Solitude, Self-Improvement & Making Boring Tasks Fun!

The newsletter which curates & delivers the best mind hacks, mental health tips & high performance strategies to you every single week.

šŸ§  MIND HACK

The Value Of Solitude (Or... The Key To Unlocking Focus, Creativity, Self-Discovery & More!)

Think of Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Einstein & other high achievers now & throughout history...

What do they have in common?

The answer in many cases: they valued solitude.

Da Vinci, for example, would immerse himself in his studio...

Van Gogh would paint his emotional masterpieces...

And Einstein made scientific breakthroughs... all while basking in solitude.

Einstein even said:

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ā€œThe monotony & solitude of a quiet life stimulate the creative mind.ā€

But it's not just artists & scientists...

Musicians like Mozart & Beethoven also sought solitude to compose their timeless melodiesā€¦

Writers like Virginia Woolf, J.K. Rowling & Marcel Proust turned to solitude to craft their literary works...

(Proust, in particular, was known for his nocturnal solitude, a time when distractions were at a minimum, allowing him to focus entirely on his writing)

Now, let's get scientific... why is solitude so valuable?

Neuroscientists have delved into the magic of solitude & found that it changes the way your brain operates...

When you're in a bustling environment, your brain's 'executive control network' is focused on the outside world; on everything that's happening around you...

But when you're in solitude, it's now free to collaborate together with your 'default mode network', which deals with inner thoughts...

This collaboration between these networks in your gain gives your creativity, for one, a major boost... leading to moments of profound reflection & creative inspiration!

At this point you might be thinkingā€¦

ā€œDoesnā€™t this advice go against much of what we're conditioned to believe about life growing up as well as throughout our entire livesā€ā€¦

We're largely taught that loneliness is a bad thing, social isolation is harmful & that human connection is whatā€™s most important in lifeā€¦

And that's actually also true...

Loneliness is an epidemic & we need social connection more than everā€¦

But loneliness & solitude are not the same thingā€¦

And solitude & human connection are not forces that have to necessarily conflict or have to go against each otherā€¦

The secret to harnessing the power of solitude is about embracing it with purpose/intention.

Solitude, once again, isn't the enemy of socialization; it's just another tool that you can wield at other times to consciously enhance your personal growth journey!

And when pursued intentionally has a very different effect on the mind, body & spirit than when not.

So, whether you're an artist, scientist, writer, or simply someone striving to be the best version of yourselfā€¦

Whether you like to be more focused, creative, reflective or just connect with yourself (& what you truly value) moreā€¦ you can also use intentional solitude as your ally on your incredible journey of self-improvement!

šŸŽ FREE GIFT

If youā€™d like to unlock your brain's latent power, boost your IQ & further elevate your thinking to transform your results in lifeā€¦

ā€¦& do so in less than 15 minutes (by leveraging one of the most effective techniques for rewiring your brain ever created: NLP!)ā€¦

This special guided audio mp3 process (or, 'digital pill') is easily worth $39.95... but, today you can download it, completely free:

šŸ’” QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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ā€œThere is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own selfā€

Aldous Huxley

šŸ“… CHALLENGE

The ā€˜Fear Challengeā€™: A Proven Way To Train Your Mind & Body To Fear Less & To Be More Courageous!

One of the best ways to lessen the negative influence of your fear & self-doubt -- instead replacing it with confidence & greater proactiveness is to constantly face (& step into) your fears.

As Eleanor Roosevelt said...

ā€œYou gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.ā€

She also said;

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ā€œDo one thing every day that scares youā€

And that's actually what this section & exercise is all about; one of the ultimate training tools & hacks for overcoming fear, discovering your true self & training up your courage with each passing dayā€¦

To be clear, this isn't just something you read...

This is something you DO.

This is a challenge (or, 'mission') of sorts for you... (should you choose to accept!)

Here's how the 'Fear Challenge' exercise works:

Firstly, take time right now & make a list of things that would scare you to do (things that are currently outside your comfort zone) & then do them - at least 1 per day for the next 30 days.

Here are some examples of things you could do:

  • Strike up a conversation with (or hug) a stranger

  • Live karaoke or sing in public

  • Ask for a discount at a store

  • Take a dance class

  • Take a cold shower (or jump into a cold pool)

  • Hold a snake or a spider

  • Make a video, or live stream (or public speaking)

  • Start doing random pushups in public (e.g. in a store)

  • Ask a stranger if you can take a selfie with them

  • Go paragliding or skydiving

The point is to make these easy things you can do (usually short 5 min daily challenges you can complete) although you may want to add in a few bigger, more time-consuming challenges into the mix as wellā€¦

Itā€™s up to you how you do it!

If you choose to do this challenge over the next 30 days, youā€™re likely to find that much of what you fear is much scarier before you do it than after you complete it...

Your 'comfort zone' (what you feel comfortable doing) will stretch & youā€™ll gain more confidence & courage as you go along...

(You may also want to journal your experience after each dayā€™s challenge for even greater benefit.)

Remember: itā€™s not about removing fear altogether (fear is helpful at times), but to learn to fear less & act in spite of it if you ultimately know the fear isn't serving your highest ambitions.

Courageous people are not fearless... they still feel fear... but those who know fear is an illusion & act in spite of it!

Take the 30-day fear challenge to train yourself to do the same starting today!

And speaking of fearā€¦ if youā€™d like to learn more about what fear is, how it works & an entire library of proven strategies, methods & processes for eradicating fear, eliminating phobiaā€™s & training up your course, check out the complete Potencia fear course, titled:

šŸ”„ MOTIVATION HACK

How To Make Boring Tasks Fun, Take More Action, Be More Consistent & Get Better Results!

Can you guess what the #1 predictor of whether someone will not only sign up for the gym in the first place (here things like the quality of the facilities, the price, etc are most important)...

ā€¦but will actually stay & remain a member over time?

Well, let us tell youā€¦

Here, it's not the quality of the equipmentā€¦

Or their commitment to going to the gymā€¦

Or, even the goalsā€¦

It's actually other people.

A study conducted around this concluded that gym member retention was driven much, much more by emotional factors - such as whether employees knew membersā€™ names or said hello when they walked in. 

Put another wayā€¦

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People often go to the gym (or keep coming back) for human connection, not just a treadmill.

So, how can you apply this?

Well, you can get to know those at the gym, or invite those who already know to work out with youā€¦ (boosting your chances of going more consistently)

Maybe join a group, community or find an accountability partner with who you can share your progress for new positive habit youā€™re building (meditation, writing, running, etc) & goals youā€™re working onā€¦

Beyond just exerciseā€¦

You can take boring or uninspring tasks which need to get them & do them together with others!

The entire family cleans the kitchen/house at the same time while listening to music through the speaker, or before going out for a nice family dinnerā€¦ (much more fun than cleaning alone!)

Or you get friends together, you all sit around the table & work on different hard/difficult/boring tasks togetherā€¦

Doing this can help you to complete what needs to get done, be more consistent in doing so (e.g. the gym example) & achieve better results in all that you do! Be sure to use this motivation hack!

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