Dedicate five minutes daily to nourishing your mind, five minutes to moving your body, and five minutes to connecting with your heart, as this holistic approach leads to a healthier and happier life.
Understand that relying solely on willpower and motivation for sweeping health changes is often ineffective in the long term, so seek strategies that don’t depend on these fluctuating states.
Simplify your health actions to make them easy to start and maintain, which will build confidence and shift your self-perception to someone who consistently engages in healthy behaviors.
Ensure that your health choices are driven by personal ownership and internal motivation, as long-term adherence is only possible when you genuinely want to continue a behavior.
Utilize principles from behavior change science, such as making new actions easy to perform, to ensure that your chosen health habits become deeply ingrained and sustainable.
Design your environment and routine to make desired health behaviors effortless, as ease is a primary driver for consistent action.
Attach new desired behaviors to existing, well-established habits in your daily routine, as this ‘piggybacking’ strategy makes it much more likely they will become long-term habits.
Prioritize health activities that you genuinely enjoy and that resonate with you, as you are far more likely to stick to behaviors long-term if you like doing them.
Structure your health plan with easy-to-do behaviors, anticipating that your motivation will inevitably fluctuate and be low at times, ensuring continued adherence.
Capitalize on periods of high motivation to select and thoroughly learn your new health habits, ensuring they become automatic and can be maintained even when motivation naturally decreases.
When starting a new habit, consistently choose and stick to the same activity each day to remove decision-making and procrastination, making it easier to maintain the behavior.
Dedicate five minutes daily to fostering meaningful connection with others and yourself, as this ‘heart’ component is crucial for overall well-being and helps prevent compensatory unhealthy behaviors like excessive sugar or alcohol consumption.
Spend five minutes each day engaging in an activity that nourishes your mind, as this helps to combat mental overload and reduce stress levels in the modern world.
Incorporate a five-minute movement into your day, selecting from options like strength, HIIT, yoga, dancing, or playful workouts, none of which require equipment or changing clothes.
Consistently dedicate five minutes each day to a health-related activity, as this consistent effort is where significant positive changes begin to manifest.
Approach health from a comprehensive, 360-degree perspective, understanding that long-term positive change requires addressing the interconnected aspects of your well-being rather than isolated issues.
Reflect on and understand the underlying psychological, emotional, or educational reasons behind your unhealthy behaviors, as this insight is crucial for developing effective and lasting change strategies.
Initiate a small, positive change in one aspect of your life, understanding that this single change can create a ‘ripple effect’ and positively influence other areas of your well-being.
Do not overestimate your motivation and willpower, as these resources are finite and fluctuate; instead, create a health plan that accounts for real-life stress and low motivation.
Select health activities that are short enough (around five minutes) to fit easily into your day but long enough for you to feel a tangible benefit, which encourages consistent adherence.
From the provided menu of options, select one five-minute activity for your mind, one for your body, and one for your heart to practice daily, simplifying your health routine.
Once you’ve selected your preferred five-minute health activities, consistently perform the same ones every day to transform them into ingrained, automatic habits.
Place any necessary tools, such as a gratitude journal and pen, next to your bed if you plan to practice gratitude before sleep, as visual cues eliminate friction and increase adherence.
Use daily ’transition points,’ such as changing clothes after work, to embed a five-minute health activity, and use visual triggers like leaving equipment out to prompt the behavior.
Select body movement activities that require no equipment, gym membership, or change of clothes, making them incredibly simple and easy to integrate into your daily routine.
Integrate a five-minute health activity, such as a bodyweight workout, during the time you wait for your kettle to boil, leveraging an existing daily routine.
Engage in a five-minute workout immediately upon returning home from work to effectively burn off stress energy, which will make you more present and less likely to engage in unhealthy coping behaviors later.
Dedicate five minutes each evening to a ’tea ritual’ with a close person, engaging in device-free conversation to foster meaningful connection and strengthen your relationship.
Engage in five minutes of dancing every day, perhaps before dinner, as a joyful and effective way to move your body, boost your mood, and foster connection.
Adopt a flexible schedule for your three daily five-minute health snacks, whether completing them all in the morning, spreading them throughout the day, or taking weekends off, to personalize the plan and maintain ownership.
If overwhelmed by the variety of health activities, use the book’s recommended plans for specific goals, or simply choose any three activities (mind, body, heart) that appeal to you.
Tailor your health plan to your specific needs and preferences, as a personalized approach is crucial for long-term adherence and effectiveness.
Recognize that the ‘mind, body, heart’ framework for health is universally beneficial across all ages and demographics, providing a complete approach to mental, physical, and emotional well-being.
Be aware of and capitalize on ‘happy accidents’ – unplanned instances where you deviate from an unhealthy habit and feel better – to initiate and sustain positive behavior changes.
Begin making positive health changes immediately, rather than waiting for a tragic or life-altering event to force a shift in your behavior.
Engage in self-reflection to understand your behaviors and what motivates you, recognizing that you have the inherent ability to change and take control of your health journey.
Incorporate health recommendations that take only five minutes each, making it feasible for even the busiest individuals to dedicate time to their mind, body, and heart daily.
Integrate five minutes of simple movements into your daily routine, as this consistent, lifestyle-fitting approach has a greater positive impact than infrequent, longer gym sessions.
Recognize that people learn in different ways and resonate with various types of information, so seek out health content in formats that best suit your learning style, whether long-form or bite-sized.
Move away from an ‘all or nothing’ approach to health, as focusing on only one area or attempting sweeping changes often leads to failure and a return to old habits.