5 steps to improve your mindset and recover more effectively
Tune in to hear CJ talk through his 5-Step Process you can implement to improve you life in 30 days.
Spring is around the corner, which means daylight's savings time is about to give you an extra hour of daylight. With this extra hour, life and activities compound and leave many of us burning out both physically and mentally. I say, no more! 2022 is the year you properly utilize your mindset to help you recover efficiently, and allow yourself to effectively participate in all the wonderful things life has to offer, WITHOUT burning out. Before we dive into the tactics for this, I want you to come to an understanding that all high achievers must be aware of…the focus is not on “stressing” less, the focus is on increasing your ability to handle the stress that you endure. Through more effective recovery practices you CAN increase your stress tolerance. And all of this starts with having the right mindset!
What type of mindset is needed?
A curious one. This leads us to the first part of achieving better recovery. Being curious about what is going on inside your body. At night, in the morning, during the day, what is your body telling you? The fact is, there is only so much you can feel, and if you’re a data nerd like me, you’ll want hard data to visually see what is going on within your body. This is where getting your blood tested comes in. Before doing anything, you want to know if you are fighting an uphill battle. No matter what mindset or recovery practices you initiate, if something is “off” internally, those practices will not be as effective. Testing your heart, liver, hormones, and nutrients within your blood is my #1 recommendation for anyone looking to improve their recovery. Doing this saved my life and while that’s a story for another time, I wanted to let you know why I wholeheartedly believe this is a top priority that many people aren’t doing regularly (to hear more of this story, and learn what tests I took, watch this short video).
What will regular blood testing do for you?
It will consistently show you metrics and deficiencies that you can combat and manage through your daily habits. It will also help you notice any drastic changes that could lead to future inflammation and disease. My recommendation: Get your blood panels done AT LEAST once a year. (I do it twice a year). This will allow you to organize your records, and compare your data over time to see the changes your body is going through. The best way to recover is to prevent illness in the first place! So beyond getting your blood tested, what can you do to improve your recovery this year?
Here is a list of the next 5 things that will have a massive impact on recovery if utilized in the right way.
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Sleep
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Vitamin Supplementation
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Proper Nutrition + Hydration
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Sauna + Ice
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Community
Sleep
The importance of sleep is underrated. I will say it again. Sleep is UNDERRATED. Do you sleep well? Even if you said yes to the above, how do you know for sure? That is where WHOOP, Oura Ring, or other sleep devices will help you figure out how your sleep is impacting your recovery. Personally I have both WHOOP and Oura which have been extremely helpful in changing my bad habits.
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Eating too close to bedtime (within 3-4 hours for me) keeps my heart rate elevated, which then causes my body temperature to rise and become too hot to get enough deep sleep; thus leading to lower HRV and lower daily recovery.
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My recovery drastically improves if I get 7-8 hours of sleep, rather than the 6-7 I used to focus on.
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Having a nightly routine where I get off screens and rest/relax one hour prior to getting into bed drastically improved my ability to fall asleep.
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Proper hydration throughout the day is critical to my resting heart rate and HRV while I sleep.
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This goes without saying, alcohol has an extreme negative impact on deep sleep, REM, and overall recovery.
All in all, if you take your sleep seriously it will pay massive dividends throughout all other areas of your life. If you want to visually see how my sleep has improved my health and how it can help yours, check out this video.
At the end of the day, if you focus on learning more about what is happening within your body through blood testing, and you put sleep as a high priority on your “get healthier” list, you naturally will begin to find answers, feel better, and continue to have the curiosity to find more methods that help you specifically.
Next on the list is Vitamin Supplementation.
I cannot stress this enough, no matter if you are vegan, a carnivore, or somewhere in between, you are most likely lacking in some area of nutrition. And if you want to help your body recover more effectively, you need to know what you’re deficient in, that way you can utilize supplementation to correct your deficiency.
What products/supplements should you use?
This is your personal choice. Do your research and speak with experts. Know what you are lacking first, then look into what is the best way to supplement it.
Nutrition & Proper Hydration.
Are you familiar with macronutrients? Proteins, Fats, and Carbohydrates. These macronutrients get broken down by your body, and either give you a sufficient supply of micronutrients (vitamins/minerals), or they fail to provide you with enough of these resources and cause your deficiencies. I am not here to tell you what you should or shouldn’t eat. Rather, I want to convey that having a solid understanding of how your body utilizes proteins, fats, and carbs, is vital to how well your body will recover. For me, my blood work showed that my liver had inflammation. Upon stumbling across this realization, I then realized that is why I struggled to digest fats when I ate them. Taking supplements for my liver reduced the inflammation within my liver, which helped me process healthy fats more efficiently. Because of this, the next blood test that I took showed a reduction in inflammation, as well as less overall vitamin deficiencies in my blood.
Do you see how this is all coming full circle?
Overall, you are what you eat. Plants need nutrient rich soil to grow. Animals need to eat plants that are grown in nutrient rich soil. And humans need to eat plants and animals that come from nutrient rich environments. Unfortunately, this is practically impossible unless you are the farmer growing your own food. You have no idea for the most part where your food is coming from. Because of this, stick to improving your understanding of how your body breaks down the food you're consuming. Is it being broken down to help provide the vitamins and minerals you need, thus helping your recovery? Or are the foods you regularly consume leaving you depleted?
Pro tip: anything processed, or stored on a shelf in a box, isn’t sufficient for your daily needs. Stick to single ingredient foods that have a short shelf life if you are looking for the most nutrient dense path.
In terms of Hydration, I have written an article in The Pursuit on this topic–you can find it here.
The last step to help you get better recovery, is a personal favorite of mine, more frequent Sauna and Ice Baths. There is a ton of information you can find out there on both of these topics; how they help you or hurt you if used in different ways. How long you should or shouldn’t do them. Before taking part in either of these activities, make sure to do your own research and make sure these are safe recovery tactics for your body.
Here are some critical ways that both Sauna and Ice have helped with my Mental and Physical recovery.
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Improved mental health & resilience.
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Increased physical endurance.
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Increased mental clarity, focus, and ability to be present.
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Lower resting heart rate.
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Improved skin.
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Reduction of inflammation.
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Improved deep/REM sleep.
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Deeper connections with other people.
I could go on and on about the positive benefits that Sauna & Ice have brought to my life. I believe in these recovery modalities so much so that I’m a partner in the OASYSS Mobile Sauna to help open the door to these experiences to others who may have never tried them. So if you are ever in the Austin Texas area, and want a recovery boost, please connect with me!
If you have yet to try these powerful tools, please consider looking into them. It does not matter if you consider yourself an athlete or not, they can help you and others around you who wish to have better health and recovery.
REMINDER: nothing changes if nothing changes.
I know there is a lot of information in here, as well as an infinite amount of information you could go look for on these topics. However, it is not about the information that matters. It is the ACTIONS that you take from this point on that matter most. Outside of what was said above, the number one ACTION you can take to improve your overall health is to JOIN A SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY and put yourself in environments that encourage you to grow as a human being. Fortunately for me, Rhone provides that environment for myself and so many others out there. For that, I am forever grateful!
I wish you nothing but happiness and health on your journey to becoming the best YOU possible.
CJ Finley
Investor in people. Believer in purpose. Living my passion to help other mission based people, brands, and businesses #ThriveOnLife.
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