If you’re just joining the Bare Minimum Mondays posts, here’s the premise…
Action always gets more results than ideas. (Related to this: the thing you do is better than the thing you don’t do, progress is better than perfection, consistency, even with something small, is more effective than occasional bursts of excellence).
Every Monday, we send out things to try in four areas: movement (exercise), nutrition, sleep, and stress management. These are, without question, the four most powerful tools available for tackling a massive number of maladies. The goal isn’t for you to do all of them forever. It’s not even for you to do all of them this week. The goal is to give you enough things to try that you can find a couple that stick, and then for you to have some intentionality in each of those areas that you can stick with for the rest of your life.
Take what you need, discard the rest.
Let’s get into it.
Move
Take the stairs one extra time. If you’re getting ready to go to work, just pretend you forgot your keys upstairs and make one more trip up and down. It’s not much. But adding a little movement here and there can add up in a big way.
Eat
Drink a glass of water before each meal. It seems to be the case that drinking water makes you feel a little more full which may help decrease excess calorie consumption.
Sleep
Try a relaxing breathing exercise before bed. Slow, deep breathing before bed can improve sleep quality. There are a million protocols to use, you can find some HERE.
Manage
Take 5 minutes to step outside during your lunch break. Being outdoors is huge for mental health. Among other things, exposure to natural light during the day improves mood and reduces stress. Read more HERE.