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“So what do you want for Christmas?” asked my husband.
“A fitbit or jawbone or fuelband.” I replied.
“A what?”

Luckily for me, my Christmas wish came true and I am now the proud owner (and wearer) of a fitbit. O.K. so it’s not the prettiest of accessories, it’s a bit chunky, and it’s a little tricky to put on properly, but it’s brilliant because it has provided me the one thing I really needed.

Awareness.

You see I had inkling that I probably wasn’t as active as I could be to stay fully fit, especially brain fit. Yes, I walk the dogs daily, swim twice a week and do a Power-plate session twice a week. But I know there are days when I do very little apart from sit in front of my computer for work. “Tsk, Tsk” I hear you say.

I’d tried a pedometer, which I kept forgetting to attach or turn on. I’d tried an App called Pacer, which was good when I had my iPhone with me. But there are plenty of times when I don’t take my phone. Hmmm.

The fitbit is great because being a wearable activity tracker all I have to do is put it on when I get up in the morning. It recalibrates itself at midnight and rewards me with a grand buzzing vibration on my wrist when I have reached 10,000 steps. So, I can now see that if I’ve only walked 649 steps by 4 pm then clearly I have been a slug that day and it’s time to get moving. Similarly if I’ve been out early walking on the beach, I can see I’ve walked 7052 steps before breakfast, creating a feeling of supreme virtuousness. See the halo shining brightly?

Awareness drives motivation.

It’s a powerful motivational tool because when you can see the finish line there is a real incentive to cross it. Which is why my husband caught me doing laps round our bedroom one night, because I had another 200 steps to get to my target!

Having the awareness of where we are right now and where we want to be provides us the tool we need to succeed in all our goals both personal and professional.

So if you’re not achieving your desired goals or you’re mentally exhausted from trying to cope with too many tasks, it’s time to stop!

Awareness allows you to create a brain for your future.

Enhancing brain awareness is the first step to creating a fit and healthy brain optimised to work at its very best. If you know how well your mind is operating and are using it in the way it was designed for, you will have the confidence, competence and capacity to produce your best work.

In a world of increasing chaos, complication and complexity, the time is now to design a brain for our future. A brain to provide us the cognitive edge we need for our success and thrival.

That’s what designing a high performance brain is all about.
It’s about being brain fit and brain aware.

Are you ready for your future brain?

Dr Jenny Brockis

Dr Jenny Brockis is a medical practitioner and internationally board-certified lifestyle medicine physician, workplace health and wellbeing consultant, podcaster, keynote speaker and best-selling author. Her new book 'Thriving Mind: How to Cultivate a Good Life' (Wiley) is available online and at all good bookstores.

One Comment

  • Gihan Perera says:

    Yes, I agree, Jenny. I have a Fitbit as well, and it’s great for keeping me on track with my 10,000 daily steps. Like you, I’ve done extra walking on some days to reach the goal (a late-night stroll rather than laps around the bedroom, though!).

    Funny how all it takes is measuring something to help us make progress. I do the same with my writing (aiming for a word count each day) and even breaking my day into intervals using the Pomodoro Technique.

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