“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” In the Information Age, the unique skill that will determine your success is your ability to stay focused. But there are just so many distractions and temptations trying to steal your attention. Temptations exist in all forms and they always derail you from your long-term goals. They may come in the form of a chocolate cake, or a cold beer, a WeChat group
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Last blog we talked about how willpower is a construct of the mind. If you believe it is capped, then you have just capped yourself. On the other hand, if you don’t believe there is a willpower limit, then you will continue to do things that are good for you and for your future. This trains your dorsal striatum to side more with your prefrontal cortex of your brain - the logical side. This blog
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Continuing from last week’s blog on why it’s so hard to go to the gym, we explore the topic of willpower. As mentioned last week, the ego depletion theory has been challenged numerous times to the point now where I no longer believe it to be true. I must admit, that at one point I did believe in it. It made sense and had some studies done by psychologists that support the theory. But
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We all want to have the six-pack abs or the round firm butt. We all want to feel healthy and have more energy and be more focused at work. If only intention alone, was enough to get the the results we wanted, life would be so much easier. Unfortunately, we don’t do what is good for us; we do what is easy. So even if you know what to do in the gym, or you
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The Body Mass Index (BMI) has long been used by doctors and health professionals as the main screening tool to determine your health risk of metabolic disease. Even to this date, your physical check-up examination will tell you your BMI results. Unfortunately, studies have shown it to be highly unreliable and that there are better screens out there for you to check if you are at risk. Firstly, why is the BMI screen unreliable? The
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It is inevitable that we will all encounter some hardships in our lives. Even Buddhist philosophy claims that life is suffering in the Four Noble Truths. Sometimes, life gets a little harder and other times life can get a lot harder. What is certain is that you will undoubtedly experience many more hardships to come. And they come in many different forms. It can come from voluntary means like choosing to eat the healthier meal
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Welcome back from Chinese New Year holidays! We continue from our last blog about the powers of mindfulness. Hopefully, you are now convinced of its usefulness in your life. I’m sure spending Chinese New Years with your family has given you plenty of opportunities to practice mindfulness; especially when handling provocative questions from family members on the status of your love life! So, let’s get started. The training tool we will use to become more
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Are you mindful? Recently, there has been a huge focus on the word mindfulness. Why is it such a big deal? Is it really that useful or is it just another one of those hippie, healthy fads from California that will come and go? Here’s Olive Branch’s take on mindfulness. It’s a superpower. Except that it isn’t a modern thing. It’s been around for ages as described in the earliest literatures of Buddhism, which existed
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In a previous blog, I wrote about how to motivate yourself to train during the winter months. This time, I’d like to share a few points why I actually prefer to train in the winter! 1. There are less distractions during the winter! Because it’s so cold outside, there are less events held outdoors - less barbecues, less, outdoor concerts, less beach volleyball days! People organize less social outings so that gives you more
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It happens to all of us. We can’t always have high motivation in working out, eating healthy, and life in general. Inevitably, things slow down and our moods change. Having a good strategy to manage your high’s and low’s will help in keeping you focused on the long-term goals that you have set out for. But what if your low’s are prolonged with no end in sight? You know you’re in a rut, but you
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