Building resilience through mini-habits

Success is the product of daily habits, not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.

James Clear

Up to 40% of our day is enacted through habits. We unconsciously perform tasks, complete routines and just do what we have done before. Habits are patterns or behaviours that become hard-wired into your daily life. Knowing this, successful people pay attention to their habits, building and strengthening those that are helpful and productive. Your wellbeing and resilience can be supported by small but powerful habits. Try some of these small steps and mini-habits that can have a major positive effect on your wellbeing. None of them take longer than two minutes. No excuses!

Two minutes, three sentences

Your morning routine has a huge effect on the day you’ll have. You’re awake for about 1000 minutes every day, so spending two minutes to prime your brain is a great investment in giving yourself a better chance that the other 998 minutes are more positive and productive. Based on a heap of scientific research, Neil Pasricha suggests that each morning, you grab an index card and write one sentence to each of these three prompts:

Today, I am grateful for…

Today, I will let go of…

Today I will focus on…

These two minutes will help switch your brain to the positive, cut loose the negative and reduce decision fatigue – and scientists assure us that we will be happier and healthier for the effort.

The third space

The first space is what you’re doing now, the second space is what you’re going to do next, and the third space is the gap in the middle. Adam Fraser’s concept of The Third Space encourages people to create a space between work (the first space) and home (the second space) by taking time to reflect, rest and reset. You can hack this idea and build tiny third spaces into your day. Instead of running from one activity, class or meeting to the next, take just 60 seconds to stop, breathe, think, reset, before you move into the next thing. It makes all the difference.

Mindfulness

We’ve all heard about the benefits of meditation, but for most people, meditation is hard. It requires real commitment and persistence. Mindfulness, however, is something that you can build into your daily routine. Apps like Smiling Mind, Buddhify, Calm, Insight Timer, and Headspace use guided visualizations that anyone can access and practise. As well, there are some great mindfulness apps that you can use with your class. For a really simple start to this habit, try the free app Omm. It guides you through a simple 60 seconds of being mindful which can work as a terrific third space. Try it - it will feel like the longest minute ever!

Breathing

When you concentrate on deep breathing, you help your brain to disengage from work, lower your heart rate and stabilise your blood pressure. This all helps you to lower stress levels. One method to practise is square breathing. Follow this diagram and notice your heart rate falling and calm descending. You can also practise this with your students. And if all else fails, simply concentrate on breathing out slowly. If in doubt, breathe out.

Gratitude

The human brain’s primary function is to keep us safe. To do so, it constantly scans the environment looking for threats and potential danger. Martin Seligman’s research shows that when we make the effort to consciously be grateful, it increases our levels of dopamine and serotonin, the neurotransmitters responsible for positive emotions like happiness and enhancing our mood.

One idea to get you started is to take a few minutes at the end of your day to write down three to five things you are grateful for. Be as specific as possible. Don’t write “I’m grateful for my family”. Rather, think of a specific thing that someone in your family did for you that day, or a specific quality about a family member you noticed today. Over time, your brain will start to notice the good (even if only so you have something to write down in the evening!). This is a tiny action that has surprisingly huge benefits.

Music

Music is universally known to reduce stressing, lowering the levels of cortisol in our bodies and improving our immune response.  A Harvard study found that when music was played in the operating room, it was not only beneficial for patients who were under anaesthetic, but also for surgeons who experienced lower levels of stress during procedures.

Research tells us that music around 60 beats per minute helps our brains synchronize with the beat, resulting in alpha brainwaves, the ones that are present when we feel relaxed. To get you started, there is a public Spotify playlist with 10 songs that neuroscientists say are very effective.

Invest in your tiny habits at home and at work

Professional success and personal wellbeing are really closely related. It can be tempting to think of our health and wellbeing is something that we attend to in our personal lives, unrelated to professional success. However these simple habits and routines can contribute enormously to positive wellbeing that enables you to effectively navigate both your work and personal life.

And finally

Looking after yourself is one of the most generous things you can do for the people around you – whether those people are your students, your colleagues, your family or friends. And yet, wellbeing is often the very thing that we neglect because we’re too busy, too tired, too distracted and just don’t have time. The above mini-habits are time friendly and worth trying out. They won’t all work perfectly for you, but the hope is that you’ll find one or two that are helpful additions to your routines.

Catherine Jackson – Consultant and Founder, Leopard Tree, April 2021