When I read books, I look to immediately act on what I learn.

A book represents years of the author’s learnings, condensed into a 10-20 hour read. Reading a book is a $30 investment in yourself, that could give you a life changing return. Books are powerful (as long as you act on what you learn).

Simi Rayat’s book, Productivity Joy, was powerful for this reason.




This book reinforced one key concept – Priming.

Priming your mind is like training your mind to ‘see’, what you want it to see.

Our minds are already primed, to see danger. Humans evolution has been a masterclass in survival. If you could survive in world where lions roam free, and where your next meal was uncertain, KUDOS! Survival required a mind primed to spot and avoid danger. This was useful back then. Not so much now.

Although we don’t need to worry about lions, we are still run on this outdated survival software. This is why so many of us live in a state of fear and anxiety.

We are primed for survival, not for success and happiness.
 

The cool thing is that you can prime your mind for more useful things.
–> You can prime it for awareness (of your emotions and circumstances)

–> You can prime it for gratitude

–> You can prime it for joyful productivity
 
P.S Have you noticed that there are orange cars everywhere?

My nephew was in the car and he wanted to play “First person to spot an ORANGE car wins!” My first thought? We won’t see any. At the first intersection, we saw THREE! You don’t see what you don’t ‘look’ for.

Once you prime your mind for it, you see it everywhere.

You can prime your mind, for anything.

This realisation, led to these post-its (floating around the house and my car).

Every morning, I decided to prime my mind for 4 things (Inspired by the late Stephen Covey’s work).

–> Something for Love.

This is about connection with family, friends, colleagues, and random humans.

–> Something for my Mind.

This is about learning.

–> Something for my Body.

This is about movement, nutrition, and rest.

–> Something for my Soul.

This about cultivating spiritual qualities (internally), and allowing them to naturally manifest (externally).

I am in a season of life where I am primed for something that sits above all these – simplicity and focus.
 
As a result, what I do for each of the 4 things has become repetitive in the best way (because it’s simple and focused).
 
For love, I have an unshakeable faith that a magical moment of human connection awaits me every day. When it presents itself, I go all in. It always presents itself.

For the mind, I read, study, and write something everyday.

For the body, it’s either gym, a run, or a bike ride, with stretching at night.

For the soul, it’s meditation, gratitude journaling, and these days, digesting Buddhist teachings.

Thanks Simi for being a catalyst for this wonderful morning habit 🙂

If you LOVED this article, SHARE it with someone you care about.

If you want to act on what you have just learnt, REPLY to this email with what you are going to prime your mind for.

Much love to you and of course, myself.

Dr G

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Check out Simi’s book and if you are digging the vibes, buy it 🙂