Brain Fitness

STEP ONE:Do you know when to stop?Do you know how much is enough?Especially with brain injury and age related brain fitness decline, overwhelm defeats motivation every time.Do you get overwhelmed?

Okay, here is the solution.Decide exactly how much you are going to do and how you are going to measure it.For example, if you are going to do some gardening or walking, decide on 20 minutes.Then set the kitchen timer for 20 minutes.When the bell rings, stop.

Now, when you know you can stop after 20 minutes, do you feel more encouraged?It's just 20 minutes!Feeling like you can do it creates the MOTIVATION WHEEL.This is step one.

Know when to stop.Decide on how much you are going to do.When the timer rings, stop.

COACHING TIP:If you still don't feel like doing it, cut your effort/time in half and try again.Keep cutting the effort/time in half until you it's so easy that you laugh as you get into action!For example:20 minutes too much?Set timer for 10 minutes. Just get that motivation wheel moving!

STEP TWO:Do you count your effort like coins of gold?Do you easily forget what you did yesterday or last week?When you look at your effort today, you kill motivation by thinking that 20 minutes will do no good.

The solution is to get fun stickers.Put a sticker on your calendar or chart every time you put in your measured amount of effort from step one.
Now count the stickers on your calendar like they were coins of gold!Congratulate yourself because your stack of golden effort is growing.Fall in love with growing your stack of gold.

When you count and congratulate yourself daily for growing that stack of golden effort, you are CREATING MOMENTUM.Momentum means that your wheel is picking up speed.When you create momentum, motivation isn't an issue.

Stack your effort.Count it like coins of gold.Create momentum.

STEP THREE:Do you know exactly how far you have travelled?Everyone knows where they want to go.Motivation is often killed when you look forward at the distance left to travel to your goal.It seems so far...impossible!

However, when you look back to SEE HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME that is a powerful motivator.Dwell on the facts of what you have done.

This is where a BEFORE TEST is so important.Many people ignore creating a before test because they are embarrassed by this information.Stop what you are doing, and take those appropriate measurements right now.Take a photo of your weedy garden or unpainted room, stand on that scale, wrap the tape around your waist, time the minutes it takes to walk to the mall.You need that BEFORE DATA.Put it in the drawer.

Now every month, take the same measurements, pull the BEFORE DATA out of the drawer, and celebrate how far you have come.SEEING PROOF OF SUCCESS KEEPS THAT WHEEL ROLLING for another month.Inch by inch, life's a cinch.

Keep records so you can't forget. Review monthly how your stack of effort is changing your data.Dwell on your proof of success.Remember, every step, no matter how small, counts.

WHEN YOU USE THESE 3 STUNNINGLY SIMPLE STEPS YOUR MOTIVATION WILL GROW INTO YOUR POWERFUL ALLY.Soon you will be leaping buildings in a single stride! Celebrate.

Linda Schaumleffel, Olympian and head injury survivor, guides people worldwide with faltering memory or head injuries, by teaching them how to thrive again, strive for peak productivity, and build a hedge against dementia. Get a jump on your own brain health with "Brain Fitness: The Top 17 Activities That Will Revive Your Brain at Any Age!" special report at http://www.PowerBrainFitness.com