- Did you know that 95% of the thoughts that we think
and the actions that we take
on a daily basis are repetitive?
Get up, use the restroom, brush the teeth,
go to work, so on and so on.
And this is actually useful.
It helps us live our life
that these thoughts are repetitive and habitual
but that's also why it's so easy
to feel like we're stuck in a rut,
to feel like things are just mundane or monotonous
and it can be so difficult to change that habitual momentum
of our lives.
But what if you could insert some tiny new habits
that would have a tremendous impact on your life?
Would you do it?
Well, today I'm gonna share with you three tiny habits
that can change your life forever.
Check it out.
(upbeat music)
Hey there, this is Mat Boggs,
and I'm the founder of the Love & Relationships division
of the Brave Thinking Institute
where our mission is increasing love in the world
one heart at a time.
And so if you're not yet a member of this community,
click that subscribe button and click the little bell
because every week we will bring you videos
that uplift you, ignite you, inspire you,
and help you create the relationship that you would love.
So now, three tiny habits that can change your life forever.
The first habit is to have a gratitude practice.
What's brilliant about this is how simple it is,
but that's also what's hard about this.
Because it's so simple.
Your mind will wanna tell you this doesn't matter,
it's too simple, it's too easy,
and yet there are volumes of research studies
that show how powerful having a gratitude practice is.
A gratitude practice might be waking up in the morning
and writing down five things that you're grateful for.
Or before bed, writing down what you're grateful for,
or once a week, writing a gratitude letter to somebody else.
In fact, there was a study done recently, 300 adults,
they were all seeking mental health counseling,
they divided them up into three groups.
One group was gonna write a gratitude letter once a week
over the period of six weeks,
the second group was gonna journal
on their deepest feelings
around the stressors in their life.
And the third group would just do normal counseling.
So these were normal counseling,
and then these three practices layered on top.
And after the six weeks, what they found was,
the group that wrote the gratitude letter just one a week,
had a much higher improvement level in their mental health
over the group that journaled
and over the group that didn't do anything
other than just have the counseling.
And that was just one experiment.
And the other is a stack of research on gratitude
showing how it reduces your blood pressure,
helps you sleep better, gives you better peace of mind,
generates more happiness, all these effects.
In fact, if gratitude could be put into a pill,
you would see ads running on TV that looked like this.
- [Announcer] Do you feel stressed
and overwhelmed and generally discouraged?
Are you quick to get irritated with others
and find it hard to feel good?
Is your motivation to achieve your goals at an all-time low?
If so, ask your specialist about Gratitudinol.
Gratitudinol is not a pill or a medication,
but a simple practice
of generating the feeling of gratitude several times a day.
Four out of five people
feel better with just one dose of Gratitudinol per day.
Common side effects of Gratitudinol are less stress,
better relationships, more empathy, improved self-esteem,
better decision-making, reduced depression,
better sleep and lower blood pressure.
Gratitudinol may cause severe reaction
from friends and family who are surprised
by how much happier you are.
Tell your specialist right away
if you have increased swelling of love in your heart
or a sudden increase in motivation and energy.
Do not take Gratitudinol if you are already too happy.
Could you be living a more satisfying and happier life?
Ask your specialist about Gratitudinol.
- So let's try it out right now.
Bring to mind someone that you're grateful for.
Someone that you love in your life.
Picture them in your mind,
and make that picture even brighter, more vibrant, larger,
and then drop that picture right to the center of your heart
and feel the gratitude you have
for this person in your life.
And you can begin to feel the energy of that gratitude move
throughout your heart and move throughout your whole body
and you could feel the positive uplifting effects
that gratitude has.
I challenge you if it's not already,
bring this into your life as a daily practice.
Habit number two that can change our life forever,
is this one,
accept what is and move forward.
This is a really big one, tough to get,
but once we begin to master this,
it makes things so much easier
because our pain in life is directly proportional
to our resistance of what is.
The suffering that we experience
is directly proportional to our resistance of what is.
And if there's an opportunity
to change what's in front of you,
it doesn't mean we don't try to change
or improve our current circumstance
but oftentimes something occurs and you can't change it.
Someone knocks over a vase breaks it, it's broken.
You drop your iPhone, break the screen, it's broken.
You can't undo it in that moment
and so you're left with a choice.
You only have two choices.
You're either going to accept it
or you're going to resist it.
There's a great phrase that says "What you resist persists."
And it took me a long time to figure out
what the heck does that mean?
And finally, what it means for me is,
when you resist something,
you're actually locking into the pain of that situation
and tell you're willing to accept it
or get it fixed some way.
I remember years ago, I dropped my,
I got this brand new iPhone, it was beautiful,
it was awesome,
and literally before I could get the case,
it slipped out of my hands, fell to the floor and cracked.
It was like the hour that I opened it from the box
and I was so upset with myself.
In that moment I was like,
"Gosh, dang it.
Couldn't I just hold onto it more?"
And one of my least favorite things
is to do errands that take hours that are unnecessary.
And in my mind,
going to the Apple store to get this thing fixed
and all the time it was gonna take
I was in such resistance the whole time.
And I remember the week leading up to my appointment,
I was in resistance every time I'd see that iPhone,
I'd feel angry at myself for breaking it,
and the pain of that circumstance was persisting
because I wasn't willing to just accept what is.
Look, I broke it, it's broken,
we're gonna get it fixed.
Move it to a place of peace instead of resistance.
The fastest way to end the suffering of the moment
is to accept what is, feel the emotion,
and then move forward.
When you resist what is, it locks in the emotion,
it's like trying to drive your car forward,
looking in the rear view mirror
just being connected to the past.
Instead, accept what is, feel the emotion and move forward.
And you're gonna get to where you wanna go
a whole lot faster.
And habit number three is to on a daily basis
ask yourself this question.
What part of me needs my love and acceptance right now?
What part of you needs your love and acceptance right now?
You know, so much of our pain comes
from putting our own needs on the back burner and coping.
It's that I'm just gonna cope with this,
I'm just gonna get through,
I'm just gonna get through this week.
I'm just gonna get through this project.
I'm just gonna get through it.
And we grind and we drive and we move forward,
and at the end of the day, then there's another project,
and then there's something else to do,
and we end up coping through our whole lives.
You go through years of just with that burden
of coping pattern.
Instead, pause and ask yourself,
what part of me needs my love and acceptance right now?
What do I need right now?
And pour in to your needs,
pour into your love and acceptance,
surround that part of you in love
and give yourself that gift.
So profound,
so powerful to honor yourself as you're going through life
to take a pause, take a breath and to say,
"Wow, what part of me needs my love
and acceptance right now?
And to give yourself that you will notice a softening
that happens.
You'll notice from that softening then an opening
gets created.
And I believe that it's those openings where new life,
new creativity, new solutions,
better ways of living are born.
You're actually opening yourself up to solutions.
So I challenge you, ask yourself on a daily basis.
What part of you needs your love and acceptance?
Identify that part of you,
surround it in love and acceptance.
You'll feel the softening, you'll feel the opening,
and from that, you're able to create new.
So my question for you is what habits have you discovered
have helped you in your life?
Go and post those habits in the comment section below
we're gonna get this great best practices
in the comments going.
And know this,
I believe in you,
you are meant to live an extraordinary life.
I appreciate you being part of this community
and I'll see you soon.
(upbeat music)