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🕵️‍♂️ Curiosity and anger - friends or foes?!

🕵️‍♂️ Curiosity and anger - friends or foes?!

January 26, 2024

MENTAL FITNESS FOR THE MODERN MYND 🧠💪🏼

Welcome to the final stretch of January - whew - time is flying! While you may have thought we were done discussing goals and resolutions … not today friends, not today! Statistics tell us a staggering truth about New Year’s resolutions and goals:

A whopping 7% of us will stick to our resolutions all year long
The average resolution lasts 3.74 months
Only 21% of adults stick to their resolutions after 6 months
Bonus Fact: Unsurprisingly, Fridays happen to be a very popular day for folks to drop their resolutions!

The odds are against us but that doesn’t mean we can’t beat em!

So here’s the hot tip you didn’t know you needed: If you find yourself veering off course, goals dropped, upset, and foot-stomping frustrated… try shifting your focus to curiosity instead. Yep, curiosity - the thirst for knowledge is a powerful motivator and happens to be a great way to move through some of these moments. There are two main types of curiosity:

Perceptual Curiosity: Refers to a type of curiosity that is often triggered by sensory stimuli that are unusual, unexpected, or that deviate from the norm. This type of curiosity arises when something piques your interest (you reach out to pet the hedgehog at your kids birthday) or something triggers your spidey senses (I’m doubting the sales projections that I’m seeing right now).
Epistemic Curiosity: A pleasurable form of curiosity defined as the "desire for knowledge that motivates individuals to learn new ideas, eliminate information gaps, and solve intellectual problems." It's the quest for knowledge that sets off the dopaminergic system in our brains—a genuine thirst for understanding.

With that, let’s imagine you find yourself veering off track from your New Year’s resolutions, or having a frustrating moment at work … just remember your good friend curiosity and take a second. Here are some steps to put this into practice:

Perceptual Curiosity Exercises: Instead of letting frustration take over, channel the energy into self-discovery or get thinking about how to trigger your perceptual curiosity

What about my goal is not working?
Do I have a plan around it?
Does the goal align with my core values?
Is the goal the right size?

OR is your goal related to healthy eating, as an example? Use perceptual curiosity to explore new ingredients, textures, flavors, and aromas - pretend you’re on Chopped and make it an adventure!

Epistemic Curiosity Exercises: Take a mental break and indulge in a short burst of Googling, ChatGPT (ChattyG’ing), reading, etc. Maybe you’re curious about a new approach related to your goals, or you want to know the height of the tallest cow, how to build a car, how much your brain weighs?! Whatever strikes your fancy, this is where you get to have some fun and take a few minutes to go down a rabbit hole.

Just remember … “you can’t be curious and angry at the same time”. 😉

If you also want a boost to your energy, focus or both… we can help. Text our team to learn more here…

Text Us Here!

INSPIRATION

(Why we share this: This is a spark of info + research that gets you excited to practice Mental Fitness)

Our dear friend and mental fitness expert Rachel K is a super talent certified coach and is hosting a series of events (for free!) this month, here are a few to check out over the next few days:

🔥 Jan 30 - Command - this one is all about people and interpersonal dynamics (personal & professional) and is one of my favorite topics. Develop your ability to create influence and buy-in (without necessarily having the authority). Register here.
⏲ Feb 1 - But, When - Career Transitions (virtual) - learn how to know WHEN to make a career change and the key elements to reflect on that will support you in creating clarity on whether or not you want to stay in your current role or go. Register here.

PERSPIRATION (Why we share this: These are fun + small exercises to work out your MYND for impact)

Can you spot which self-care stat is bogus?

Nearly three in five (59%) people will only practice self-care if they feel stressed
Adults in the US only feel relaxed for 40 minutes per day, with 17% claiming they get less than that
75% of Americans believe self-care activities can help reduce stress

CELEBRATION

(Why we share this: This is a way to celebrate your MYND and the MYNDY community)

For all of you who have been on your game with those New Year goals and resolutions, are still on track, or found yourself falling off, revisited and adjusted … have we got a raffle for you!

We’re all doing our best to be our best - enter below to win some fresh MYNDY Swag!!

Enter HERE!

FINAL THOUGHTS

This article from Psychology Today is a great read and emphasizes the urgent need for coordinated care between mental and physical health disciplines. It’s harder and harder to find a Primary Care Doctor (am I right!?) who can help us coordinate all of our medical, wellness and health demands across the body and mind.

It’s wild to think that our mind sits within our body, and our body, affects our mind and we go to all these different doctors for each of them.

Our friend John Samuels and these doctors get it. We feel seen!

This weeks perspiration challenge answer: 2

Adults in the US only feel relaxed for 40 minutes per day, with **47% (vs. 17%) claiming they get less than that!!

How was the newsletter this week? We’d love quick your thoughts:

Loved it 🤩 | So-so 🙃 | Not for me 🥴