Your ikigai is your reason for getting up in the morning, your “reason for living.” It’s a Japanese term that’s been mentioned in plenty of psychological life-improvement content, including Neil Pasricha’s bestseller The Happiness Equation (a great read, by the way). Your ikigai is your “ultimate why,” your meaning in life, so to speak. Your ikigai statement should connect with you on a deep, emotional level. The goal is to embed your ikigai into every moment of your waking life, whether you’re brushing your teeth, at work, paying your taxes, or eating dinner with your family. Reminding yourself of your ikigai each day can give you a big boost of motivation to get you past ruts and remind you of the things that really matter.

To find your ikigai, probe yourself for your “ultimate why” until you reach a definitive, indisputable reason for you to conduct your life as it aligns with your greater purpose. Additionally, reflect on activities that you seemingly gravitate to without much thought, something that you return to almost habitually. What are you seeking from it? Try imagining your life without this activity. Does anything feel missing? If it does, ask yourself why, and try to find ways to further integrate it into other areas of your daily life.

If you align with a particular religion or philosophy, ensure you connect with it on a deep level. For some people, their religion is an inseperable part of their ultimate why. However, don’t subscribe to the belief simply because you feel pressured to do so or even because it appears logically sound. Your system of choice should produce wise, compassionate people, and should be in harmony with your ikigai. Wise people have experiential knowledge of what produces happiness and leads to unhappiness. They use compassion to show others this wisdom and bring others to happiness. In searching for a belief system that emphasizes these qualities, you should seek to be like these superb people, whether it’s Jesus, the Buddha, or whomever. Be curious and experiment with these frameworks!

Continuing with this theme, be prepared to ask skeptical questions so you can eventually feel a faithful conviction in your belief system. Otherwise, your sense of purpose will rest on a house of cards and will feel empty. If your religious or philosophical beliefs don’t seem to agree with your ikigai, try to find out why this is. This belief system, in conjunction with your ikigai statement, should provide you with an all-encompassing framework for how you should conduct your life. If your life, ikigai, or belief system are in disagreement with each other, something will feel wrong (i.e. a feeling of dissatisfaction or dissonance). Similarly, if these three things don’t instill some feeling of motivation, happiness, or excitement, consider re-evaluating your alignment with them. Can you really see yourself abiding by these frameworks for the rest of your life?

Reminding yourself of your ikigai every day is especially important. This can be as simple as hanging a post-it note on your bathroom mirror so you inevitably see it as you start the day. Your ikigai should seep into every aspect of your daily life. For example, my ikigai entails developing mindful activity and compassion toward others. Every few minutes, I will check in with myself and ask if I’m abiding in the present moment. If I find myself in a conversation, I ensure I’m mindful of what I’m going to say so that I don’t say something harmful or unnecessary. If I notice anger arising, I close my eyes and take a few breaths, and try to understand the other person’s perspective and if I did anything to hurt them. Little activities like this, regardless of how small, continually reinforce your ikigai and can produce great feelings of fulfillment.

2. The “Wills and Won’ts”

Now that you’ve found your ikigai, you need to settle on a moral framework. Dedicate some time to decide on your “wills and won’ts,” (creative, I know) preferably writing them down as a list somewhere. The name is pretty self-explanatory: the goal is to commit to performing your wills every day, while avoiding performing the won’ts.

Once you’ve decided on your wills and wont’s, write down a statement to repeat at the start of every day so you can commit to your wills and won’ts. For example: “I, [your name], will do my utmost to uphold the principles outlined on this list so that I may [ikigai statement (ex. “provide compassion to those around me”)]. Should I deviate from this framework, I will reflect upon the causes and appropriate solutions so that I may continue to bring happiness to myself and others.”

If you don’t follow through with your wills and won’ts, don’t beat yourself up! The goal isn’t to feel guilt, but to be more mindful of how your actions—those of the body, speech, and mind—condition your and others’ experiences.

3. Meaningful Work

Ensure you’ve chosen a livelihood that, again, aligns with your ikigai. Like the saying goes “if you love your job you never work a day in your life.” If this doesn’t seem possible, investigate ways you can embed elements of your ikigai into your work, or ways in which your job may indirectly relate to it. Some questions to ask yourself are:

• “Why am I doing this?”

• “Does this job allow me to follow my will’s and won’ts?”

• “Do I feel any hint of guilt or regret by the time I finish my workday?”

Meaningful work should create a sense of fulfillment. Fulfillment, in one form, can come from getting closer to your goal(s). Ensure you’ve established a long-term goal to pursue and remind yourself of every day. At the very least, you shouldn’t feel heavy resistance when starting your workday (“Ugh, I really don’t want to go to the office today. Can’t I just take a sick day?”). If you do, then you need to do some introspection and ask yourself the reasons, and, if possible, resolve those issues. At the very best, however, your livelihood is fully aligned with your ikigai, and your goals, short term and long term, are attainable, and you therefore feel excited and/or motivated to start the day.

4. Mindfulness and Equanimity

Mindfulness is a moment-to-moment awareness of present internal and external apperances (material objects, sounds, thoughts, feelings, etc.). Combined with equanimity (a detached and relaxed sense of non-judgement of these appearances), these factors can help us make healthier choices, be more focused, and, perhaps most crucially, stop exaggerating our thoughts through the belief that they define our desires and motivations.

Training in mindfulness allows you to disrupt the chain of discursive thoughts—thoughts will very little gap between the next, almost continuing in a subtle stream—and therefore maintain awareness of the present moment. This can mitigate feelings of anxiety (worries of the future) and depression (regret and sorrow regarding the past) provided you’ve trained in equanimity.

Some actions, like those that result from emotions, are produced like this:

Say you walk into a kitchen and smell a freshly-baked pan of cookies. The smell has made contact with your nostrils, which communicate that information to your brain’s olfactory structures. Mere fractions of a second pass between the sensory experience itself and mental perceptions, which allow you to recognize the smell as that of cookies (similar to how we communicate in sounds and not words; words are only recognized when our brains make sense of what we hear). Through these conceptualizations, your mind identifies this smell as a positive experience (something that smells delicious). You attach to and exaggerate these positive sensations, producing mental states that further conditions these feelings and leads to actions according to those mental states.

In this case, after feeling really good from smelling the cookies, you attach to this experience, and feel a sudden craving or longing for the future experience of eating the cookies. By identifying with this emotional craving, you’ve unknowingly relinquished control, and, a few seconds later, you find yourself with a chocolate stain on your shirt. Furthermore, even if you refuse to indulge your craving, chances are you’ve generated many discursive thoughts or emotions. Perhaps you’ve engaged in an internal battle or negotiation (“Oh man, I really want those cookies, but I need to lose some weight. But on the other hand, I’ve worked really hard today, so I deserve it.”). Or maybe you work up feelings of disgust or guilt. In doing so, you’ve substantiated, or “reifed” your perceptions. This may not matter now, but given time, much unneeded stress and anxiety can be built up and lead to irrational and possibly detrimental decisions. This is why calming down this overactive, clingy mind can feel so relieving and eye-opening.

If you’d like to engage in these types of practices, I’d encourage you to take a look at one of my other posts, where I take a deeper look at the neuroscience of meditation and instructions for getting started.

Concluding Thoughts

Don’t make the mistake of attempting to implement all of these solutions at once! Start small, perhaps by trying out one, seeing how it goes, and then gradually working toward another. Remember, it’s consistency and sustainability that matter with these solutions; introduce too many variables at once, and your motivation will inevitably dissipate.

The bulk of this post is aligned with the research ideas of Dr. Richard Davidson, one of the world’s leading researchers of emotion and the brain. In The Book of Joy, Douglas Abrams elaborates on some of Davidson’s findings by identifying four independent brain circuits identified with supporting long term well-being:

1. The ability to maintain positve mental states and emotions - one great way to start, as recommended by both Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, is by cultivating feelings of love and compassion toward others. This is why both your ikigai and productive, meaningful work is so beneficial.

2. The ability to recover from negative mental states and emotions - surprisingly, this circuit operates completely independently from the previous one. By finding your ikigai and training in mindfulness, it becomes much easier to identify and reframe these emotions such that recovery becomes almost second nature.

   1. Very recently, my brand new $500 mountain bike was stolen as I was out of town. I walked up to the bike rack, fully expecting to see it there for my commute to the other side of my college campus, which is about a 25 minute walk away, only to see it missing. What did I do? I had a quick moment of shock…and then…acceptance. Nearly no anger, panic, or annoyance whatsoever. Afterward, I reported the bike stolen and went home without a fuss. No complaining to my roommate, exasperated phone calls to parents, or angry rants with friends. What good would any of that do? It’s just a bike.

3. The ability to focus and avoid mind-wandering - meditation, people.

4. The ability to be generous - yup, generosity can help you live a more fulfilling and happy life. Who knew? This is definitely one way your wills and won’ts can help you out here.

Too long? Here’s a bite-sized summary:

1. Finding Your Ikigai: Ikigai is your personal reason for being, deeply connected to your life's meaning. To discover it, deeply explore your "ultimate why" and activities that draw you in naturally. Align your ikigai with your daily life, ensuring it resonates emotionally. If you follow a religion or philosophy, it should harmonize with your ikigai and promote wisdom and compassion. Regularly question and reflect on your beliefs to ensure they strengthen your sense of purpose. Keep your ikigai in mind daily, integrating it into even the smallest actions.

2. Setting Your 'Wills and Won'ts': After identifying your ikigai, establish your moral framework by listing your daily 'wills' (positive actions) and 'won'ts' (actions to avoid). Begin each day by affirming your commitment to these principles, linking them to your ikigai. Remember, the aim is mindfulness and improvement, not guilt, if you sometimes deviate from these guidelines.

3. Choosing Meaningful Work: Ensure your job aligns with your ikigai. If there's a disconnect, find ways to incorporate elements of your ikigai into your work or understand how your job indirectly supports it. Your work should not evoke guilt or regret but should bring a sense of fulfillment and align with your long-term goals.

4. Practicing Mindfulness and Equanimity: Develop moment-to-moment awareness and a non-judgmental attitude towards your experiences. Mindfulness helps disrupt continuous thought patterns, reducing anxiety and depression. Recognize how attachment to experiences can lead to impulsive actions and stress. Training in mindfulness and equanimity offers clarity and better decision-making.

General Advice: Start with small steps, focusing on one aspect before moving to another. Consistency is key. The concepts align with Dr. Richard Davidson's research, emphasizing the importance of maintaining positive states, recovering from negative emotions, focusing, and being generous. Remember, your ikigai, moral framework, and mindfulness practices are tools for building a fulfilling, harmonious life.

In olden times, sleep was thought to be a period where the brain completely shuts off, sometimes even described as “little slices of death.” Nowadays, sleep is understood by most researchers as a time when your brain is at it’s most active, even more than when you’re awake! It’s a time for your body to repair and grow tissues and consolidate memories made during the daytime, which is critical for learning.

Dreams are still a bit of a mystery, though. Even though scientists have been studying the topic for quite a long time, they actually don’t have a clear-cut answer for why it happens. One of the most prevalent explanations, though, is the activation-synthesis theory. The theory essentially states that dreams are your forebrain’s (the center responsible for emotional and sensory processing) attempt to make sense of or find logic in random neural signals occurring in lower, deeper brain regions, which regulate basic biological functions. This theory is popular since the limbic system—involved with emotions, memories, and other sensations—are much more active than the regions responsible for logic, which is why dreams make almost no sense when recalling them.

There are four main cycles of sleep:

• Stage N1 (Non-REM 1): This is the lightest stage of sleep associated with theta brain waves: low frequency waves which indicate reduced brain activity. Usually you get into this stage after the first few minutes of falling asleep. It is typically very short in duration, lasting only about 1-5 minutes. If you’ve ever had that falling sensation that suddenly jerks your body awake, this is probably when it happens (and is called a myoclonic jerk).

• Stage N2: A bit of a deeper sleep. If you take power naps, this is probably the deepest you will go in the cycle.

• Stage N3: The deepest stage of sleep, though you usually won’t have dreams here. In this stage, the neurotransmitters responsible for handling muscle movement are inhibited, inducing a temporary paralysis so you don’t move (unless you’re a sleepwalker). Brain activity is very low, and is associated with delta waves.

• Stage R (REM): Also called “paradoxical sleep,” stage R is when most of your dreams are going to happen. It’s paradoxical because, despite it coming after stage N3 sleep, there is a ton of brain activity (even more than when you’re awake). The waves that characterize this stage are gamma waves.

The average person will go through about 4-6 sleep cycles each night, depending on sleep duration and their overall health.

The Sleep Deprivation Epidemic

Even as early as middle school, young adults are heading to school on low fuel, stressed and demotivated in the face of projects, homework, and home and work responsibilities. Despite years of research reiterating the importance of sleep on developing brains, sleep is commonly sacrificed in favor of getting assignments submitted on time, studying, or going out with friends. Sometimes, however, the student is forced into a corner not by constrictive responsibilities or a confusion of priorities, but by the school itself!

In many parts of the country, schools are purposefully picking up younger students from school at a later time than older students in order to cut transportation costs. Taking into account adolescents’ circadian rhythms—the body’s internal sleep-wake clock—the majority of older students are only designed to feel tired as late as 11 P.M! Despite this, school districts will use the same bus fleets for different schools and pick up younger students later, despite the fact that they are more active earlier in the mornings.

Let’s not even get started on college students. A 2019 study in the journal NPJ Science of Learning found that, on average, college students go to sleep as late as 2 A.M. In addition, roughly one in four of these adults experience insomnia. All of these are extremely preventable and a case for improvements in stress, academic performance, emotional stability, diet, and many other facets of daily health.

Psychological Repercussions of Poor Sleep

We all know the feeling when we wake up to a poor night’s sleep. Suddenly, the bed feels like the most comfortable place on Earth…and you try to think of every excuse possible to keep yourself under the covers for “just a few more minutes.” Beyond the usual experience of grogginess and fatigue, researchers associate poor sleep with an increase in feelings of anxiety and irritability, a greater likelihood of depression-like symptoms, weakened immune responses, and a lack of concentration.

Sleep deprivation can also lead to procrastination, a widespread issue among students who mistakenly undervalue or de-prioritize sleep. In daily behavior, fatigue also typically manifests in the form of overeating, since the protein hormones, like leptin, that tell your brain you’re full are reduced in favor of appetite-inducing hormones like ghrelin. As a student who’s studying to become a psychotherapist, sleep is one of the first areas I’d want you to improve first (as a supplementary homework), since it’s also an important glue for keeping together keystone habits like proper diet and exercising, as well as maintaining proper motivation and sense of fulfillment.

Long-term effects can include weight gain, diabetes, and heart disease. Though you may convince yourself that, “as long as I’m able to drag myself out of bed in the morning, I’m fine,” or that you’ve gotten used to feeling tired, these aren’t sufficient excuses. Don’t destroy your body for the sake of getting a bit more work done!

Tips for Improving Your Sleep

• Establish a consistent sleep routine. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day (yes, including weekends) so that your body can signal fatigue and alertness at proper intervals. If you’re a student, try to setup your schedule according to when you’re most likely to finish your homework or other responsibilities. Ideally, you should be able to wrap up everything at least an hour before your bedtime so you have enough time to relax.

• Get a healthy amount of sleep each night. Take a look at the National Sleep Foundation’s sleep duration recommendations for your age group.

• Start winding down an hour before your bedtime. This includes reducing exposure to devices, doing relaxing activities like reading or meditating, and dimming your lights (so your body can release melatonin, which makes you tired).

• Don’t drink caffeine past 3 P.M. It takes as long as 10 hours for caffeine to almost completely disappear from the bloodstream (though, admittedly, you probably won’t feel its effects as much after about 5 hours).

• Bonus: Use a sleep cycle calculator. Generally speaking, whenever you wake up from a deeper stage of sleep like N3 or R (or when you’re in the middle of a dream), you’ll feel more “out of it,” and it takes a lot longer for your mind and body to readjust to a wakened state. If you’re a maniac and have multiple alarms just to get you out of bed (or hit snooze a few times in a row), sites like OmniCalculator will help you sort out when you should go to bed. This way, you’ll feel more rested when you wake up and less of an urge to go back to sleep.

Too long? Here’s a bite-sized summary:

You once thought sleep was a passive, dormant time for your brain, but now it's known as a super busy period for brain activity. Dreams still mystify scientists, but one popular explanation is the activation-synthesis theory. It says that dreams are your forebrain trying to make sense of random neural signals coming from deeper parts of your brain.

Sleep is broken down into four main stages: N1 is light sleep, N2 is deeper sleep, N3 is the deepest (dream-free), and REM (or Stage R) is where most dreams happen. You cycle through these stages 4-6 times a night, depending on various factors like your health.

The lack of sleep, especially in young adults and students, is pretty severe. Schools aren't helping either, often disrupting natural sleep cycles for cost-cutting reasons. College students are another story, with many going to bed around 2 A.M. and one in four experiencing insomnia.

Inadequate sleep doesn't just make you groggy; it can mess with your emotions, immune system, and even lead to weight gain and other long-term health issues. So, want to sleep better? Stick to a regular schedule, avoid caffeine past 3 P.M., and consider using a sleep cycle calculator to time your sleep just right.

Action Items:

See the above tips on improving your sleep!

When you go to a restaurant, cafe, or food court, for example, how often do you see other people eating as they browse their phone or work on their laptop? Even when you’re eating without distractions, you may find yourself prepping for your next bite in the middle of chewing your food. Because of this, your brain is much less likely to recognize signals from the stomach telling you you’re full, leading to indigestion and overeating. Little habits like these are what make today’s world the most distracted and anxiety-ridden in human history, fueled by our always-on, fast-paced work and academic environments.

Mindfulness in a Results-Oriented Society

Picture this: you’re driving down the freeway with your two kids, when, all of a sudden, someone cuts you off, nearly clipping the front of your car as it rapidly changes lanes and speeds off. You lay on the horn in frustration, hurling profanities at the irresponsible driver who clearly has a superiority complex. Your kids look at you with confusion and concern, unsure of what to think about your angry outburst. You reassure them that everything is okay and continue driving, shaken up from the interaction and imbued with a pervasive sense of distrust and resentment towards others as you continue your day noticeably on-edge.

This scenario may sound familiar to some of you. I want to draw your attention to one aspect of the situation in particular, though. Between being cut off by the driver and laying on your horn, there was almost no time buffer. Instead of anger arising in you, you literally became your anger, with the instinct being to respond with rage-induced action. Other, smaller examples may include subconsciously going for comfort foods when coming home from work, or checking your phone when there’s an awkward lapse in conversation.

The fact that we’re lost in thought so often is yet another testament to the fact that we are almost habitually and unconsciously reacting in our daily interactions without truly being aware of what we’re doing in the moment (ever walked into a hallway and then completely forgot what you were supposed to do?). No wonder we’re constantly looking to the future in hopes that we’ll be happier instead of enjoying the present! Although we may not realize it, the majority of western society is reliant on materialism and consumerism; happiness is thought to be found externally and in short-term satisfaction, leaving those of us chasing after these objects of gratification wondering, “is this all life really is?” Modern science is mistakenly viewed as the natural antagonist to religion and spiritual practice, leaving no room for internal satisfaction acquired from values in kindness, honesty, and deep introspection.

“If only I worked at my dream company, then I would be happy,” “If only I had more money, then I would be happy,” “If only I wasn’t so busy with work, then I would be happy,” “If only…”

Mindfulness and Changing the Brain

• Meditation allows you to actively control your negative mental states rather than being consumed by them. This is because the parts of your brain responsible for rationalization (the frontal lobe) exerts more control over the amygdala, which is responsible for inducing feelings of anxiety.

• Sustained practice is also shown to increase serotonin levels in the brain, leading to prolonged feelings of happiness and a sense of calm.

• Meditation allows more efficient communication along the nervous system. Specifically, the top-down and bottom-up processing of your brain (the sections responsible for processing sensory input) is trained to receive the information more accurately, which enables you to more easily return to the information being processed in your current task.

How to Train Your Mindfulness Muscle

So, you may ask, what does meditation have to do with any of this? How can something as simple as sitting in one spot and following your breathing for 20 minutes really do any good for me? When most people hear the word “meditation,” chances are they imagine a monk sitting cross-legged in the middle of a tranquil forest, eyes closed and muttering cryptic mantras and sounds (“om…”). Along with this, one widely-held misconception about meditation is the idea that the ultimate goal is to stop thinking altogether.

When first starting to meditate, many beginners watch their mind intensely for any and all thoughts, like how a hawk attentively scans for prey on the ground. In doing so, they tense up, and are likely to internally judge themselves or forcefully repress the thought when returning focus to the breath. They may also accentuate the breath and purposefully breathe harder in an attempt to maintain focus. These aren’t conducive to long-term success, and you’ll likely walk away from the session feeling slightly more stressed than relaxed and attentive.

Rather than stopping thoughts from arising, the underlying goal is to separate yourself from any thoughts or feelings that arise (i.e. change your relationship with your thoughts). In doing so, you may experience less intrusive thoughts in your daily life, but this is simply a byproduct of living in the present moment more deeply. Meditation only acts as a training regimen for exercising your mindfulness “muscle”; the more often you do it, the more often you’ll feel focused, alert, and less often you’ll feel anxious and restless in your daily routine.

The type of meditation this article is referring to is concentration meditation. There are hundreds of different types of meditation, each focusing on cultivating different factors of the mind. For our purposes, we can take a look at one of the most basic types: breath meditation.

To get started:

1. Find a meditation spot. Ideally this place is quiet, dim, and somewhere you know you won’t be disturbed. Make an effort to stick with this spot every time you meditate so that you associate that area with feeling calm and focused.

2. Use a cushion or armless chair. If you choose to meditate on a chair, ensure that you don’t rest your arms on it and that they are placed comfortably in your lap. If you choose to sit on the floor with a cushion, ensure that it’s at least 3 inches off the ground. If you don’t have a dedicated cushion, fold your sleeping pillow in half once or twice.

3. Assume an alert but relaxed position. Usually, this involves sitting cross-legged and keeping your spine erect with your head/chin slightly tilted toward the ground. Even though you’re sitting upright, you shouldn’t feel any tension in your upper back or shoulders. The point is to not slouch so you don’t fall asleep. Place your left hand into your right hand with your palms facing upward and thumbs lightly touching.

4. Either close your eyes completely or keep them slightly open. It’s usually up to you. Sometimes people prefer closed to reduce visual distractions. Others find that closing them makes it easier to fall asleep, and instead lightly focus on an object in front of them.

5. Focus on the sensation of the breath through your nose. Pay attention to the point at the entrance of the nostrils where you feel the air passing. Don’t try to breathe harder or faster to make it more noticeable. Don’t interfere with your breathing, and instead observe it as it naturally passes, in and out.

6. Redirect any thinking back to the sensation of the breath. The key point here is that you’re not judging any thought you happen to notice, nor are you forcefully repressing them. Simply acknowledge the fact you’re distracted and gently redirect your focus back to the sensation at your nostrils.

Optional: Count your breaths. Usually I’ll do this if my mind is particularly active or cloudy, and then drop it after a while during meditating once I’m more concentrated. To do this, breathe in. Once you’re at the top of your breath, count “one.” After you finish breathing out, count “one” again. Do the same for the following breaths until you reach 10, in which case you count backward down to 1. In between each count, notice the feeling of the breath through your nostrils. If, after a few cycles, you feel that you are concentrated enough, you can drop the counting and simply focus on the breath itself.

Remember, there’s no minimum time requirement, especially if your day is particularly busy. As little as 5 or 10 minutes each day will do the trick, and you’ll eventually start noticing thoughts and feelings come and go from a third-person perspective rather than letting them take hold of your attention.

Too long? Here’s a bite-sized summary:

Modern life, characterized by fast-paced work and academic environments, often encourages distraction. Our reactions are usually automatic and unconscious, which can be detrimental to our long term well-being and contribute to a sense of constant restlessness and dissatisfaction.

Mindfulness and meditation are a means of gaining control over negative mental states. Meditation helps increase activity in the frontal lobe of the brain, responsible for rationalization, and reduces anxiety-inducing activity in the amygdala. It also boosts serotonin levels, promoting feelings of happiness and calm.

The practice of meditation involves training your mind to separate from your thoughts and feelings, allowing you to live more fully in the present moment. Contrary to the misconception that meditation aims to stop thinking entirely, it actually helps change your relationship with thoughts, leading to greater focus and reduced anxiety in daily life. Concentration (breath) meditation is a simple and effective way to get started.

Action Items:

• The next time you go for a walk, silence (or better yet, leave behind) all electronic devices. As you walk, look for anything that looks interesting or catches your attention. When you finish, write down the 5 most captivating things you saw.

• The next time you’re feeling angry or anxious, stop what you’re doing, close your eyes, and pay attention to the sensation of your breath as it passes in and out of your nostrils.

• As you eat, set aside your phone and other distractions. When taking a bite, notice everything from how the food tastes, its texture, and smell. Dedicate at least 20 minutes to eating your food to promote healthy digestion and reduce overeating.

• Allocate at least 5-10 minutes each day to sitting down and focusing on the breath (see instructions above).

When students find themselves falling behind in some of their courses, they may wonder if they’re not studying long enough, not studying the right material, or if they just don’t have the ability to perform well. Of course, there’s also the question of procrastination, motivation, and simple test-taking nerves. At this point, though, many students feel that their study techniques are good enough to hit the mark, mistakenly ignoring the possibility that they may not be effective enough to commit the information to long-term memory.

1. Breaking it Down

Learning is the process of transferring the information you’re interacting with from your conscious or working memory to your long-term memory. Generally speaking, your ability to learn this information effectively depends on your brain’s innate capacity for storing it as well as the amount you’re attempting to take in at any given time. In other words, one thing to keep in mind as you’re sitting down for a study session is that you should break the information down into sections rather than trying to absorb all of it at once. Your brain is pretty powerful, but that doesn’t mean you can memorize the entire script of Shakespeare’s Macbeth in half an hour (trust me, don’t try it).

2. Active Recall

I’m sure you’ve heard of active recall, the technique where you actively engage with the content you’re learning rather than passively taking it in. The reason why active recall is so effective is because it allows for more stimulation of the neural pathways associated with the encoding and retrieval processes in your brain. Because you’re more deliberately interacting with the information, the neurons that are associated with encoding (learning) and retrieving (remembering) it can fire again more easily in the future. This means that rather than simply re-reading textbook sections over and over, annotate them by asking probing questions, quiz yourself on the previous section, or write a summary of them after taking a five-minute break.

3. The Growth Mindset

Some people possess the mistaken idea that their intelligence or ability to learn is fixed, or unchanging, as life goes on. Researchers have found that grit, a person’s ability to exert determination and perseverance through challenges, is one of the most accurate predictors of academic success and achievement, ahead of even a person’s IQ.

So, how does one "exercise" their grit? Psychologists say that a shift in mindset is the first step. Start viewing the end goal of a task as the only acceptable outcome. This way, you’re forced to accept the failures you encounter on the way there as stepping stones to your goal, aligning with the common phrase "mistakes are opportunities to learn." This concept is commonly referred to as the growth mindset, and is tantamount to adapting to your knowledge rather than vice versa.

4. Finding Purpose

There is nothing more bland and uninteresting than learning a subject that you have no interest in, especially if it doesn’t align with your long-term goals. This is one of the reasons why it’s vital to develop a list of your personal values and to make your decisions according to their compatibility. Sometimes, though, it isn’t possible to transfer out of a class, whether it’s because it’s required for your degree path or something else.

One such example of a student in this situation may be a prospective nurse enrolled in an algebra course. At first, the class may seem completely unrelated to their career goals, and they may consider dropping the class simply because the motivation isn’t there. However, looking deeper, the student can recognize the importance of algebra in calculating drug dosages and how any error in those calculations can risk the patient’s safety during and after treatment. Suddenly, the student is instilled with a fresh sense of purpose and determination.

Consider re-evaluating why you’re taking a course you don’t have any motivation for. Sure, it may not have any significance now, but looking two, five, or even ten years into the future, will you be in a better place to satisfy your goals? The answer to this question can give you the energy and grit you need to learn the content with more vigor and focus.

Other Study Tips

• Use The Cornell Method - Many students (including myself) swear by the Cornell method. The reason why it works so well is that it enables the use of active recall and promotes more organizational note-taking. This way, it’s much easier to review them later. The method involves splitting a page into three sections: the key points, notes, and summary section. Summarize the notes section in 2-3 sentences. Then, occasionally quiz yourself over the key points outlined in the recall column to test your understanding. Any time you may hesitate during answering or struggle to think of a concrete answer, that’s your queue to review that section.

  

• Take Notes in Your Own Words - Don’t just copy down the instructor’s words verbatim. Not only does this reduce the likelihood of the information transferring to your long-term memory, but it can also take too much time and effort, especially during a lecture. The reason why this works is because you are actively engaging with the material, which involves forming a deeper understanding with the information, and therefore reinforcing the neural pathways associated with recalling it.

• Take Notes by Hand - There’s plenty of research to back up the claim that taking notes by hand correlates with higher likelihood of information retention versus typing. Because the tactile sensations of writing on a surface plays a role in this process, even note-taking tablets may not have as profound of an effect. If you’re eco-conscious, I’d recommend using Rocketbook.

Too long? Here’s a bite-sized summary:

As you embark on your high school and college journey, you'll encounter more freedom both inside and outside the classroom. However, with this newfound independence comes a set of challenges. You might wonder which opportunities to take seriously and where to focus your efforts. When you find yourself struggling in your studies, it's easy to question if you're studying enough, studying the right material, or even if you have what it takes to succeed. Procrastination, motivation, and test-taking anxiety may also haunt you.

1. Break it Down: Learning involves transferring information from your working memory to your long-term memory. It's crucial to realize that you can't absorb everything at once. Instead, break the information into manageable sections to enhance your understanding.

2. Use Active Recall: Instead of passively reading, engage actively with the material. Ask yourself questions, quiz yourself, or summarize what you've learned. This approach stimulates the neural pathways responsible for encoding and retrieval, making it easier to remember information.

3. Adopt the Growth Mindset: Your determination and perseverance, known as grit, play a more significant role in academic success than your IQ. Cultivate a growth mindset, viewing challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, and focus on the end goal.

4. Find Purpose: Sometimes, you'll encounter courses that seem irrelevant to your goals. However, if you dig deeper, you may discover their importance. Align your studies with your values and long-term objectives. Even seemingly unrelated subjects can have a profound impact on your future.

There are many factors that may cause you to procrastinate, but generally, psychologists can break them down into three main components: lack of energy, lack of focus, and lack of motivation. In today’s fast-paced and result-oriented world where distractions are only a tap or click away, it’s no wonder millions of young adults around the world need to seek refuge from their overactive and overwhelmed minds. Tackling procrastination can be a daunting endeavor when considering that it can stem from deep-rooted habits that originate from years of unhealthy behavior. However, by understanding the underlying psychology behind procrastination, you can regain control of your mind and enhance your concentration skills.

1. Energy

We’ve all been there. Maybe you stayed up until 3 AM binge-watching your favorite Netflix series or decided to pull an all-nighter to finish that English essay you forgot existed. Fast forward to the next day, and your calculus instructor nonchalantly hands you a five-page assignment due in four days. You head home exhausted, practically on autopilot, as you grab the closest processed food in your vicinity to replenish your energy. Next thing you know, you wake up from a four-hour nap with nothing but a twinge of guilt as you realize you’ve done nothing productive this evening. You scroll through your Instagram feed, reaffirming your intention to get started on that calculus assignment first thing tomorrow. After all, it isn’t due for another three days!

There are a few key components missing from this routine: proper sleep, diet, and exercise. Sleep is an obvious one, but students don’t usually take its importance seriously. A 2019 study in NPJ Science of Learning concluded that, on average, college students go to sleep at around 2 AM and wake up at 9 AM, indicating a median sleep duration of only seven hours1. This is in contrast to the eight hours or more generally recommended for adults.

Next, let’s talk diet. As students, everything is moving all the time; it’s easy to get overwhelmed and rely on the convenience of campus or cafeteria food as a means of getting to your next activity on time. As tempting as it may be to go wild on three Chalupa Supremes, that temporary spike in blood sugar due to an overload of carbs and sugars brings with it fatigue, along with a myriad of other long-term health problems.

Lastly, there’s everyone’s favorite: exercise. Along with exercise bringing a boost of energy that can last for hours, its effects on reducing stress, daytime sleepiness, and risk of sleep apnea suggest a link between exercise and sleep quality2.

If you’re not sure which of these to address first, I’d suggest starting an exercise habit. Along with aiding your sleep, exercising regularly (even for a short duration) can also increase the chances of you subconsciously improving your diet.

2. Focus

Lacking focus isn’t an unfamiliar phenomenon for young adults. This screen you're reading on right now is practically designed to keep you scrolling for hours as you’re reeled in by notifications and reminders to catch up on the latest social media trend. With your values and priorities seemingly in the air, being dragged into a night out with your friends or a party across campus is a pretty convenient escape from your responsibilities. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to nudge your brain into a more attentive thinking pattern:

• Placing your phone or other electronic devices in a separate room or hidden space with notifications off.

• Working in a distraction-free environment, such as a library or coffee shop. Usually, it isn’t a good idea to work in the same place as you relax or sleep.

• Letting your friends and/or family know before beginning your task that you’re busy and shouldn’t be bothered.

• Getting at least 7.5 hours of sleep each night while maintaining a consistent sleep schedule.

• Meditating for at least 10 minutes every day to train your mind to redirect focus to the current task. There are many studies that point to meditation improving your cognitive performance3, shrinking your amygdala (responsible for anxiety), and releasing serotonin.

• Optional: keeping a distraction log. Every time you think of another activity that nags for your attention (ex. washing the dishes, texting back your friend), write it down onto a piece of paper so you don’t forget and can tend to it once you’re finished.

3. Motivation

Whether it’s from a fear of failure or a lack of fulfillment, getting something done without any motivation seems like a death sentence. Though motivation isn’t always necessary in the midst of consistency, having a long-term vision is important when deciding what’s important in your life. For that reason, it’s important to identify and write a list of your personal values (if you need help, visit this article) and pin it up somewhere you’ll see it frequently. That way, when working on a task that seems unpleasant, you can refer to this list and evaluate whether it aligns with it. If it doesn’t, consider the reason you’re doing it in the first place and whether it’d be beneficial to choose a different route.

It’s also important to break bigger projects or tasks into smaller pieces. For example, if I had to write an essay, instead of sitting myself down and giving myself two hours to finish it in one sitting, I’d break it down into sections. These sections could be the introduction, each body paragraph, and the conclusion. I set a time limit for each section and focus only on completing that one. Once I run out of time, I reward myself with a small break (5–10 minutes) and then move on to the next section. After I’m finished with the whole project, I give myself a big reward (like a bowl of ice cream).

Keep in mind that you should be specific about what you want to complete. Instead of saying you want to "study for the calculus test," ask yourself: "What do I want to have accomplished by the end of this session?" Maybe you want to feel more confident about finding the derivatives of trig functions. Nail down what sections you should go over in the textbook so there’s zero friction before you start working.

Too long? Here’s a bite-sized summary:
Procrastination, a common challenge, affects millions of people . In today's fast-paced world, overwhelm can lead many to seek refuge in distractions. However, this can be remedied by addressing these three areas:

1. Energy: Poor sleep, diet, and exercise habits contribute. College students average 7 hours of sleep compared to 8 recommended. Unhealthy eating and lack of exercise worsen fatigue.

2. Focus: Modern life's distractions, like social media, hinder focus. Tips to improve focus include separating from devices, choosing distraction-free environments, and meditating.

3. Motivation: Fear of failure or lack of fulfillment can sap motivation. Align tasks with personal values, break projects into manageable sections, set time limits, and offer rewards for completion.
   

Action Items (Complete 1-2 At a Time):

• Establish an exercise habit to indirectly improve sleep quality and dietary choices.

• Keep phones and electronics in a separate room with notifications turned off during work sessions.

• Dedicate 10 minutes daily to meditation to train your mind, enhance focus, and manage anxiety.

• Ensure you get at least 7.5 hours of sleep each night to enhance cognitive function and focus.

• Divide larger projects into smaller sections to make them more manageable and less overwhelming.

• Create a list of your core values and prominently display it to remind yourself of your priorities.

If you’re anything like me and have been scrolling through social media lately, you may have come across this image. It’s simple and unbelievably effective at illustrating a concept we may know but not completely understand at its psychological roots. Ah yes, the century-old topic of intensity vs consistency, infamous for its attention among YouTube self-help gurus (I’m looking at you, Ali Abdaal) and book authors. Taking another look at this image, it’s clear that consistency has an edge on intensity for maintaining applied effort over time rather than favoring a burst of productivity that loses its traction.

I remember a few months ago I wanted to build habits for exercising every morning, eating less (I was a chronic overeater) and healthier, and practicing meditation. I created a daily plan for each and every one of the habits I wanted to form, making sure I exercised, logged my food, and meditated at least 20 minutes a day. I developed a whole morning and evening routine and everything, convinced that I could ride this motivation high forever. The next few days, I hit my goals without issue. Eventually, however, I could only muster up the energy to go for a walk, or would “forget” to log my food. Soon, I found myself back at where I started, unaware of what went wrong.

Taking into account my relapse, I adopted another approach. Instead of piling goal after goal on top of each other and simply telling myself I just “needed more discipline,” I picked only one of my goals and evaluated its relative weight among the others (in this case, I picked exercising). Then, for 100 days, I set out to exercise using the “7-minute workout” app. If I missed a day, I started over, and I wouldn’t be allowed to integrate another habit into my routine until I reached the 100-day mark. Though I never reached the 100 day goal, by the time I got past the one month mark, I was practically heading to my home gym on autopilot each morning. I may have missed a day or two every now and then, but the point was that I got right back on track the next day.

Even more surprising was the fact that, after reaching my exercise goals, I had subconsciously started eating healthier foods. This relates to a concept known as “keystone habits,” which is a topic that deserves a post on its own, but is related to your brains’ neuroplasticity and tendency to develop new cue-routine-reward loops (I touch upon this in another post). Habits, in part, are what make consistency so important, and completely throw the idea of needing motivation out the window. Even when the effects of your actions aren’t immediate, through consistency, you’ll build a foundation for exponential long-term growth.

Though many in the West are reluctant to interact with Eastern religions because of their unorthodox practices, I believe the ideas I’m about to introduce you to are deeply rooted in truth and a profound element of self care that we’ve tended to neglect in our fixation on external validation.

The Roots of Meditation

I like to define meditation as training the mind to observe thoughts and emotions through great awareness and grounding in the present. For example (I’ll borrow Headspace’s analogy), imagine your mind as a road, with your thoughts as cars occasionally zipping past. Though we may not interact with these "cars" very often, sometimes one will strike us as unfavorable or unpleasant, in which case, we may chase after it, hoping to stop or contest it as more and more thoughts start to clog our mind. Soon, we get into a traffic jam, and stress builds over time. Meditation helps us redefine our relationship with our thoughts by turning us into observers.

As we meditate, the goal is to watch as our thoughts pass by uninterrupted as we focus on either our breath, a mental or physical object, or our entire body. No matter how uncomfortable, stressful, or "wrong" a thought may be, you simply let it pass and redirect your focus back on the object. It sounds simple, but it's immensely powerful if used as a regular mental exercise. As it stands, this is an amazing tool for relieving stress or even helping you fall asleep. However, in traditional Buddhism, this is taken a few steps further. Rather than simply being an occasional tool for relieving stress, Buddhism emphasizes that meditation’s goal is to be aware of any and all thoughts, emotions, or sensations taking place in the mind and body at all times. Instead of removing all thoughts and emotions and becoming an emotionless vegetable, meditation allows us to step back and realize the fact that we are never truly present in the here and now.

Through repeated practice, we detach our identities from our thoughts and bring focus into the present moment, recognizing that the past and the future are illusions. This doesn’t mean you can’t plan for the future or learn from past experiences; only that you shouldn’t form attachment to either, whether it's worrying about the future or regretting past actions. Just deal with problems as they arise in the present—the things in your control. This is an incredibly vague explanation, and I encourage you to do more research on this if you are curious.

As I’ve adopted this philosophy into my daily life, I've realized how powerful it really is in an age where we worry and complain about the most trivial things. From how we order our latte to complaining about the ref’s call during the Lakers game last night, we spend too much negative mental energy on things that simply don’t matter. Simply enjoy the present. That’s all we really have.

Our Avoidance of Death

In The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche is completely shocked by the West’s culture surrounding death. He mentions how "even talking about death is considered morbid, and many people believe that simply mentioning death is to risk wishing it upon ourselves." However, Buddhism sees death as an extension of life rather than its end, and encourages us to embrace it as a means for us to live more fruitfully.

Buddhism teaches that our fear of death stems from our attachment to the ego and the subconscious belief that everything is permanent, which is why practitioners are taught to avoid attachment. This attachment is said to be the root of all suffering and prevents us from fully living in the present. Through meditation, Buddhism teaches us to let go of attachment and embrace impermanence. This is why I don’t think of Buddhism as a religion at all, but as the art of letting go. This doesn’t mean not being afraid of death (which most of us tell ourselves unknowingly). It’s quite literally being aware of it at every moment of every day.

Every day I wake up, drink some water, and start meditating. I turn on my lamp, sit at the head of my bed, and close my eyes, focusing on my breathing for 15 minutes. Afterward, however, I spend 5 more minutes vividly picturing my death: everything from the pain to sitting on my deathbed, saying goodbye to my family, the funeral, everything. I sit with my emotions and let them flow naturally. By the end of the exercise, I feel an immense sense of gratitude and compassion, and I set out to make mine and others' days the best they can possibly be. This practice shows just how powerful death can be when used as a lens for your life. Death doesn’t have to be morbid and something we avoid habitually out of fear; embracing it can give meaning to the present, the most precious thing there is, and teach us what really matters.

I am in full support of summer relaxation, especially when you’re dealing with the horrors of high school. But there’s another idea of summer’s role that I’m a big proponent of: using it as a time to assess your personal values and build consistent habits. This applies even more to college-bound seniors needing to acquaint themselves with new academic expectations and routines. This letter will include some of the tenets I’ve adopted into my summer so I can check in with myself as I head into the next round of classes.

1. Identify Your Personal Values

Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in day-to-day obligations to the point where you confuse them for your values. Our values lie at the core of what we do and what motivates us to do difficult tasks, so it’s easy to look at our actions when searching for these values. When your actions don’t align with your inner beliefs, however, that’s when things can get bit dicey. As a student, it’s crucial to identify your values early on so that you don’t box yourself into a corner as you plan your classes and future career path.

Try writing a list of five values that make you the happiest or feel the most pride. Here are some examples:

• Achievement

• Efficiency

• Hard Work

• Positivity

• Adventure

• Empathy

• Health

• Equality

• Honesty

Once you’ve curated a list of your top five, rank them in order of how important they are to you. Now, when making a decision, go down your list and ask yourself if they conflict with any of your personal values.

You may wonder: “How do I know if these are really my core values?” To that, I say: experiment! Going forward, if you ever feel regret after a decision (big or small), take a moment to reflect on why that is and what value in your list contradicts that reasoning.

2. Create S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Have you ever created a New Years’ Resolution? For those of you who have, you probably don’t look back at them fondly. After all, not many people actually fulfill them, much less remember them a few months later. Why? For starters, your resolution was probably a hollow or “empty” goal. Empty goals have no plan or vision. For example, consider this list of resolutions:

1. Lose weight

2. Start meditating

3. Eat healthier

4. Improve my grades

Pretty boring right? This is exactly why you should start setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Let’s take a look at our new resolution list with this framework in mind:

1. Lose weight by going out for a morning jog around my neighborhood at 8 AM every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, ensuring I jog at least 1.5 miles.

2. Start meditating every morning in my room when I wake up at 7 AM for 5 minutes.

3. Eat healthier by bringing a daily food log wherever I go (this is a common keystone habit).

4. Improve my grades by blocking out time for schoolwork every afternoon from 3 PM to 5 PM at home.

Looking at the first example, I ensured the goal was specific by mentioning that I’d “go for a morning jog” and that it’d be “around my neighborhood,” establishing the what and where. I made sure that it was measurable by requiring I jog “at least 1.5 miles.” Since, in this example, I’m just starting to exercise, I limited my exercise to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, which makes the goal more attainable given my experience. Finally, I scheduled the jog for 8 AM on those days, so the goal is time-bound.

3. Build Habits to Fulfill Your Goals

If your SMART goals are planned for the distant future, break them down into smaller short-term goals, and convert those goals into habits.

In this mind map, my goal is to get into an Ivy League university. Looking at the end branches, I’ll ask myself: “What are helpful habits I should get into that would help me get closer to my core goal?” If I want to “form relationships with teachers and upperclassmen,” maybe I could get into the habit of having a short five-minute conversation with my teacher after class each day. To make it easier, I can begin the upcoming school year by picking a seat at the front of the class. I go into more detail about making and breaking habits in a previous post.

This is only one example of how unhealthy habits can compound into big issues if left unattended, for students and non-students alike. I'm a huge fan of books such as Atomic Habits (James Clear) that dissect these facets of human behavior in a way that people, like me, with no professional knowledge of human psychology, can understand and take action against. As an almost two-and-a-half-year old self-improvement hobbyist, I've thrived on my dozens of hours of online research and book reading that have shaped me into the student I am today, but, as you can very well imagine, not many people are as avid as me when it comes to catching up on the latest self-help guru trend.

My goal in this post is to make it easier for the average reader to understand what habits are so that they can redirect their existing behaviors into powerful, habit-based routines that better align with their time management goals. In doing so, I'll provide a run-down of some of the tools that I personally use to keep track of my habits.

What Are Habits?

Habits are subconscious and involuntary actions that are formed through continuously repeating behavior. In the example at the introduction, your brain has associated idling (having free time) with browsing social media apps. The more often you participate in said behavior, the more likely you'll do it again the next time you find yourself in a similar situation. This is a key characteristic of habits, and one of the main reasons we can find it so hard to break out of that rut.

How Are Habits Formed?

Habits are composed of four primary parts: the cue, craving, response, and reward. The cue is an external or internal factor that signals the initiation of the habit. In the introduction, the cue would be seeing your phone sitting on the nightstand or the water boiling in the kettle. Next, there's the craving. The craving happens almost right after the cue, and is the intrinsic desire or motivation that leads to an action. The craving in the previous example would be a sense of restlessness or boredom. Now, after feeling that boredom, your first instinct is to satisfy it by browsing through Instagram or YouTube. This is the response, which is the action following the craving. As you scroll through Instagram or YT, you're hit with some of that sweet dopamine, which temporarily relieves the boredom. This is the reward.

How Can I Break/Create Habits?

Breaking bad habits can be tough, but by understanding how habits are formed, you can break them down into smaller and more manageable steps.

To break existing habits:

1. Identify your cue, craving, response and reward.

2. Remove the cue. As the first part of any habit and the one that triggers that subconscious switch, alter your environment or routine to reduce the likelihood of the habit starting. Going back to the previous scenario, you might consider charging your phone in a different room overnight to make it less accessible.

3. Increase friction for the response and make it more difficult. This may entail deleting social media apps from your phone or installing an app blocker like AppBlock on IOS or Android, or Freedom for desktop platforms.

4. Reflect on the negative aspects of the habit and make the reward less satisfying. For instance, write the negative consequences of engaging in the habit as well as the long-term benefits of not engaging in it on a piece of paper. Pin this up in the place(s) where the habit usually takes place so you can look at it each time you begin to falter.

5. Replace the habit with a more healthy activity that offers the same reward as the previous habit. Since the reward for viewing social media is a hit of dopamine, one healthy replacement could be exercising, which also releases dopamine and gives you a nice boost of energy.

To create new habits:

1. Identify a possible cue, craving, response and reward.

2. Exemplify the cue and make it as obvious as possible. If I wanted to build a habit to exercise in the morning, I could put my exercise clothes right next to my bed so that I might step on it as I get out of bed.

3. Decrease friction for the response and make it easier. For exercising, I could watch my favorite TV show as I run on the treadmill, or listen to an audiobook as I take a walk around my neighborhood. For larger habits, I can break it down into specific steps, and reward myself for completing each of them. This transitions nicely into the next step.

4. Celebrate wins! Keep a log of your progress in a journal or online habit-tracking tool. I suggest using an app like Habitica for gamifying your habits.

And that's some of the things I learned from Atomic Habits and my personal experiences in harnessing the power of habits. Keep in mind that it's easy to get a "motivation high" and tell yourself that you're going to change your life by adding and breaking a ton of habits in only a week. Though it's great to be optimistic, I recommend you focus on one habit at a time. It's extremely easy to get overwhelmed, especially when adding or removing many elements of your typical routine at once (which I have definitely tried once or twice), so aim to knock each one down individually so you can be consistent with your efforts.