It's a minimalist Monday edition of optimal living daily episode 11 1611 resolutions for a better you proven by science by Joshua Becker of becoming minimalist.com, and I'm just a moloch. Happy Monday. Happy New Year's Eve. I'll be having a great one. If you're listening in real time and welcome back to Optimal living daily or the O LD podcast where I read to you from some of the best blogs I can find and get permission from Mostly covering personal development and minimalism on this show and Thank you to Augusto. If you have a business or you know, someone who does you probably know that small business owners wear a lot of hats and some of those hats are totally great. But some like filing taxes and running payroll, for example, not so great. That's where it Gusto comes in. Augusto makes payroll taxes and H are actually easy for small businesses fast simple payroll processing benefits and expert HR Support all in one place Augusto automatically pays and files your federal. State and local taxes so you don't have to worry about it. Plus they make it easy to add on health benefits and even 401 K's for your team those old-school clunky payroll providers just weren't built for the way modern small businesses work. But Gusto is I use it better yet. Now's the best time to get set up for the new year. Don't wait listeners get three months free when they run their first payroll try a demo and see for yourself at Gusto.com old that's gu sto.com / o LD For now, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life. 11 resolutions for a better you proven by science by Joshua Becker of becoming minimalist.com quote good habits, make all the difference Aristotle. It is wise for each of us from time to time to stop and evaluate Our Lives as we seek to make the most of them the start of a calendar year provides an opportunity to look back at the decisions that shaped our lives during the past year and gives us an extra push to make adjustments for the next one every new January represents a natural opportunity to evaluate the direction of Our Lives adjust course, if necessary adopt new habits or make healthy changes birthdays can often serve the same purpose. Regardless of the time of year self-reflection is important consider then these 11 resolutions for a better you proven by science. It is after all our habits that determine the course of Our Lives. Number one exercise most of us recognize the benefits of physical exercise healthy bodies healthy minds and healthy confidence some studies indicate exercise contributes to a positive body image even prior to body weight or shape change with as little as two weeks of regular exercise and with increasing study centered around the effectiveness of minimalist workouts. Each of us should be able to find the time to get started number two less television, those seeking intentionality realized a negative influence television has on their mind. It impacts our worldview encourages consumerism oversimplifies life man results in less life satisfaction even more drastic scientists. You need to discover the habit of watching too much television may be negatively impacting our life expectancy as well. Nobody is telling you to throw your television to the nearest dumpster, but deciding to cut back in the next year. Maybe one of the best decisions you could ever make number three. Go outside according to recent studies published in the Journal of environmental psychology. Simply spending time outside with nature contributes to increased energy Ward's off feelings of exhaustion and results in a heightened. It's of well-being. Of course, simply walking from your front door to the car door doesn't count. So make a point this coming year to find an excuse to be outside. You can always start with a simple walk around the block each evening number four read fiction recently researchers have begun studying the physical impact reading stories has on our brain as you might expect they are discovering reading results in height and connectivity and brain activity. Sometimes even up to five days after the book has been Eat it. If you read fiction, you already know this to be true. If you don't this could be your year to start. You may enjoy beginning with The Hunger Games or Divergent number five. Give numerous studies show charitable giving boost happiness and reduces stress, especially when the generosity promotes positive social connection. If you don't already find a cause or person you believe in and offer them consistent monthly support they will benefit you will benefit. And the world will be a better place number six serve volunteering provides great value for our lives and the lives of those we choose to enrich one study from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania Harvard Business School and the Yale School of Management found that when a person volunteers his or her time they begin to feel like they have more time and are more efficient additionally volunteers feel better about themselves experience lower stress levels and develop a deeper. Action with others the golden number appears to be a hundred hours per year or two hours per week number 7 buy less stuff and more experiences in studies presented at the society for Personality and Social Psychology researchers suggest that buying life experiences rather than material possessions leads to Greater happiness for both the consumer and those around them decide today to spend less money this year on possessions and more money on meaningful. The memorable experiences you'll be glad you did in more ways than one number eight display gratitude psychologists have scientifically proven that one of the greatest contributing factors to overall happiness in your life is how much gratitude you show it can be experienced with as little as three Expressions each day. Like thank you for getting started is so easy and beneficial. It could be the easiest decision. You make all year. Number 9 practice smiling in a fascinating study conducted at the Michigan State business school customer service professionals who fake a smile throughout the day worse in their mood but people who Smile as a result of cultivating positive thoughts improve their mood and withdrawal s simply put one easy way to improve your mood throughout the next year is to intentionally recall pleasant memories or think more positively about your current situation and then smile because of it. At number 10 stop and just play our world is becoming increasingly busy in the temptation to measure our worth by external factors continues to grow as a result taking time to slow down and just play is becoming increasingly rare, but play is fun and enjoyable play enriches the lives of children by exercising their mind and body and has the same positive effect on adults. So make an extra point to just slow down and play constructively. their friends or kids and number 11 determined to be happy to experimental studies published in the journal positive psychology this past year offer groundbreaking research on the cultivation of Happiness based on the experiments participants who listen to Happy music and actively try to feel happier reported the highest level of positive mood afterwards more so than those who simply Listen To The Music In other words determining to be happy is a productive decision towards achieving it adopting 11 new habits at one time is almost certainly too much to ask but choose one or two specifically and then give it 29 days. You'll be surprised how quickly they become habit. You just listen to The Post titled 11 resolutions for a better you proven by science by Joshua Becker of becoming minimalist.com and thank you again to gust. Oh Gus no offers modern easy payroll benefits and HR to small businesses across the country. They were even named best online payroll by PC mag. Get three months free. When you run your first payroll at Gusto.com old and don't wait. Today's the time to get set up for 2019 this gu sto. Dot-com / o LD. All right, I'll leave it at that. I hope you're having a great last day of 2018. If you're listening in real time, thank you for being here and for subscribing to the show and for sharing it with friends and family. It means a lot. I'll be back tomorrow in 2019 reading to you. So I'll see you there where your optimal life away.
Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist shares 11 resolutions proven by science for a better you. Episode 1116: 11 Resolutions For a Better You - Proven by Science by Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist Joshua Becker and his family decided to live with fewer possessions after a conversation with his neighbor in 2008. As a result, they found a better way to live, centered on more important pursuits. Their story has been seen on the CBS Evening News, NPR, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal and countless media interviews around the world. Their books have sold in the tens of thousands. BecomingMinimalist.com is about their journey towards a rational approach to minimalism. It is about the joys and the struggles. It is about the lessons they have learned. It has inspired millions around the world. It is written to inspire you to intentionally live with less, and find more life because of it. Facebook Group and Join the Ol' Family to get your Free Gifts! Gusto is making payroll, benefits, and HR easy for small businesses. Get 3 months free once you run your first payroll with our link: Gusto.com/OLD  ---   Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/optimal-living-daily/support 