Category: Uncategorized

Life Changing Habits Start in 5 Minutes

Published on by The Five Minute MindLeave a comment

The idea for this site came from the discovery of how much power ‘5 minutes’ can have. From journaling, meditating, or just chatting to someone close to you, 5 minutes can make a big difference in improving our mood. 

I think there’s somewhat of a gruelling and unattractive stigma to things that are good for us; we like the feeling and product we get after, but we aren’t as motivated to actually do it in the first place. 

I’m thinking of things like going to the gym, starting a healthier diet, or getting more work done. Losing ‘x’ amount of weight, getting that so-called ‘ideal’ body type, or things of this nature require a dedicated commitment and a supreme amount of work.

We all want things like this, but the ease and simplicity of basic tasks like watching TV, or good ol’ fashioned procrastination often take advantage of us any time we’re feeling less motivated.

The thing is, things that are positive and good for any aspect of our health don’t demand this type of rigorous action that seems to drain us even just by thinking about it.

This is where 5 minutes come into play.

It’s a seemingly inconsequential slot of time – it’s usually used to describe the simplest and easiest of things. But 5 minutes committed to virtually anything can start paying real, valuable dividends to us should we actually start doing something.

It doesn’t matter what it is, starting with an action of 5 committed minutes to something we care about starts to become an investment. Whether it’s exercise, reading, mindfulness, or anything positive, 5 minutes is the deposit you can make into the account of ‘you.’ There’s evidence showing how Olympic athletes gained more aerobic capacity by training in short intervals that totalled 4 minutes than training for a total of 60 minutes. Done in the right way, the athletes had less overall stresses on their body and more time to take care of themselves by stretching and moving onto other aspects of training.

Of course, it’s not all about physical exercise, but the same concept applies to other areas. By starting a 5 minute meditation, you can lower your stress, anxiety, depression, and increase protective grey matter in your brain.

By using 5 minutes to make an effort in reaching out to people you care about, you can increase your social connection, which is actually a vital need of ours that has a habit of being grossly overlooked in modern society.

The possibilities go on and on, and it’s up to us how we choose to use these valuable little slots of time. As I mentioned earlier, it’s an investment into ourselves and the things in life that serve to help and make us better.
And as with investments, these things grow. Cementing a habit for 5 minutes has the potential to snowball in the direction we like, with the habit making it easier to ‘slip’ into doing more because of that coveted feeling of being on a roll.

Many times, once we feel good about doing something it’s easier for us to keep going, because we gain a little more motivation from the addicting feeling of achieving something.

By dividing these important things into manageable, seemingly ‘insignificant’ chunks of time, we’re kind of hacking our brain by making them much easier and accessible.

5 minutes can be the vehicle that moves us along positive, life-changing routes, by making them simple, doable, and ready for us to start.

What can 5 minutes give to you?

Practice happiness, reduce your stress with a simple guided journal, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced writer.

Order your copy of ‘The Five Minute Mind’ here:

https://www.amazon.ca/Five-Minute-Mind-Jordan-Britton/dp/B08PJPWLGK/

Book Launch Coming Soon

Your Dose of Happy News in 500 Words or Less

Published on by The Five Minute MindLeave a comment
The past year has been interesting, there’s no way around it. I’m sure everyone has had their own battle and more often than not it’s about things that are pretty heavy that can take an emotional toll.

Reading and seeing negative things in the news is hard for anyone, and living some of them seems unimaginable. In light of the plagues of negativity that seem to swirl around, sensationalized, here are some headlines and stories making the world a little bit brighter. I’m also curious to see how posts about positivity perform, because I’ve talked in other posts about how poorly they do. If it’s something people want to see and read, I’d happily do more because personally, I love this s***.

NFL player Don Jones II upholds promise of taking friend with special needs to prom
Don is no stranger to busy schedules, but after promising Lindsey Preston that he would be her prom date, he was able to keep that promise and in turn lit up not only the smiles of his Lindsey, but the rest of the school as he showed them all some new dance moves. Don stayed for the duration of the night, and was more than happy to keep a promise he made to a friend of his who he met from his mother teaching her.

Yale offers to teach it’s most popular class online for free, to anyone
It’s no secret that health and wellbeing are becoming increasingly popular as each year goes by, and after the huge success of Psychology 157: The Science of Wellbeing, Yale has offered to teach the course online to anyone seeking to learn it. The course specializes in teaching how to maintain personal health, and is absolutely free for anyone who wishes to take it.

Scientists accidentally discover super-enzyme capable for devouring plastic waste
A group of scientists originally researching bacteria, haphazardly came across an enzyme capable of safely decomposing plastic and waste back into the environment- a breakthrough in the recycling industry. And since enzymes are biodegradable, there are no harmful repercussions of the bacteria. Pending a patent, recycling plastic back into reusable plastic or a material fit for the environment is on the way.

Nova Scotian communicates for the first time in 21 years after brain injury
After a traumatic brain injury left Joellen Huntley feeding through a tube and unable to speak since 15, her mother thought communicating with her would never be an option. However, with the technology called Eyegaze, Joellen is able to communicate to her mother with signs and symbols based on where she looks with her eyes. Her mother was overcome with emotion as she explains the only thing she’s ever wanted was to speak with her daughter.

Skydiver Gregory Robertson hurdles out at a 320 km/h to save unconscious skydiver
While this headline is from history, this day in April 31 years ago, it’s a story worth retelling. After two skydivers collided in mid-air and knocking one unconscious, Gregory leaped out of the airplane after her- tucking himself into a ball in attempt to catch up. He was able to make enough speed in time to reach her, and held her in his arms as he deployed his parachute to safely land the both of them.

Practice happiness, reduce your stress with a simple guided journal, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced writer.

Order your copy of ‘The Five Minute Mind’ here:

https://www.amazon.ca/Five-Minute-Mind-Jordan-Britton/dp/B08PJPWLGK/

Book Launch Coming Soon

We’re Holding On To Things We Don’t Even Know Are Hurting Us

Published on by The Five Minute MindLeave a comment
There’s something challenging about looking within. 

And since the only person who will ever truly be able to do it is ourselves, that makes it a pretty big challenge. 

Objectively, I think that everyone has the capability to take a look at what’s brewing underneath their own hood- and there are major health benefits in doing so. 

Being self-aware and taking the time to look at ourselves can help us notice and address things that aren’t helping us anymore; things that could actually be hurting us yet we’re entirely unaware of. I’ve been learning about how the body can store different types of emotional pain in different areas of the body.  This means that how something made you feel can literally translate to physical discomfort or pain building up in your body somewhere. 

When our hand touches a hot stove, or even feels some heat coming off of it, we immediately pull it away, or better yet keep it away from the stove altogether. This is common sense, that s*** is hot, why would we want to burn ourselves. 

The problem with emotional and psychological pain is that there’s a lot of it that we don’t see or have an idea about. And you can’t fix a problem you don’t know you have, right?

The thing with taking a look at what’s happening inside the mind is that it’s no coincidence that we’re oblivious to what’s happening. As already mentioned, we can’t see it ourselves; so unless we actively put an effort to peak at what’s inside us, it’s never going to happen. Nobody on this earth can do it for you.

So why don’t we then, if the onus is really just on us?

The answer is that it can be a pretty daunting, scary, and damn right uncomfortable thing to do. Who we are inside is between one person and one person only. We can’t blame something we don’t like on someone else, a situation, or some other thing. Which, as it turns out, is what our minds really like to do. Whether we like it or not, the conscious and subconscious parts of our mind are constantly justifying and explaining things to ourselves to reduce the amount of distress or tension that we feel. 

There’s a term for this, if you cared about these things. 

It’s called Cognitive Dissonance, and it’s a name for the mental stress we feel when we consciously do or think things that don’t jive with what our subconscious truly feels. 

For example, if you say you can’t stand when someone comes in late but had the time to stop and get themselves some coffee, and then you go ahead and waltz into a meeting 15 minutes past the start time with a pumpkin spice latte in your hand, it’s going to put some pressure on your mental (whether you know it or not). 

When things are going on that we don’t know about, there’s simply nothing we can do about solving them. I’ve found that looking deep inside of myself can be intimidating, because I find things that I like and things that I don’t. Looking at things that I don’t like about myself, for all intents and purposes, is uncomfortable. As it should be. 

Pairing that with an open-mind but more importantly, a willingness to grow can pay dividends in the long run when it comes to mental (which translates to physical) health. 

It takes courage to actively look into things about your personality and emotions and see them for what they are. And part of that is understanding who we are when we take that look. Being critical and just searching for things to criticize can deal significant blows to our psychological ego that we might not be prepared for. 

It’s like a simple form of pure observation: gently looking at everything we’re seeing with an open-mind, jotting down the things we notice. I find it just as important to be observing positive things as much as negative things, maybe even more. Fortifying the characteristics we love about ourselves by affirming them in thought, and being open and inquisitive to the things we find that we don’t like.

Authors that have influenced the way I think about these things talk about questioning these things, becoming curious about them in a non-threatening way. Simply challenging them in this way can start foraging a path for us to begin walking down.  

Pairing it with a strong perspective of a growth mindset can help us realize that growing through it and changing this aspect of ourselves is a very real possibility.

I used to struggle significantly with anger in my youth and as a young adult, and it’s through processes like this where I enabled myself to challenge it and grow. 

It’s not easy, instant, or fun; but its value is undeniable. Uncovering things about yourself might feel uncomfortable, but getting down deeper and exploring why you are the way you are about something can help take the ammo out of the gun that you don’t even know is firing. 

If it sounds like something you’re up to the challenge for, you’re going to have to do some convincing.

But only for one person.

Practice happiness, reduce your stress with a simple guided journal, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced writer.

Order your copy of ‘The Five Minute Mind’ here:

https://www.amazon.ca/Five-Minute-Mind-Jordan-Britton/dp/B08PJPWLGK/

Book Launch Coming Soon

Why Are People Becoming So Against One Another?

Published on by The Five Minute MindLeave a comment
Extreme. It sounds pretty sweet when you’re on a snowboard, or you’re jumping out of a plane with nothing but a chute on your back. 
 
When you’re talking about the increasing rate of people and groups dividing, it’s a whole different story. You’re either on one side of an argument or the other. You’re a liberal or a conservative, you like Pepsi or you drink Coke, you’re against changing things up or you like to mix it up; it seems like the volume level on groups picking sides has been slowly cranking upwards and my ears are starting to hurt. 
 
Now more than ever, the divide between groups in society seem to be straying further and further from a gentle medium. People are getting extremely extreme about extremism, even using one single word two more times than they should in a sentence.
 
I digress. 
 
It seems as though people have these views on certain things that gradually get stronger over time, to the point where some people just can’t help but start defending their own side as if it has truly become part of who they are. 
 
One of the clearest examples of this is in American politics, and how both sides have groups on the far side that have almost become militant in what they believe, from things about defending an eccentric orange fella to scowling at anyone drinking from a plastic straw. 
 
An “If you aren’t with us, you’re against us,” type of mentality. 
 
The problem with all of this is the shift that takes place when we start pitting our beliefs against others. The more people defend it, the more people naturally confirm their biases and ignore new information. Not to mention the emotions that start solidifying a perspective even more. Nobody likes losing, so giving in just disappears as an option- and extremism is born. And as a result of this, you have these polarizing sides that feel the need to voice their opinion and beliefs even stronger, even louder, because they believe that to sway someone who is rock solid in their own ways of thinking they have to come at them even harder to win their opinion over.
 
Which, as a result, could very well just push someone further into their own corner. There’s this delusion that if someone doesn’t feel their own beliefs powerfully, that they might be wrong. Like how a huge Trump supporter or a massive Biden fan would each seem more legitimate and invested in their knowledge than someone who was reasonably, but only casually, interested in either candidate. 
 
It just pushes that in-group/out-group effect forward, continuing to evolve into a battle between two sides, forcing someone to declare which side they’re fighting for.
Of course, this goes beyond politics but the given one is just such great example.
It’s everywhere, from some people feeling like almost everything in the world offends them nowadays, to the people who actually are offensive and see nothing wrong with it; looking down on people who don’t share their backwards ways of living even though it simply doesn’t fly in present times. 
 
The cycle continues on, where the people who get offended feel the need to voice their opinion even louder, while the backwards folks double down even harder in distaste for someones sensitivity. It’s like the grey area in the middle that used to blend everything better together starts to evaporate, leaving more and more people to declare the side they’d rather be on.
 
I don’t think it goes without saying that continuing down that path is unlikely to make people change their minds in what they believe and one day just serendipitously switch sides. 
 
I think that modelling our beliefs proportionately and a willingness to accept new information and new opinions is the way to getting this raucous noise to a more appropriate level. Having a belief that’s the equivalent of screaming is not a reasonable way to get someone to understand something. 
 
Because the reality is, there’s usually truth to both sides and without operating out of a blended area I’d never even hope to be able to accept parts from each. Ideally, I think there’s truth in accepting parts from both sides.

Life doesn’t need to be so overwhelmingly binary, or to be so “one-way-or-the-other“.

 
There’s a reason Goldilocks didn’t like the piping hot porridge or the freezing cold one. She wanted the one that was just right. And where was that one? Somewhere calmly in the middle.
 
 

Practice happiness, reduce your stress with a simple guided journal, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced writer.

Order your copy of ‘The Five Minute Mind’ here:

https://www.amazon.ca/Five-Minute-Mind-Jordan-Britton/dp/B08PJPWLGK/

Book Launch Coming Soon

Knocked Out of the Race, Time for Ice Cream

Published on by The Five Minute MindLeave a comment
In the form of a three-point shot with one second remaining, my schedule went from comfortably busy to eerily silent.

Fighting for the final ticket to the ACAC championships, our St. Mary’s University Lightning team found themselves locked head-to-head with the very team that we were competing with for the last spot.

With identical records, our adversary claimed the prize by having the league sanctioned tie-breaker over us.

One play, one second, one point was enough to knock us out from the glow of an opportunity in pursuing gold amongst the best colleges in the province.
The busyness of juggling school, basketball, and work (while sneaking in a nap from time to time) becomes replaced with what now feels like a stillness of space I now try to productively occupy with various things. It’s kind of funny actually; I seriously enjoy my time to be lazy on the couch when I’m in the flurry of midseason, but there’s something uncomfortable about it when I suddenly have much less on the go.

Just like each time the season comes to an end, I relish the opportunity to lay some thoughts down onto here again and keep the motor of the page running.
(Side note: despite a drought of content that always happens from the other demands of my life we’ve averaged 1,800 reads each month and that feels pretty good, thanks for continuing to check it out and  to those readers who are new and old!)

On another note, I now feel like I’m going through some sort of bizarre break-up since basketball has left me for the summer, but who I’ll inevitably take back for one more year in the fall (cuffing season? I don’t know). For now, I’ve spent the day just trying to keep busy and doing things that I don’t really do that much (rumour has it I was spotted in the library today, yikes).

Perspective is everything to me and I definitely need to remember that, because I remember when I was a student without the rigours of sport I felt that the demands of school were pretty heavy; now with the balance of basketball in post-secondary it feels like school on its own is light. Maybe it’s because I was younger, maybe it’s because I was grossly less responsible, maybe it’s Mabeline.

Either way, I’m here now and I like to think I’ve got this part figured out- and I better have it figured, I have one more year left in a degree that’s felt way longer as a result of taking a total of three years off to work and sow my oats elsewhere. No regrets, but dang am I ever getting to be a mature student.

I’ve always maintained that I’m going at my own pace, and there’s some tortoise and the hare thing I could probably plug in somewhere but I’ll just leave it at that.

I’m affectionately/annoyingly called a silver linings guy by my roommate so as always I’ll be looking forward to the things I now have time for even though the real prize of going to the ACAC championships is out the window. The sting of the narrow loss will be on a poster in my mind all summer and I’m sure I’ll be able to attribute more than enough sweaty faces and sore body’s to it as I look to keep pushing forward and by doing as much as I can to make sure I’m not in this position come this time next year at the culmination of my final season.

As for right this second, it’s basketball break-up mode.

Time to go get a haircut and an ice cream.

End note: as a byproduct from not being busy from playoffs of my own, I was able to witness my little brothers first banner- so that was nice. I’m proud of the kid. Maybe he can keep his eyes open when we take a picture with his next banner.

Friday Feels: Searching for Good Vibes

Published on by The Five Minute MindLeave a comment
The fresh feelings are great to write, and honestly free and easy, when I’m bubbling with a good mood. This week though I noticed that I was comparably a bit more irritated than I normally am in other weeks. While it’s dope to give some focus on the good things when times are good, I think it’s extra-important to shed some light on them during those times that aren’t as great. Positive psychology isn’t just blind optimism, but rather accepting that no matter what, there will be good and bad- and it’s up to us to control how we perceive it all.

As always, gratitude is a great antidote and here’s my log for the week. However, this week I thought it would be pretty fitting to feature some feelings left by readers and friends, who have definitely helped out in giving inspiration for this segment.

1. When you find something you lost after you’ve already given up looking for it
-Brock Boyd

Losing stuff happens all the time and when it happens you often just try not to lose your mind as well. In our house of males, it’s not uncommon for something to disappear for a few months, seeming lost in the fray. But when that thing unexpectedly turns up, you turn up too- especially when you’ve already given up on it more definitely than the stupid Rubik’s cube that sits smugly on our coffee table.

Where the heck did I put that thing


2. When you meet new people and instantly click, and everything is easy
-Lea Riemeier

Science says that meeting new people can be some of the toughest things we have to do, so when you meet someone, or a group of people, that’s smooth like Teflon right from the jump it’s a great feeling. Life’s all about finding people who match our type of weird, that feeling of finding familiar weirdo’s can’t be overlooked.

Pro tip: don’t laugh at your own jokes just yet, I guess people think it’s lame

3. Getting a good hug from someone, when they really mean it
-Chalene Kuefler 

Anyone around my friend group knows that were pretty open with our emotions and hugs go right along with that. Yeah, we’re grown men and we like to show affection- that’s just love. As experienced huggers as we are, we can attest that some hugs just hit differently than others- this is a shout out to those hugs that are a little warmer, a little tighter, and a little better. Giving someone you care about a good squeeze is the bees knees (sorry for the Seuss-like line).

Live, Laugh, Love right?



4. Being told or telling someone you love them 
-Kellie Smith

We’re cruising down Emotion street so let’s just keep rolling. Verbalizing how much someone means to you or being told it by someone dear to you is without a doubt a warm, fuzzy feeling. A simple phrase that can just stir up a whole host of nice feelings when you hear it, love in any form will always be dope and should always be celebrated. 

Keep ’em on their toes.


5. The feeling of finishing a good workout or challenging physical task
-Philipp Kawaletz 

I’m a sweaty guy when I get up and go, so this feeling is likely a whole lot damper than yours but man, I’m sure we can agree on a solid feeling of achievement. This is the single best feeling of working out, in my opinion, and seeking it out does wonders for health. I get dirty, I get sweaty, and just bask in it for a minute before hitting a nice, cold shower. 

These days it seems like ‘pics or it didn’t happen.’

Start With 5: Give Me a Better Title!

Published on by The Five Minute MindLeave a comment
Let’s start this with a party pickle

I like good feelings, you probably like good feelings. This series is all about giving those underrated, overlooked feelings the credit they deserve- maybe making us both feel nicer along the way.

I’ve been super appreciative of how this series has taken off. If you’re reading this as one of the people who give these posts some love on social media, this one’s for YOU.

I’m Jordan, and here’s this week’s Start With 5.

1. When you’re really sweaty or dirty and you step into that nice, refreshing shower

I don’t know about you, but I am fairly pathetic when it comes to being dirty. My mother will be the first to tell you about how even as a little toddler when I played outside I would come running back to ask her if she could wipe the dirt off my hands. Meanwhile, my little sister’s waist-deep in mud and laughing. So maybe it’s not as relatable for you as it is to me, but man that shower feels great and even more so after a long, dirty day.

This guy gets it.

2. That fresh smell after it rained

This one is pretty straight-forward, and if we were just talking about showering ourselves, then we can appreciate when good old Mother Nature does the same thing. The presence of water actually carries smells more, meaning that we’re actually just able to smell the earth a little better.

Can you smell it?

3. When you’re cutting wrapping paper and the scissors start gliding

How satisfying is it when the scissors just start sailing through the paper, smoothly and accurately? I’m not the greatest arts-and-crafts fella, but when this happens it makes me feel like some sort of talented craftsman (definitely not what’s going on, I can assure you of that).

Thanks, Google Images

4. Going to bed with fresh sheets

Whether in a hotel room or your very own, when you hop into bed with a fresh set of bedding it just feels much more relaxing than when you climb into a hot mess of blankets. As I live in a house with four other guys, we definitely don’t wash our bedding as much as we should, but this is giving me a little motivation to get fresh with it.

Pre-bedtime mood

5. When that show you love comes back, or your favourite sports season starts up again

If you like Pina Coladas… and getting caught in the rain several hours of binge-watching TV shows, then you’re as stoked as I am when your favourite show/sport is back in action. Later in the evening, when you’re unwinding from your day, having that one show to entertain you definitely makes the night better.

I’m talking THIS excited.

Honourable Mention: 

When one of your readers give you a much better title for your series on the good things in life. Only an honourable mention because it hasn’t happened yet but I bet it’s an unreal feeling. So please, if you think of anything let me know down below or on Facebook in the comments!

5 Facts Science Says About Eating Right

Published on by The Five Minute Mind1 Comment

Written by Lea Riemeier

It’s common knowledge that giving a machine the right fuel is necessary for it to work at its best without collapsing. Our body is a machine too, but I’m wondering – why are we not making sure that it gets the best fuel too?

Many people nowadays do not believe that feeding our body right and healthy can actually have an impact on how we feel in general? But guess what – it does! Why else do many of us feel so crappy sometimes when we had fast food for a few days? “I don’t have time.” 

That is one of my ‘favourite’ excuses… You don’t have time to grab a piece of fruit or vegetable, but you have time to make a stop at McDonald’s Drive Through? 

I am not saying you should never eat fries again – hell no! It’s all about balance, isn’t it? Small changes can make a huge difference and it’s a start. If you want McDonald’s then get it, but if you’re just hungry and want a snack maybe you could try an apple or a banana instead? And you will see, they won’t kill you. Here are five facts on why healthy food can make you feel better or happier 🙂

  1. Eating fruits and vegetables increases people’s life satisfaction

A study from Australia from 2016 found that people who switched from eating almost no fruit or vegetables to including eight portions a day in their diets felt an overall increase in life satisfaction that is comparable to the feeling an unemployed person has after finding a job. Everyone knows studies that show an improvement in people’s health when they eat more fruits and veggies.

What I find interesting though is, that the effects it has on our life satisfaction seem to happen much faster.  

  1. Eating healthy prevents mood swings

We all know that feeling when we are really energy depleted and just need a quick snack to get that blood sugar up again. What’s a faster way than having a piece of chocolate or a candy bar?

Yeah, we will feel better for a bit, until the blood sugar drops down super fast because of how fast our body digest and absorbs these simple refined sugars and we will feel tired and crave more and the circle starts again.

There is nothing bad about sugar; it’s definitely the fastest source of energy. Just try combining it with fibres instead of having it by itself. Fibres are complex carbohydrates, found in fruits and vegetables, especially in the peel, but also in oats, peas, beans, etc.. The complex carbohydrates will slow down the sugar absorption into your bloodstream, will cause an increased release of Serotonin, the “feeling good” chemical and by that prevent these mood swings, which suck not only for you but also for the people around you.

  1. Feeling more comfortable in your skin

We all want to feel comfortable with our physical appearance, but nowadays that is hard for many of us.

On the one hand, there is all that influence from social media on how we should look like and on the other hand all these super fancy unhealthy food trends we all HAVE to try and take a cool photo of to post it on Instagram (No? It’s just us girls? Oh.).

I can’t tell you to not listen to that and it doesn’t matter what social media says and you are all beautiful as you are, because why would you believe me? You have no idea who I am. But what I can tell you is: ‘Listen to your body. It tells you what to do.’ If you don’t feel good in your own skin, because you are obese or you have bad skin then no one can help you, but YOU

You can make healthy food choices and you will see how it will make you feel better, look better and it will keep you motivated to make healthy choices in the future. 

Most change is slow and gradual but is entirely worthwhile. What matters more in the end? Social media and trying every food trend that already won’t matter anymore tomorrow or how happy you feel with yourself? 

  1. What you eat can improve your mood and energy levels

Many of us are having a hard time eating enough protein throughout the day. Most of our foods contain lots of carbohydrates and fats but they lack the amount of protein we should eat. Protein is great to improve your mood and energy even for several hours after eating. They slow down the absorption of carbohydrates into your bloodstream and increase the release of dopamine and norepinephrine, which are also used to treat depression.

Examples of protein-rich foods are:

  • Eggs
  • Chicken
  • Fish
  • Soybeans or tofu
  • Lentils
  • Quinoa
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Greek yogurt
  1. Keep those bowels moving

This might not be the nicest topic to talk about but whether we like it or not it’s important and everyone has to go to the toilet.

Nowadays many of us suffer from constipation and can’t empty ourselves regularly and that obviously makes us feel bad, bloated, and just somehow heavy. A very simple explanation of why we feel like that is that we are not getting enough water and fibres in our diets, which are the essentials for our gut system to work properly and get everything moving.

Once you’ve experienced how great it feels to have regular bowel movements, and how much lighter and comfortable you feel, you won’t ever want to feel differently and you’ll probably prioritize water and fibres.

Sources:

https://www.livescience.com/55407-eating-more-fruits-veggies-linked-with-life-satisfaction.html

https://www.healthline.com/health/mood-food-can-what-you-eat-affect-your-happiness#mood-foods

https://www.webmd.com/depression/features/foods-feel-better#1

https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2019/07/18/15/istock-855098134.jpg?w968

Start With 5: Kanye Cracks the Post?

Published on by The Five Minute MindLeave a comment
Image result for person happy looking at list
Me (probably) in a couple decades

I have to say, coming up with these feelings is pretty fun. It makes it easier for me to notice them in every day life as they happen- not only making a mental note to appreciate it more, but also a note to jot it down here, in my… Journal? Diary? I think that’s basically what it is, but since I’m a millenial, I’m just going to go ahead and call it a blog.

5 Guys Burgers and Fries do fast food, but I do lists (and still can’t come up with a catchy title). Here’s 5 underrated feelings to continue your week.

1. When you drop your phone and you’re bracing for the worst, but you pick it up and it’s all good

Dropping your phone sucks, and no matter how careful and graceful you are, it’s going to happen. So when my phone makes a particularly long plunge towards the cold, hard earth and I turn it over and it’s unscathed, it really makes me sigh a heavy sigh of relief (I don’t know where the inspiration for Titanium, bullet-proof, or any other lyric Sia has about being unbreakable came from, but it definitely wasn’t an iPhone- so these moments are definitely appreciated)

Relatable


2. That first sip of coffee or tea in the morning

The initial taste of your hot drink of choice is good any morning, but it hits a little better on those mornings that are just a bit more of a struggle. I’m a tea guy myself, and that first sip is usually far too hot because I’m usually not patient enough to wait until it’s past its scalding phase. Hot drinks are meant to drink hot, so what if I burn my tastebuds off a little bit? Either way, my double dose of tea is one of my favourite things in my morning routine. Must be the British in me.

In case you were wondering, this is how you model sipping coffee

3. The ‘thank you’ wave of appreciation when you let someone merge in front of you

It’s the little things. When someone’s coming in and you’re a good sport and let them in, it’s a small token of gratitude to have them wave their appreciation. We’re all about manners in Canada (most times) and this is basically a must for drivers in the North. Bonus points for when that person is getting ignored by other impatient drivers and then you go on and save the day to let them in.

Can you imagine if we actually lived like stock images make us seem like?

4. Remembering a password first try for a site you don’t use that often

With the varying standards of what makes a password strong, you can’t even use the exact same password for every single site. So when I’m logging onto something I seldom use and I just throw some combination in, or one of my old passwords that I don’t use anymore and it works on the first try, I ignore the feeling that I’m sort of Oracle and just take a second to appreciate my wizardry.

You know what, I’m feeling these stock images. Let’s keep it going

5. Getting a text or call from a friend saying they were thinking of you

This one is the bee’s knees and can really go a long way to making your day, can’t it? Knowing you were on someone’s mind and mean enough to reach out to let them know that is a pretty good way of them letting you know you’re valued to them. It may not happen a whole lot, but it’s always appreciated when it happens and can make the heart feel a bit warmer. Since we’re all reading this anyway, I challenge myself and you to reach out to someone you haven’t heard from in a while and let them know you’re thinking of them- all the reasons of why it’s a nice gesture are all highlighted here so why not be the creator?

Comment who that text is definitely from.
P.S., I never thought I’d see the day that Kanye was on the site in any way. Anything is possible.

That’s all for this week. Use these buttons to share it how you feel and help this guy continue to build The Five You Need into a career- have a great week!

Why Is It Easier To Focus On Negative Things? And What Science Says To Fix It

Published on by The Five Minute Mind2 Comments

It doesn’t take a genius to explain that being happy is much more enjoyable than being miserable but, mirroring how complex the human mind is, true comprehension of happiness is the type of lifelong stuff that we may never fully figure out. Yet the nature of it, at least for me, is so interesting and worthy of study that I naturally feel compelled to learn more- and like the Rock on his “cheat day” from his rigourous diet, I’m hungry. 


As you already know, the world can be a pretty negative place. 

People that seem to enjoy sucking the energy out of places, internet trolls, and don’t even get me started on the news. Negativity breeds negativity, or so the saying goes, and for some reason or other, it just seems like we’re naturally able to listen easier to that negative voice, feeling, or person, more than the positive stuff.

Why?

One of my favourite authors, Harvard psychologist Shawn Achor, explains why we as humans just can’t help but be drawn to the negative stuff sometimes and how it’s just flat out easier to feel negativity than it is to feel happy (or else I’m sure that we all would just choose to be happy).

He basically says that way back in the day, like way, way back in the day, all that negativity was actually super helpful in keeping us alive. 

In early human times, the fella that walked around in the sun thinking about how great everything is was much more likely to get devoured by some sort of vicious predator or ignore other signs of danger, like say walking off a waterfall (I don’t know, I wasn’t there- you come up with a better example).

So as a result, those that were able to focus more on all the bad things that could be around them lived more and the others… Died. 

This repeated itself over and over until the genes of all those negative people who were pretty good at singing Bee Gee’s songs lived long enough to pass down the habit to their kids and the others either learned quick or didn’t get the chance to even have kids.

When it comes to survival, that stuff makes a lot of sense. But the reality is now that we don’t have any real threats that are hunting us down and trying to kill us each day.

Since we can’t just give the habit back to whoever gave it to us, we as humans have an innate proclivity towards sifting out all those negative messages from the good ones, as those are the ones that can do damage to us.

A huge example of this is the news. Why do they report such negative content all the time? The answer is simply because they’re doing what every business tries to do: give the people what they want, so they can make money from it.

People are just naturally more interested to read or hear about that homicide that happened the other day, or whatever else happened that was horrific in some way. The interest comes from the simple fact that we focus on it more subconsciously because our instincts make us feel like it could possibly threaten us in some way.

It doesn’t look like this type of media is going to change either, after a Russian news site decided to pump out only positivity for a week and lost two-thirds of its readership in one day. 

Anyone in charge of anything at a news company will undoubtedly avoid making the same mistake. For myself, I chose to unfollow any news outlet or source of breaking information because I simply realized that internalizing all of that negativity is likely influencing me far more than being ‘in the know’ about the horrors going on. 

I also figured that if something was big enough to actually impact me, I would almost certainly hear about it from other people– and I really don’t care if I’m the first to know.

Another idea Achor explains is that to counteract these negative messages it takes a considerable amount of effort. 

Since we are predisposed to focus more on bad things, it takes 3 positive messages to counteract 1 negative message. 

An example of this could be at work, or school, or wherever you spend the most time. Someone could tell you you’re doing a good job or give you another positive affirmation of some kind, but if the next person told you that you’re useless there, the message from that person who’s probably just taking out some of their own inner turmoil out on you would stick with you for far longer than the person who told you’re doing good work. 

We’d wonder what that guy’s deal was and likely begin questioning if he was right or what exactly he was meaning.

The same goes for the rest of the negative messages in the real world. Since we’re just instinctively more concerned about negative things, we grant them way more of our focus than the others. 

To balance this, seeking out those messages of positivity can help train our brains to see more of what we’d rather see and not what our instinctive brain thinks we want to see.

Pointing out areas of gratitude is a great way to plug this in- it can really start by taking a minute every day to think about all the things you’re grateful to have and that you’d be upset if you didn’t have. 

As we know in this world, anything can change at any minute and that thing you took for granted every day can be gone in a second.

Gratitude doesn’t have to be for all of the best things in your life either. Do you have eyes in your head right now to read this? Sweet, that’s pretty dope. 36 million people in the world aren’t so lucky. 

If you’re scrolling on a phone to read this, imagine how difficult your everyday life would be without it, and the opportunities and ease it affords you. You get the idea, and the examples are limitless.

One could even say those tiny little things that make you feel good for a moment, or longer, are worth giving more attention to, and we as privileged humans probably overlook them on a daily basis. 

As I’ve explained in this article, it’s not exactly our fault (we can blame the ancestors and their knack for surviving).

I started out a series a couple of weeks ago, and it literally just gives a shout out to those good feelings we’re all familiar with that might slip under our radars if we let them.

If you haven’t already, you can check them out here and here.

As always, thanks for reading and your help makes a big difference in the growth for The Five You Need. We’ve eclipsed over 2,500 followers across all platforms and I’m super grateful for that.

If you think anyone else might like to read about this study, you can send it to them directly with the buttons below.

The next goal is getting to 1,500 likes on the Facebook page (currently at 1,283). We’re almost there! Help a guy out and give some love to anything you see on Facebook from The Five You Need, it helps Facebook see that what the page is sharing is worth showing to more people. 

Thanks!


Sources:

  • Achor, S. (2010). The happiness advantage: The seven principles of positive psychology that fuel success and performance at work.
  • Achor, S. (2013). Before happiness: the 5 hidden keys to achieving success, spreading happiness, and sustaining positive change. First edition. New York: Crown Business.