Is Your Behavior Set To Get You What You Want In 2019?

Dr Daniel Amen and Tana Amen BSN RN On The Brain Warrior's Way Podcast

The new year is already upon us, and chances are, you’ve already done some thinking about what you want for yourself in 2019. But is your behavior going to get you what you want? In this episode of The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast, Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen discuss how taking a deep dive into your own intention, purpose, and commitment is key to achieving personal success this year and beyond.

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Dr. Daniel Amen: Welcome to The Brain Warrior's Way Podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen.
Tana Amen: And I'm Tana Amen. Here we teach you how to win the fight for your brain, to defeat anxiety, depression, memory loss, ADHD, and addictions.
Dr. Daniel Amen: The Brain Warrior's Way Podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics where we've transformed lives for three decades using brain SPECT imaging to better target treatment and natural ways to heal the brain. For more information visit AmenClinis.com.
Tana Amen: The Brain Warrior's Way Podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD where we produce the highest quality nutraceutical products to support the health of your brain and body. For more information visit BrainMDhealth.com. Welcome to The Brain Warrior's Way Podcast.
Dr. Daniel Amen: Welcome everyone and Happy New Year to you.
Tana Amen: Happy New Year.
Dr. Daniel Amen: We are just so excited that you're with us as we say goodbye to 2018, all sorts of wonderful things happened.
Tana Amen: And some challenging things.
Dr. Daniel Amen: Some challenging things happened.
Tana Amen: Yeah.
Dr. Daniel Amen: And I'm sure that's true in your life. And you're looking forward to a new year and then next year, a new decade. So, it starts with a healthy brain. Nobody talks about that. The reason this is called The Brain Warrior's Way Podcast is because there's just no question, you're in a war for the health of your brain. When I heard that our niece's middle school, they have Pizza Hut DAYS and they have McDonald's DAYS and In N' Out DAYS, I'm like, they have illness DAYS and we just have to be more thoughtful.
Tana Amen: Yeah and you know, talking about Brain Warrior's Way, a thought just occurred to me. So, I just got my second-degree black belt in Kenpo which is really fun. And we have already talked about that, but you know, it took 10 years, right? It didn't happen overnight. And it's ... But it wasn't the second-degree black belt that I had in mind when I started. It wasn't the 10-year mark that I was thinking about, right? It wasn't the, how long is it gonna take me to get to that point. I was just thinking about the journey. I was thinking about what I was learning all along. What I was, you know, enjoying the process all along. But my point is, is it wasn't an overnight thing. This is something you commit to. That's one of the reasons we named it that. It's something that you can do for the rest of your life, that we want you to do for the rest of your life. But you wanna be focused on the journey, not on the destination as much. I mean yeah, the destination is awesome, but you wanna be focused on the daily ...
Dr. Daniel Amen: Well, the destination for all of us is death. I just wanna point [inaudible 00:02:57].
Tana Amen: Really? On New a Years ... Really? Really on a New Year's podcast? Really just had to ...
Dr. Daniel Amen: No ...
Tana Amen: Do you see what I live with?
Dr. Daniel Amen: If you think about it, you have to take it to, we're all going there.
Tana Amen: But death's sooner or later. Okay.
Dr. Daniel Amen: [inaudible 00:03:11]. And if you're married to you ...
Tana Amen: You have to behave yourself.
Dr. Daniel Amen: It's later because I adore you and I'm happy living with you. And you make me happy. I don't wanna be without you.
Tana Amen: Awe.
Dr. Daniel Amen: But if I have the long-term goal in mind, and we've talked about this before. That living with the end in mind is so important.
Tana Amen: Oh, always.
Dr. Daniel Amen: Because then you begin to live each day as if it matters.
Tana Amen: Right. Does it have eternal value?
Dr. Daniel Amen: And so, one of the things we do, and we're actually getting into a pretty good routine in the morning. We'll spend 20 minutes, I will make you your almond milk cappuccino.
Tana Amen: I love that. We have ... Yeah, this is our morning routine is, some people will do it at night. We do it at night too, but our thing is the morning. We all sit together as a family and we talk about our day.
Dr. Daniel Amen: Yeah, and it's like 20 minutes. But the last couple of weeks we've been talking about, so what were the really wonderful things and the challenges of '18? And what do we want for '19? And all you need to do is put it on your phone in the "Notes" section so that you can always be revising it. And so, you have a purpose, you have an intention. So, it's not really a resolution.
Tana Amen: Yeah. I don't like resolution because resolution ... Think about what we've done with resolutions. It's become such an overused word and people every year, they choose something that they ... It's like a short-term goal that they do. For some people, the word "Resolution" works okay. But for so many of us, it's become this thing where I'm gonna lose 10 pounds. They have no idea why they wanna lose 10 pounds. We want you to focus on the Why. Okay. So, why do you wanna lose 10 pounds? What's the intention behind it? If it's because you wanna lose 10 pounds so you just look cute for the ...
Dr. Daniel Amen: The wedding.
Tana Amen: The wedding or the whatever, the spring whatever event coming up. It's not gonna last. We want you to really dig into the intention. Dig into your why. You've gotta be hooked into the why, into the intention in order for it to last.
Dr. Daniel Amen: No, over the holidays I had dinner with some of my family members and one, who used to always look at me like I was crazy, eating healthy and saying no to candy and cupcakes and donuts and all of those things. And she was significantly overweight. It was clear to me she had lost like 40 pounds. And I'm like, that's awesome, why did you do that? She said, "I don't wanna get dementia." And I just ... It was so good, she had a why and so then it is easier to do the what. Just losing 10 pounds it's hard unless you know why and then it's easy.
Tana Amen: Right. And for some of us, it's funny. People always say "Oh, you're so disciplined." You know, it's not that I'm disciplined, but I'm gonna just share something with you. We all go through stages where it's more challenging. This last year was more challenging. For some reason, starting in April after I had a hysterectomy, it just became a little more challenging. My energy wasn't the same. I didn't bounce back as fast. And then on top of that stuff just started to stack, like it does for a lot of you. Now I never let go of everything I do. I still exercised, I still followed at least, you know 80 to 90% of my diet was what we always do. But I started to slip a little, right. I started to make excuses. I was just tired, I wasn't feeling right.
We started eating out a lot, which even if you're eating at a quote/unquote "Healthy" place, you don't know what the ingredients are. So all of a sudden I just wasn't feeling quite like myself. My energy, my drive wasn't quite there. I was doing the same things but I had to push myself. My drive and motivation, my normal self wasn't me. And so, something I just had to like kind of keep pushin through stuff. I was like going through a slog. And so, I went and got my numbers checked and low and behold, they weren't as good as they normally are. So, when people say "But I know that about me. I was dealt a really bad genetic hand." But the good part about having that bad genetic hand, there is one upside to that. You always wanna find an upside in everything, right? In every downside, you wanna find an upside.
Dr. Daniel Amen: That's why you wanna watch Pollyanna.
Tana Amen: Okay. Not 12 times. Not 12 times. Anyways, the upside and the downside ...
Dr. Daniel Amen: So, for people who don't know what that meant, Pollyanna teaches people to play the "Glad" game. Whatever situation you're in, what is there to be glad about? If you haven't watched it, rent it. Pollyanna.
Tana Amen: Okay. But we don't need to watch it 12 times. If you live with him you have to keep watching it. So anyways, the upside and the downside of having this bad genetic hand ...
Dr. Daniel Amen: The upside of the downside?
Tana Amen: Yeah. The upside of the downside of having this bad genetic hand, meaning that my numbers, I'm insulin resistant, I always ha ... I have to be super diligent, right. My cholesterol tends to creep up really fast. My numbers are not amazing unless I am like ... I can't just be a brain warrior, I have to be a freaking food Nazi. So ...
Dr. Daniel Amen: You're a Brain Warrior General.
Tana Amen: Yeah. I really am.
Dr. Daniel Amen: 'Cause you're that bossy.
Tana Amen: I'm very extreme. Yeah. But I'm not extreme because I like it. I'm extreme because I have to be and because I don't want to be sick for my family, right. So, when people think I am so disciplined, that's the one upside. I could only ... I've got like that much wiggle room before stuff starts to go sideways. And so, that's why when I got my numbers checked ...
Dr. Daniel Amen: Yeah, no, some of you, you know, you have a lot more wiggle room than others.
Tana Amen: Right.
Dr. Daniel Amen: I have obesity in my family and I have the obesity gene, which is sort of irritating. But I'm not obese because I'm serious.
Tana Amen: Right, but the one really irritating thing is that your, well it's so good for you and I'm glad because I get to keep you for a long time. But I'm like, if I do anything my numbers shift to the negative. Your family, whatever it ... Your stock, you are like bread like the Energizer Bunny. Your whole family is like, they just never get sick, they never quit, they just ... They're like the healthiest people I've ever met in my life. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen.
Dr. Daniel Amen: All right. So, how are we gonna help people in the next two-minutes set intentions? So, if you go on Brain Fit Life, and I'd love all of you to look at it, BrainFitLife.com. There's an exercise, and I think it's in all of my books, 'cause I think everybody should do it all the time. It's called the One Page Miracle. On one piece of paper, on one computer form, or on the "Notes" section of your phone, write down what do you want in your relationships, your work, your money, your physical, emotional, and spiritual health. And the reason I created it that way is because people get burned out when they become unbalanced.
Tana Amen: Right.
Dr. Daniel Amen: And so, relationships, work, money, health, physical, emotional, spiritual health. What do you want? And that way, if you just get your eyes in front of that on a regular basis, I probably look at mine once a week, I'm always asking myself, "Does my behavior get me what I want?"
Tana Amen: I love that, the One Page Miracle. The one thing I would do is add one sentence underneath the what I want, is why do I want it. So, that you're tied into the emotional part of that.
Dr. Daniel Amen: Okay. So, with relationships, I want a kind, caring, loving, supportive, passionate relationship with you.
Tana Amen: Why?
Dr. Daniel Amen: Why? Because my life is so much better, in so many ways, when we do well, and when we don't do well, which thankfully for us, is rare, it just makes me anxious and sad and very un ... I know that, you know, being a psychiatrist. 40 years ago, I decided to be a psychiatrist, isn't that crazy? I just see that's the one thing that gets people off, you know, that their mind is bad when their relationships are troubled.
Tana Amen: Yeah, increases stress and everything.
Dr. Daniel Amen: So, working on your relationships is huge. And that's why it's on the top of the One Page Miracle with your partner, with your kids, with your family, with your friends, your co-workers, what do you want? And then you ask yourself does my behavior get me what I want? What do you want with work? Is your behavior getting you that as opposed to you're a victim of your job? What do you want with your money? Are you spending it in ways that are consistent with what you want? And health, you know, really The Brain Warrior's Way is a health podcast. And what do you want? I wanna live a long time with energy, pain-free, with a clear mind. That takes work, especially now that we know that aging does not do good things for your brain. And it doesn't do good things for your face, right? I mean your skill falls off your face as you age. The same process happens in your brain but it doesn't have too.
Tana Amen: Right.
Dr. Daniel Amen: So, stay with us. We're gonna talk more about intentions and how to start off this year as a passionate brain warrior.
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