you have any of these, it is time to develop brain envy and start taking much better care of it.
1. Poor memory. If your memory is worse than it was ten years ago, it is a sign your brain is struggling.
2. Poor judgment/impulsiveness. If you struggle with consistent problems of poor judgment or impulsive behavior, your brain may be troubled.
3. Short attention span/distractibility. Having a short attention span or being easily distracted could be a sign of brain dysfunction, meaning it is time to start taking better care of it.
4. Depression. From time to time all of us feel sad, but when sad or depressed feelings persist, it is called clinical depression and is usually associated with lower activity in the brain. Boosting brain function often has a very positive effect on mood. Many of The Daniel Plan choices have anti-depressant properties. Exercise, eating right, taking supplements such as fish oil, and learning not to believe every thought have been shown independently to boost mood. 1 If depression persists despite following The Daniel Plan strategies, please see a mental health care professional.
5. Obesity or being overweight. In studies at the Amen Clinics, we have found that as your weight goes up, your ability to think and reason goes down, which means that over time, if you don’t get your weight under control, it will become harder for you to use your own good judgment.
6. Low energy. When people feel physically tired, it is often due to low brain function.
7. Chronic insomnia/sleep apnea. Another sign that your brain may be in trouble is a lack of sleep or sleep apnea. Research suggests that people who get less than seven hours of sleep at night have lower overall blood flow to the brain and poorer cognitive functioning. 2 Sleep apnea (snoring loudly, stopping breathing at night, or feeling chronically tired during the day) increases a person’s risk for obesity, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease. If you have insomnia or sleep apnea, it is critical to get them under control.
Start boosting your brain health by avoiding anything that hurts the brain . Illegal drugs, too much alcohol, brain trauma, environmental toxins, and infections are obvious. Now we also know that a poor diet, especially one high in sugar and simple carbohydrates, increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease fourfold. 3 Hypertension, diabetes, high blood sugar levels, chemotherapy, insomnia, and obesity can all damage the brain and lead to smaller brain volume and poorer cognitive abilities. Even high normal blood pressure and high normal fasting blood sugar levels lead to brain atrophy. In one large study, hypertensive individuals had 9 percent less brain volume than those who had normal blood pressure. 4
There are now more than a hundred studies reporting that being overweight or obese damages brain tissue and function. Untreated depression, excessive stress, low hormone levels, such as thyroid or testosterone, and a lack of exercise or excessive exercise also hurt the brain.
Finding Sleep
As Avery Parsons approached menopause, deteriorating sleep was at the top of her body’s changes. With dramatic hormone shifts, Avery’s sweet tooth was worse than ever. Getting through the afternoon required an extra latte or handfuls of chocolate or both! This not only spiked her blood sugar levels, but also created problems sleeping at night.
Recognizing the harmful cycle she had created, Avery turned to a list of Daniel Plan sleep tips to get back on track. Bit by bit, she improved her sleep. Cutting out the chocolate binges was the first priority. If she had any caffeine, she consumed it before noon. Avery also began preparing for sleep by turning off all electronics, dimming the lights, and putting on soft, relaxing music. Choosing to read a book helped relax her mind and send the message that it was nearing time for bed. Instead of relying on problematic sleep aids, she took 200?–?400mg of magnesium citrate to calm down her nervous system.
To start your own personal sleep hygiene routine, visit danielplan.com for a list of ideas.
When the two men first met, Pastor Warren told Dr. Amen that he never felt motivated to get healthy for his heart and didn’t really care about living longer or being “sexier.” But when Pastor Warren heard that as his weight went up the size of his brain would go down, it motivated him to change. His motivation came from his brain — he wanted to protect his.
The last step to boosting brain health is to engage in regular brain healthy habits , including moderate physical exercise (which you read about in chapter 5 ), new learning, an amazing Daniel Plan – friendly eating plan (see chapter 10 for a 40-day meal plan), and simple supplements such as a multiple vitamin/mineral complex and omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids improve mood and lessen anxiety, and the combination of vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid enhance memory and cognition. 5 Also, being at a healthy weight, being physically healthy, and getting adequate sleep enhances brain function, as does having regular prayer and stress management practices.
Think of the brain as a computer with both hardware and software. Once you optimize the physical functioning of the brain (its hardware), you optimize your mind (the software). But there is one more crucial behavior for your brain health — avoiding chronic stress.
THE BRAIN AND STRESS
Stress is a normal part of everyday life. Bad traffic, a big deadline, a fight at home — hundreds of things can stress us out. When the event passes, so does the stress, and we can breathe a big sigh of relief. With chronic stress, however, there is no relief. Stemming from things like family discord, financial hardships, health issues, work conflicts, or school trouble, chronic stress is unrelenting. And it affects far too many of us. In a poll by the American Psychological Association, a whopping 80 percent of Americans say they feel significant stress. 6 That spells trouble for your brain and body.
Don’t get us wrong — a little stress can be a good thing. When stress hits, the brain tells your body to start pumping out adrenaline (epinephrine) and cortisol, two hormones released by the adrenal glands. Within seconds your heart starts to pound faster, your breathing quickens, your blood courses faster through your veins, and your mind is on heightened alert. You’re ready for anything — running away from a would-be mugger, giving a speech in front of a roomful of peers, or taking an exam.
These stress hormones are the primary chemicals of the fight-orflight response. They are especially useful when you face an immediate threat, such as a rattlesnake in your front yard. The human brain is so advanced that merely imagining a stressful event will cause the body to react to the perceived threat as if it were actually happening. You can literally scare your body into a stress response. The brain is one powerful organ.
Brief surges of stress hormones are normal and beneficial. They motivate you to do a good job at work, study hard, or pay your bills on time. Those short bursts of adrenaline and cortisol are not the problem with stress. The problem is that for many of us, the stress reactions never stop. Traffic, bills, work, school, family conflict, not enough sleep, health issues, and jam-packed schedules keep us in a constant state of stress. Take note that it isn’t just the bad stuff in life that causes stress. Even happy events, such as having a baby or getting a promotion, can be major stressors.
Chronic stress harms the brain. It constricts blood flow, which lowers overall brain function and prematurely ages your brain. A series of studies looked at long-term exposure to stress hormones, especially cortisol, and its effect on brain function in varying age groups. The older adults with continuously high levels of cortisol performed worse on memory tests than older adults with moderate-to-low cortisol levels. The older adults with high cortisol levels also had a 14 percent smaller hippocampus, the area involved with memory. 7 The hippocampus is part of the stress response system and sends out signals to halt the production of cortisol once a threat has vanished. But when the number of brain cells in the hippocampus is depleted, it no longer sends out this signal, which results in the release of even greater amounts of cortisol.
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7 NLT).
Excessive amounts of cortisol affect other areas of the brain, too. Canadian researchers used functional brain imaging studies to show that exposure to stress hormones is associated with decreased activity, not only in the hippocampus, but also in the parts of the brain that control cognitive function and emotional balance.
When stress hurts your brain, it can also ravage your body. Your body responds to the way you think, feel, and act. Because of this brain-body connection, whenever you feel stressed, your body tries to tell you that something isn’t right. For example, high blood pressure or a stomach ulcer might develop after a particularly stressful event, such as the death of a loved one. Chronic stress weakens your body’s immune system, making you more likely to get colds, flu bugs, and other infections during emotionally difficult times. Stress has also been implicated in heart disease, hypertension, and even cancer.
Your boss is handing out pink slips. You just had a fight with your teenage daughter. You are late for an appointment. How do you react? You may try to calm your nerves with chocolate, ice cream, French fries, or potato chips (or all of the above). And there’s a scientific reason why. Stress and cortisol are linked to increases in appetite and cravings for carbs and sweet stuff that can make you fat.
Living with stress on a daily basis makes you more likely to have issues with your weight for a number of other reasons. For example, chronic stress usually goes hand in hand with a lack of sleep. That pumps up cortisol production and throws appetite-control hormones out of balance. That should explain why you feel as if health flies out the window during stressful situations. So it’s no surprise if you overeat, crave sugary treats, and store more fat.
Since chronic stress can make you feel tired and achy, you are less inclined to exercise. Of course, you can’t blame stress for all your poor health and weight gain, but you can see how easily it happens.
Chronic stress drains your emotional well-being and is associated with anxiety, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease, all of which can affect your body. If you experience some form of emotional trauma — say you’re involved in a car accident — your emotional system becomes very active, which can make you more upset and depressed. Then the battle of the bulge and unhappiness with your body can feel overwhelming.
Chronic stress can attack you at any stage of your life. When chronic stress hits you or someone in your circle, everyone suffers. You’ve heard of the trickle-down economic theory; there’s also a trickle-down stress theory. When the boss is stressed out, everyone at work is stressed out. When your spouse is stressed out, everyone in the family is stressed out.
Stop the trickle-down effect and calm stress. Here are a few strategies that will boost your mood and your decision making.
1. Pray on a regular basis. Decades of research have shown that prayer calms stress and enhances brain function. Dr. Andrew Newberg at Thomas Jefferson University used brain SPECT imaging to study the neurobiology of prayer and meditation in those that dedicated time to those disciplines regularly. He found distinctive changes in brain activity as the mind went into a prayerful or meditative state. Specifically, activity decreased in the parts of the brain involved in generating a sense of three-dimensional orientation in space. They also found increased activity in the prefrontal cortex associated with attention span and thoughtfulness. 9 Prayer tunes people in, not out.
The benefits of prayer go far beyond stress relief. Studies have shown that it also improves attention and planning, reduces depression and anxiety, decreases sleepiness, and protects the brain from cognitive decline associated with normal aging.
Prayer Start
“The focus for me was staying focused on God — actually sitting down and having my quiet time. Once I got into the routine of doing it regularly at the same time of the day, every day, in the morning, then [everything else with The Daniel Plan] really started falling in place even more.”
— Cindy Sproul
As we mentioned in chapter 3 , King David practiced biblical meditation and prayer. You can too, just about anywhere, anytime. If you’re at work, you can simply close the door to your office, sit in your chair, close your eyes, and pray. At home, you can sit on the edge of your bed and spend a couple minutes calming your mind and focusing on God. The Bible says, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).
God wants us to think deeply on his goodness and loveliness. This is biblical meditation. The Bible says, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). You need to regularly, repeatedly set time aside to quiet yourself and refocus your thoughts on the greatness and power of God.
Besides growing your relationship with God and building a foundation for spiritual health, prayer offers many health and stress-relief benefits. Physicians Larry Dossey ( Healing Words ), Dale Matthews ( The Faith Factor ), and others have written books outlining the scientific evidence of the medical benefits of prayer and other meditation. 10 Some of these benefits include reduced feelings of stress, lower cholesterol levels, improved sleep, reduced anxiety and depression, fewer headaches, relaxed muscles, and longer life spans. People who pray or read the Bible every day are 40 percent less likely to suffer from hypertension than others. 11
A 1998 Duke University study of 577 men and women hospitalized for physical illness showed that the more patients used positive spiritual coping strategies (seeking spiritual support from friends and religious leaders, having faith in God, praying), the lower their level of depressive symptoms and the higher their quality of life. 12 A 1996 survey of 269 family physicians found that 99 percent believed prayer, meditation, or other spiritual and religious practices can be helpful in medical treatment; more than half said they currently incorporate these practices into treatment of patients. 13
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Isaiah 26:3 NLT).
2. Learn to delegate. It seems as if being busy is a sort of badge of honor. Ask anyone what they have planned for the day, and it’s likely they will respond by telling you how incredibly busy they are. “I’m finishing a project for work, hosting a dinner party, making the kids’ costumes for the school play, volunteering at church, and going to my book group.” Phew! It can stress you out just thinking about all that.
Ten Names of God to Dwell On
Jehovah Rapha — the God who heals, who makes healthful
El Roiy — the God who sees me
Jehovah Jirah — the Lord who provides
El Shadai — All sufficient one, Lord God Almighty
Jehovah Nissi — the Lord our banner of loving protection
Jehovah Oz — the Lord my strength
Adonai — the Sovereign Lord God
Jehovah Shammah — the Lord is there
Jehovah Shalom — Our perfect peace
Jehovah Raah — the Lord my shepherd
News flash! You don’t have to accept every invitation, take on every project, or volunteer for every activity that comes your way. Two of the greatest life skills you can learn are the art of delegation and the ability to say no. When someone asks you to do something, a good first response would be, “Let me think about it.” Then you can take the time to process the request to see if it fits with your schedule, desires, and goals. When you have too much on your plate, delegate.
3. Listen to soothing music. Music has healing power that can bring peace to a stressful mind. Of course, it depends on the type of music you listen to. Listening to uplifting music that reminds you of God’s truth can have a calming effect and reduce stress and calm anxiety.
4. Consider calming scents. The scent of lavender has been used since ancient times for its calming, stress-relieving properties. This popular aroma has been the subject of countless research studies, which show that it reduces cortisol levels and promotes relaxation and stress reduction. Add a few drops of lavender oil to your bath or set dried lavender in your bedroom. Many other scents, such as geranium, rose, cardamom, sandalwood, and chamomile, are considered to have a calming effect that reduces stress.
5. Take a calming supplement. Some supplements may be helpful in soothing stress, but take these under the supervision of a health care professional.
B vitamins help the brain affect mood and thinking.
L-Theanine is an amino acid mainly found naturally in the green tea plant. It penetrates the brain and produces significant increases in the anti-depressant neurotransmitters serotonin and/or dopamine concentrations. Note: Pregnant women and nursing mothers should avoid L-theanine supplements.
GABA: Gama-aminobutyric acid (GABA) works in much the same way as anti-anxiety drugs and anticonvulsants. This means it has a calming effect for people who struggle with temper, irritability, and anxiety, whether these symptoms relate to anxiety.
6. Laugh more. There is a growing body of scientific literature suggesting that laughter counteracts stress and is good for the immune system. It’s no joke! One study of cancer patients found that laughter reduced stress and improved cell activity associated with increased resistance to the disease. 14 According to University of California – Irvine’s Professor Lee Berk, “If we took what we know about the medical benefits of laughter and bottled it up, it would require FDA approval.” Laughter lowers the flow of dangerous stress hormones. Laughter also eases digestion and soothes stomachaches, a common symptom of chronic stress. Plus, a good rollicking guffaw increases the release of endorphins, which make you feel better and more relaxed. Laughter truly may be the best medicine when it comes to stress relief.
The average child laughs hundreds of times a day. The average adult laughs only a dozen times a day. Inject more humor into your everyday life. Watch comedies (which could be a helpful form of TV), go to humorous plays, read joke books, and swap funny stories with your friends and family.
“A cheerful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22).
We can’t stress enough (pun intended) how important it is to learn to laugh at yourself, too. When you drop the milk jug and it goes splashing across the kitchen floor, when you call a business associate by the wrong name, or when you stumble over your words while teaching a class, be the first to chuckle. When you stop taking yourself so seriously, your stress levels will subside.
RENEW YOUR MIND
NOW THAT YOU KNOW how to optimize your brain health, we want to focus on the power center of your brain — your thoughts.
Philippians 4:8 (see here ) is one of the most powerful, emotionally healing verses in the Bible. One of the cornerstones to success on The Daniel Plan is to reign over your moment-by-moment thoughts, so that with God’s help you can stay in control of your behavior.
Neuroscience teaches us that every time you have a thought, your brain releases chemicals that make you feel good or bad. Thoughts exert a powerful influence over your life and body. Whenever you have a happy, hopeful, or optimistic thought, your brain releases chemicals that raise your spirits and encourage you to feel good. Positive thoughts exert a physical response and have the power to immediately relax and soothe your body. They tend to warm your hands, relax your muscles, calm and soothe your breathing, and help your heart beat in a healthier rhythm.
Try this exercise now: Take a minute, close your eyes, and think of the last time you felt truly loved. When most people do this exercise, they feel a deep sense of happiness and physical relaxation.
The opposite is also true. When you have an angry, anxious, hopeless, or helpless thought, your brain releases chemicals that stress your body and disrupt how you feel both physically and emotionally. Take a minute, close your eyes, and think of the last time you felt really angry. How did that make you feel? Most people feel tense, their breathing becomes shallower, their hands become colder, and they feel angry and unhappy. Now go back to the first exercise before you continue reading!
Thoughts are automatic. They just happen. They are based on complex chemical reactions and information from the past. And what most people don’t know is that thoughts are sneaky and they lie. They lie a lot. It is often these uninvestigated thoughts that provide the emotional fuel for anger, anxiety, depression, and unhealthy behaviors such as overeating.
Think on God’s Character
God is all-powerful: “Ah, Sovereign L ORD , you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17).
God is love: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39).
God is all-knowing: “Before a word is on my tongue, you, L ORD , know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” (Psalm 139:4–6).
God is merciful: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1–2).
God is faithful: “Because of the L ORD ’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23).
Plus, if you never question your erroneous, negative thoughts, you believe them 100 percent and then you act as if the lies in your head are true. For example, if you think your husband never listens to you, even though he has on many occasions, you act as if he doesn’t, and you feel justified in yelling at him. If you think you are a failure, even though you have had many successes, you are more likely to give up easily.
Over the last forty years, mental health practitioners have developed cognitive behavioral therapy to help people rein in and control their erroneous thought patterns. When you correct negative thought patterns, it is an effective treatment for anxiety disorders, depression, relationship problems, and even overeating. Researchers from Sweden found that people who were trained to talk back to their negative thoughts lost seventeen pounds in ten weeks and continued to lose weight over eighteen months, proving this technique works long term. 15
To get and stay healthy, start by noticing your thoughts and questioning them. Whenever you feel sad, mad, nervous, or out of control, ask yourself if they are really true. It is often the little lies we tell ourselves that keep us fat, depressed, and feebleminded. Being overweight or unhappy is as much a “thinking disorder” as it is an eating or mood disorder.
IS IT TRUE?
“Is it true?” Carry these three words with you everywhere you go. They can interrupt your thoughts and short-circuit an episode of bingeing, depression, or even panic. One of our participants weighed 425 pounds when he first joined The Daniel Plan. When one of the doctors asked him about his weight, he said that he had no control over his appetite. That was his automatic response, “I have no control.”
“Is it true?” the doctor asked. “You really have NO control over your eating?”
The man paused, then said, “No. That really isn’t true, I do have some control.”
“But just by thinking that you have no control, you have just given yourself permission to eat anything you want at any time you want,” the doctor replied. It is the little lies that you tell yourself — such as “I have no control” or “It is my genetics” — that steal your health.
One of the most important steps in getting healthy in a lasting way is to get control of your mind. Whenever you feel anxious, sad, obsessive, or out of control, write down the thoughts that are going through your head. Recording thoughts helps to get them out of your head. Then ask yourself if the thoughts make sense or are really true. For example, if you hear yourself thinking, I have no control , write that down. Then ask yourself, “Is it true? Is that thought really true?” If not, replace that negative, false thought with correct information.
Common Lies
Here are some of the common little lies we have heard The Daniel Plan participants say:
“I can’t eat healthy because I travel.” We are amused by this one, because all of us — Pastor Warren, Dr. Hyman, Dr. Amen, and Sean Foy — travel a lot. It just takes a little forethought.
“My whole family is fat; it is in my genes.” Genes account for only 20 to 30 percent of your health. The vast majority of health problems are driven by bad decisions. Many healthy people have the genes that increase the risk of obesity, but they do not make the decisions that make it likely to happen.
“I can’t afford to get healthy.” Being sick is always more expensive than getting healthy.
“I can’t find the time to work out.” The extra energy exercise provides will help you be even more efficient in the long run and save you time.
“It’s Easter . . . Memorial Day . . . July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.” There is always an excuse to hurt yourself.
When you stop believing these lies and replace them with accurate thinking and God’s truth and promises, your response to life events will shift, and you will feel less stressed and more hopeful. Instead of worrying about tomorrow, you can linger on truths such as Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
HOW WE DISTORT OUR THOUGHTS
Over the years, therapists have identified a number of negative thoughts that keep people stuck in bad habits:
1. Overgeneralization. This usually involves thoughts with words such as always, never, every time, or everyone and makes a situation out to be worse than it really is. Here are some examples:
I have always been fat; it will never change.
Truth to Combat Lies
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
“But [God] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).
“The L ORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
“Take delight in the L ORD , and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
Every time I get stressed, I have to eat something.
I don’t like any of the foods that are good for me.
Overgeneralizations creep into your mind and have an immediate, negative effect on your mood. Overgeneralizations make you believe you have no control over your actions and behaviors and that you are incapable of changing them.
2. Thinking with your feelings. These negative thoughts occur when you have a feeling about something and you assume your feeling is correct. Feelings are complex and are often rooted in powerful memories from the past. Feelings, like thoughts, can lie, too. These thoughts usually begin with the words “I feel.” For example:
I feel like a failure.
I feel God has abandoned me.
I feel hungry and must eat or I will get sick.
Whenever you have a strong negative feeling, check it out. Look for the evidence behind the feeling. Is it based on events or experiences from the past?
3. Predicting the future. Predicting the worst in a situation causes an immediate sense of anxiety, which can trigger cravings for sugar or refined carbs and make you feel that you need to eat to calm your nerves. What makes future-telling thoughts so toxic is that your mind tends to make happen what it sees.
Healthy food will be expensive, taste like cardboard, and won’t fill me up.
I can’t change my habits for the long term.
My spouse or my kids will never do this with me.
4. Blame. When you blame something or someone else for the problems in your life, you become a victim of circumstances, as though you can’t do anything to change your situation. Blaming thoughts can keep you unhealthy and unhappy. Be honest and ask yourself if you have a tendency to say things such as . . .
“It’s your fault I’m out of shape because you won’t exercise with me.”
“It’s not my fault I eat too much; my mom taught me to clean my plate.”
“If restaurants didn’t give such big servings, I wouldn’t be so overweight.”
One of the participants of The Daniel Plan said he was fat because everyone in his family was overweight. It was just his genetics. “Is that true?” we asked. “This really doesn’t have anything to do with how much you eat?” He paused and said, “No, it’s really not true. In fact, not all my siblings are overweight.”
Whenever you begin a sentence with “It’s your fault that I . . . ,” it can ruin your life. These thoughts make you a victim. And when you’re a victim, you become powerless to change your behavior.
5. Denial. These thoughts prevent you from seeing the truth.
I have plenty of time to work on getting healthy.
If I don’t buy sugar cereals, my kids won’t eat breakfast in the morning.
I can stop consuming alcohol anytime I want. I just don’t want to quit.
I only overeat when I’m stressed, not every day.
Now it’s time to learn how to develop a little mental discipline and turn your negative thinking patterns into positive, accurate, healthy thinking, similar to how we encouraged you with spiritual discipline in chapter 3 . We want you to learn how to discipline your thoughts to be honest and helpful. A 2010 study found that a twelve-week program designed to change thinking patterns helps binge eaters stop their negative eating behaviors. 16
6. Focusing on the negative. Many people are masterful in finding something negative to say about any situation. This negative cognition takes a positive experience and taints it.
I wanted to lose thirty pounds in ten weeks, but I have only lost eight pounds. I’m a complete failure.
I went to the gym and did a hard workout, but the guy on the bike next to me was talking the whole time, so I’m never going back there.
I started eating two servings of vegetables a day, but I should be eating five for optimal health, so why bother?
Putting a positive spin on your thoughts leads to positive changes in your brain that will help you stick with healthier choices. For example, here’s how you could think about these same situations:
I have already lost eight pounds and have changed my lifestyle, so I will continue to lose weight until I reach my goal of losing thirty pounds.
After working out, I had a lot more energy for the rest of the day.
Eating two servings of vegetables a day is better than none.
Banning the Negativity
When Solange Montoya started The Daniel Plan with two friends, she was hoping to change more than her weight and how her clothes fit. She knew there was more to lifelong health. And there was!
“So many insecurities and all this negative self-talk come when you don’t feel like you can do this physically,” she says. “But there was such a change when I had that energy and [started thinking positively instead of negatively]. I just feel like, Wow, God, there’s nothing now that I don’t want to do for you. The excuses just kind of started to melt away, more so than the weight. There’s this freedom that comes with me now wanting to get out there and live my life — not just for me, but for my kids, for God, and for other people.”
Whenever you feel sad, mad, nervous, or out of control, identify which of the six types of the negative thoughts you are engaging in. Challenge the negative thoughts by finding and stating the truth. This takes away their power and gives you control over your thoughts, moods, and behaviors.
GRATITUDE
Another way to discipline your mind — that feels good — is to bring your attention to the things you are grateful for in your life. Research reveals that being consistently grateful will have a positive effect on your health. 17 God designed us in such a way that gratitude promotes healing.
A Yale University research study evaluated more than 2,000 veterans between the ages of 60 and 96 to assess which traits helped them age successfully. 18 Gratitude and purpose were the most significant traits associated with successful aging. Your attitude matters.
Another study, from the University of California – Davis, examined the effect of a grateful outlook on psychological and physical wellbeing. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions. They kept weekly or daily journals to write about hassles, gratitude, or neutral events. They also recorded their moods, coping behaviors, health behaviors, physical symptoms, and overall life appraisals. The grateful group exhibited the most heightened well-being. 19
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18).
Where you bring your attention determines how you feel, and feeling grateful is a joyful place to be. This mind-set also helps your faith as you focus on God’s gifts to you. It helps you eat right as you focus on being grateful for the ability to eat delicious, healthy food that serves your body. It helps you maintain your fitness level as you feel grateful for the ability to move your body. And it helps your friends as you notice what you like about them more than what you don’t like.
Gratefulness actually helps your brain work better. Psychologist Noelle Nelson in her book The Power of Appreciation in Everyday Life described a study where she had a brain SPECT scan twice. The first time she was scanned after thirty minutes of meditating on all the things she was thankful for in her life. Then she was scanned several days later after focusing on the major fears in her life. After the appreciation exercise, her brain looked very healthy. The scan taken after she focused on her fears looked very different. Activity in two parts of her brain had significantly dropped. Her cerebellum completely shut down. 20
Morning Ritual
The first thing on Dr. Amen’s master to-do list, the first thing he sees each day, is his gratitude list. Rather than just writing down a few things, he keeps a running tab on what he is grateful for, looks at it every day, and adds to it as joyful moments occur.
The other area of Dr. Nelson’s brain that was affected was the temporal lobes, especially the one on the left. The temporal lobes are involved with mood, memory, and temper control. Problems in this part of the brain are associated with some forms of depression, but also dark thoughts, violence, and memory problems. Practicing gratitude literally helps you have a brain to be grateful for.
Here is a helpful exercise: Write down three things you are grateful for every day. The act of writing down your grateful thoughts helps to bring your attention to them to enhance your brain. Research from University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman demonstrates that when people do this exercise, they notice a significant positive difference in their level of happiness in just three weeks. 21 Other researchers have also found that people who express gratitude on a regular basis are healthier, more optimistic, make more progress toward their goals, have a greater sense of well-being, and are more helpful to others. Doctors who regularly practice gratitude are actually better at making the correct diagnoses on their patients.
Notice the connection Philippians 4:6 – 7 makes between gratitude and peace of mind: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God , which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It’s not enough just to present your requests to God. Do it with thanksgiving if you also want peace of mind.
THE B STUFF
At the turn of the century, a shoe company sent a representative to Africa. He wired back, “I’m coming home. No one wears shoes here.” Another company sent their representative, and he sold thousands of shoes. He wired back to his company, “Business is fantastic. No one has ever heard of shoes here.” Both reps perceived the same situation from markedly different perspectives, and they obtained dramatically different results.
We are not controlled by events or people, but by the perceptions we make of them. All of us have experienced a fair amount of criticism for our work over the years, as we have tried to do things differently in our fields of expertise. We had the option of feeling hurt, demoralized, and stopping the work we believed in. Or we had the option of realizing that anyone who does something in a different way is likely to be criticized. It was just part of the territory of trying to make a difference.
Perception is the way we interpret ourselves and the world around us. Our five senses take in the world, but perception occurs as our brains process the incoming information through our feeling filters. Our perception of the outside world is based on our inside world. For example, when we are feeling tired, we are much more likely to overeat or snap at our spouse or children than when we are rested.
“Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.”
— Charles Swindoll
The view that we take of a situation has more reality than the situation itself. Noted psychiatrist Richard Gardner, M.D., has said that the world is like a Rorschach test, where a person is asked to describe what he or she sees in 10 ink blots that mean absolutely nothing. What you see in the ink blot is based on your inner view of the world. Therefore, it is how you perceive situations, rather than the actual situations themselves, that cause you to react.
If A is the actual event and B is how we interpret or perceive the event, then C is how we react to the event: A + B = C.
Other people or events (A) trigger our initial feelings, but it is our interpretation or perception (B) of those people or events that causes how we eventually feel or act (C). For example, suppose you worked hard to bring a healthy meal to the church function, but someone made a negative comment, such as, “It looks so healthy, it probably tastes like cardboard.” That is A, or what actually happened. You might think, She hates me! My efforts were a waste of time and money , or Every time I try to do something good, it fails. Your interpretation of her comment is B. Then you feel terrible and withdraw from further efforts to get healthy and be involved. Your reaction is C.
If, on the other hand, your thoughts about her comments (A) go in a different direction, and you think, Poor woman, she is judging the food without even tasting it (B), you might then encourage her to taste it (C) or allow others to rave about it (C). Your thoughts about the comments determine how you feel, not the comments themselves.
On this path toward a healthier life, we encourage you to identify your perceptions, starting with yourself. Do you see yourself as the child of God you are, dearly loved by the one who gave his life for you (John 3:16)? We too seldom treat ourselves with the love of God or even the love of a good parent. When we make a mistake, we might behave in an abusive manner toward ourselves. We may overeat, belittle ourselves, and feel hopeless. When children make mistakes, good parents don’t belittle or abuse them; rather, they help them learn from their mistakes.
Our perceptions are one of the largest influences on what dictates our behavior.
Just questioning your thoughts and perceptions and then filtering them through a loving God and honest mind will make a huge difference in your life, happiness, and health.
ATTITUDE AND PURPOSE
ANOTHER CRITICAL “FOCUS” STRATEGY is your attitude toward failure. We have something very important to tell you that is absolutely essential for your mind. On The Daniel Plan you cannot fail — because you start it as a forty-day journey and then get to see changes gradually unfold over your lifetime. In The Daniel Plan — or in life, for that matter — no one just gets better. You get better . . . have a slip up . . . move forward. . . . Setbacks and comebacks are part of the journey, and graciousness must be part of both.
When you make a mistake, just make a U-turn. Do you have a GPS device on your phone or in your car? When you make a wrong turn, the GPS doesn’t call you an idiot. It just tells you where to make the next legal U-turn. If you pay attention to your mistakes, such as that you went too long between meals, didn’t sleep, or failed to plan, they can be your best teachers. Very soon you find yourself in a new place where you have dramatically improved both your brain and your body.
CHANGE OCCURS IN STEPS
The diagram on the top of the next page is often used for participants in research studies.
We usually think of failure as a negative experience. But wise people know how to take advantage of failure. They learn from it. They make the most of it. They use it as an education.
Supposedly, Thomas Edison had about 1,000 failures when he was inventing the lightbulb. When asked by a reporter how it felt to fail so many times, Edison is said to have replied, “I didn’t fail one thousand times. The lightbulb was an invention with one thousand steps.”
God uses failure to educate us. Mistakes are simply learning experiences, and there are some things we learn only through failure. So some of us are highly educated!
How do you learn to become a success? By learning what doesn’t work and not doing it anymore. Saddleback Church has done more things that didn’t work than did. Every staff member and minister at the church makes at least one good mistake a week. If we’re not making any mistakes, we’re not growing. But we aren’t afraid of failure. The freedom from the fear of failure is the freedom to grow.
Good Data
Setbacks help you identify your most vulnerable moments. We do not want you to be victims of your failures, but rather to study them just as a scientist would do. Be curious. We like saying, “Turn bad days into good data.”
Your setbacks can even reaffirm your faith. It may surprise you to know that admitting your hopelessness to God can be a statement of faith. King David said, “I believed in you, so I said, ‘I am deeply troubled, Lord.’ In my anxiety I cried out to you” (Psalm 116:10 – 11 NLT).
David’s frankness actually reveals a deep faith: First, he believed in God. Second, he believed God would listen to his prayer. Third, he believed God would let him say how he felt and still love him.
Regardless of your circumstances and how you feel, focus on who God is — his unchanging nature. Remind yourself what you know to be eternally true about God: He is good, he loves me, he is for me. He knows my struggles and my circumstances, and I know he has a good plan for my life.
Simple Rules for Vulnerable Times
One tip we have found helpful for people who study their failures is to create simple rules for vulnerable times, such as . . .
Eat healthy foods before bad ones.
Eat veggies first.
Eat before you go to the ballgame to avoid being tempted by the caramel apples.
When tempted, take a walk, repeat a poem, drink a glass of water.
Be aware of the impulse and then focus on something else until the impulse goes away.
Failure can also be motivational. A lot of times we change, not when we see the light, but when we feel the heat. When you fail, maybe God is trying to get your attention and saying, “I want you to go in a new direction.”
Failure does not automatically grow your character. Failure only builds your character when you respond to it correctly, when you learn from it, when you grow from it, when you say, “What didn’t work here, and what can I change?” When you think about failure and setbacks like this, your heart softens. Failure makes you less judgmental and helps you be a little more sympathetic to people around you.
BE PURPOSE DRIVEN
The entrance to the Saddleback Campus in Lake Forest, California, starts on “Purpose Drive” for a reason. In our first Daniel Plan rally, we had our participants fill out an exercise plan to help them clearly define their vision or mission, a written purpose statement to help them focus all of their thoughts, words, and actions. Why? Your amazing brain makes what it sees happen. Seeing success in your mind makes it more likely to happen — as does seeing failure.
So we would like you to do this exercise, too. Write out your major goals and purpose. Use the following headings:
Faith
Food
Fitness
Focus
Friends
The five Essentials are separated in order to encourage you to have a more balanced approach to life. Burnout occurs when your life becomes unbalanced and you overextend yourself in one area while ignoring the others.
Next to each heading write what you believe God wants for you and what you want for yourself. Be positive and use the first person. Write your purpose with confidence and the expectation that with God’s power it can happen. If you need to, work on it over several days. After you finish with the initial draft (you will frequently want to update it), place this list where you can see it every day, such as on your refrigerator, in your phone, by your bedside, or as your desktop wallpaper.
Chuck’s Purpose-Driven Exercise
Chuck is a manager at a local bank. He is married with three children. He had been recently diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension when he came to The Daniel Plan rally. Here is what he wrote down for his purpose-driven exercise:
“Faith — To live close to God, to seek his purpose for my life, trust God in the moment, pray daily, and attend church regularly.
“Food — Focus on food that serves my body and spirit. With the recent diagnoses of diabetes and hypertension, this is more critical now than ever before. I consume only whole, high-quality food, plenty of water, lean protein, healthy fats, low-glycemic, high-fiber carbohydrates, and an abundance of colorful fruits and vegetables. I eat often enough to maintain a stable blood sugar to avoid cravings.
“Fitness — My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I treat it with love and respect, which means exercising it on a regular basis, at least four times a week.
“Friends — Stay connected to those I love and be a role model of health and wholeness. I want to have a kind, caring, loving relationship with my wife and be a firm, kind, positive, predictable presence in my children’s lives, and to take time to maintain and nurture my friendships.
“Focus — Focus on brain envy and brain healthy habits, SMART goals, my motivation, accurate, honest thoughts, gratitude, the right attitude toward failure, and journaling.”
Whenever you do a behavior over and over, such as reading your purpose-driven exercise daily, it actually develops and strengthens specific pathways in the brain. The purpose-driven exercise can become the guidepost for all of your thoughts, feelings, and actions.
SMART GOALS
We also want you to make SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals — similar to what we talked about in chapter 5 on fitness — for the other areas of your life that you wish to improve. Proverbs 4:26 says, “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.”
Pastor Warren teaches that goal setting, like prayer and spending time alone with God, is a spiritual discipline. In fact, goals can be an act of stewardship or worship where you say, “God, I want to make the most of what I’ve been given” or “God, I give you back the life you’ve given to me, and I want to go in your direction.”
Some people think, I’m not going to plan; I’m just going to trust God and go with the flow. Yes, we should trust God. But we should also plan, because the Bible says God plans. “God plans to bring all of history to its goal in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10 paraphrased). Notice that God doesn’t just sit around and let things happen. And we have the choice to follow his lead.
Specific goals are those that are clear and unambiguous. This is where you tell your brain exactly what is expected and why it is important. A specific goal usually answers five “W” questions:
What: What do I want to accomplish? For example, to lose 30 pounds.
Why: Specific reasons, purposes, or benefits of accomplishing the goal. For example, to get truly healthy, have better energy, and be physically able to do God’s purpose in my life.
Who: Who is involved? For example, me, but it will also involve those closest to me.
Where: Identify a location. For example, at home and everywhere I go.
Which: Identify the requirements and constraints. For example, faith, food, fitness, focus, and friends.
To set specific goals, you need to know the difference between pressures and priorities. You need to know the difference between activity and achievement, between what’s urgent and what’s important. You need to know what matters most. If you focus your energy on goals that aren’t God-directed, your energy won’t have much power. Energy that is focused has enormous power. Paul modeled this in 1 Corinthians 9:26: “Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.”
Measurable emphasizes the need for tangible benchmarks. If a goal is not measurable, it is not possible to know whether you are making progress toward it. Measuring your progress helps you stay on track and keeps you excited. A measurable goal will usually answer questions such as “how much? By when?”
Attainable means the goals need to be realistic, even though dreams can be big. Extreme goals usually invite failure and frustration. When you identify goals that are most important to you, your brain begins to figure out ways to make them come true.
At the same time, you must also realize that attainable doesn’t mean only the goals you can accomplish in your own power. Goals can stretch your faith and affirm your trust in God. If you can do it in your own power, then you don’t really need any faith. Saddleback Church is the story of ordinary people setting and attempting big goals in faith and then watching God do it.
Relevant means you choose goals that matter. The goal of “surf 100 websites by 9:00 p.m.” may be specific, measurable, attainable, and time-bound, but lacks relevance. A relevant goal answers yes to these questions: Does this seem worthwhile? Is this the right time? Does this match your other efforts/needs?
Goals keep you moving forward when you feel like giving up. They are like magnets that pull you forward and give you hope.
Being relevant also means your goals are relevant to God and bring him glory. Any goal that brings you closer to him and makes you want to serve him and others is a goal that matters. The apostle Paul encouraged us to “make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it” (2 Corinthians 5:9).
Time-bound stresses the importance of attaining the goal within a certain time frame. A commitment to a deadline helps you focus your efforts on completion of the goal on or before the due date. Timebound criteria help you focus your efforts.
Here are some examples of SMART goals:
Walk as if I am late 4 times a week for 45 minutes with my walking partner.
Do a complete kitchen cleanse (removing all unhealthy food) this week.
Spend one night a week with friends reading and discussing The Daniel Plan material. Call in between meetings for encouragement and accountability.
Spend 5 to 10 minutes a day journaling my progress.
From this moment forward, focus on eating The Daniel Plan – approved foods 90 percent of the time.
Work toward SMART goals that give your brain and mind clear direction and focus on what is important.
KNOW YOUR MOTIVATION
In order to get and stay healthy, it is critical for you to know why it is important. What drives your desire to be healthy?
Is it because it is God’s will for you to take care of your body? Consider 1 Corinthians 6:19 – 20: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
Is it because you are in pain or tired of feeling sick, lethargic, forgetful, and not anywhere near your best?
“God is always more interested in why we do something than in what we do. Attitudes count more than achievements.”
— Pastor Warren
Is it because you want to feel healthy and vibrant to live out your purpose, to do the work you love, to be with the people you care about, or to see your grandchildren grow up?
Is it because you want to prevent illnesses that may run in your family, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, or Alzheimer’s disease?
Write down your motivation — why it is important for you to get healthy — and then look at it daily. We find it most effective if you approach it from two perspectives: To attain benefits, and to avoid negative consequences.
A Mind for the Future
“My greatest motivation is to be healthy in order to model the Lord for my grandchildren and to work with children. For this, I need energy and a clear mind, a ready laugh, and joy in each experience. I notice the responses of others when I look good and feel good; I even notice the nudgings of the Lord more clearly. Perhaps this relates to having a sense of contentment and well-being. I am more loving and more compassionate when my body temple is functioning closer to optimum operating level.”
— Mandy Cameron
Fifty percent of your brain is dedicated to vision. So it is often helpful to put up what we call “anchor images” to anchor or remind yourself why you want to be healthy. These pictures stimulate motivation. If you want to be healthy to be a great leader of your family, post your favorite picture of your family. If you want to look great, post a picture of yourself when you looked and felt your best. If you want to be healthy to serve out God’s purpose, put a picture of yourself doing things that exemplify your purpose.
BRAIN POWER AND ACTION
A hallmark of intelligence and what separates us from other animals is our ability to think about the consequences of our behavior before acting on impulse.
Effective decisions involve forethought in relation to your goals, which helps you not only to live in the moment, but also to be living ten or even fifty years from now. Boosting your brain power and health will help you avoid troubled situations. Here are seven simple steps to boost your brain and renew your thoughts.
1. “Then What?” The two most powerful words, when it comes to your health, are then what . These two small words can literally change your health in a positive way if you keep them at the top of your mind. If I do this, then what will happen? If I eat this, then what will happen? Does eating the third piece of pizza, skipping the workout, or staying up late help me with any of my goals? Think about the consequences of your behavior before you act.
The most effective people in life think ahead. They know what they want, know what motivates them, keep their thinking honest, and then act in consistent ways over time to achieve their goals.
2. Get 8 hours of sleep. Less sleep brings lower overall blood flow to the brain and more bad decisions.
3. Keep your blood sugar balanced. Research says that low blood sugar levels are associated with lower overall blood flow to the brain, poor impulse control, irritability, and more bad decisions. 22
4. Optimize your omega 3 fatty acid levels. Low levels of omega 3 fatty acids have been associated with ADHD, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease — all brain problems.
5. Read your purpose-driven goals daily. Ask yourself, “Is my behavior today lining up with my purpose?”
6. Practice using your brain. Self-control is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. Just as good parents help children develop self-control by saying no, strengthen the self-control part of your own brain by saying no to the things that are not good for you. Over time your brain will make better choices more automatically.
7. Balance your brain chemistry. Getting help for problems such as ADHD, anxiety, and depression can help you maintain control over your life.
All of the tools in this chapter work together to help get and keep you focused on the journey toward a healthier life. Making consistently great decisions requires a healthy brain. We gave you a lot to think about. That’s the point: We want you to think about your health and become mindful, intentional, and purpose driven. You need a healthy brain and a renewed mind to do that.
Reflect and Take a Step . . .
Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life! (See Proverbs 4:23.) Replace any negative thought with one of God’s truths. Reflect on his promises and the plans he has for you to prosper. Journal your gratitude daily, and allow God to restore and transform your mind.
Encouragement to Keep Your Focus
As you work to renew your mind, stress will undoubtedly try to pull you away from your goals. The problems of everyday life often tempt us to make unhealthy choices out of convenience or as a temporary fix for handling stress. But the truth is problems will follow you the rest of your life. If you’re waiting to deal with stress until you make it to a new stage in your life, you’ll be waiting a long time!
That’s why gratitude must become a habit— it will carry you even through difficult times. Gratitude is one of the healthiest human emotions because it increases your immunities, making you more resistant to stress and less susceptible to illness. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude reduces stress in your life and leads to greater spiritual and physical health.
When you make thankfulness part of your life, you will begin to notice more of what God is doing in and through you. When we choose to focus on God, he strengthens us with his perfect peace. He helps us to stay balanced, focused, and strong. Focus on the fact that God is big enough to get you through any challenges you face.
