Mental Note
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”
While four hours sharpening an axe sounds a bit excessive, Mr. Lincoln has a valid point. It is easy to get caught in the delusion that if we just work more and work harder we’ll get ahead. More hours at the office. More hours at the library. But we all know people who burn the candle at both ends and just end up being burnt out. We’ve seen kids practice a sport daily from age seven just to hate it by 16. More of the same isn’t always better. You need to also set yourself up for success by making sure your mental axe is sharpened.
What if I could prescribe you something that releases endorphins, improves sleep, and interrupts negative thoughts and over-thinking? This same thing increases brain volume, generates neural synapses and improves blood flow—essentially rewiring your brain for better mental health. Oh, and it’s free.
A body in motion…
As kids we run around and play. Children are consistently active (at least they were before screens), but as we age, movement slips quietly out of the picture. It wasn’t always that way though. Think for a moment…what are the things in your life that you do in a sedentary way, that your ancestors did not? (Hint: there are a lot of them!) Yes, they represent progress, but they also represent a loss of movement that is so critical to our physical and mental health. With a little intentionality, you could invite some of that activeness back in.
What’s something you could walk to that you typically drive to instead? Weekend coffee run? Picking up kids from school? Getting to campus on a nice fall day?
What is a bike ride away and doesn’t require the car? For me it’s my favorite supplement store or dropping a gift at the house of a friend whose bridal shower I’m going to have to miss.
On what occasions could you walk instead of sit or stand? Taking the stairs instead of the elevator up to your office each day? Walking around campus when you call your mom instead of sitting in your room? Pacing in your office on a lengthy call or maybe taking it outside? Dancing a little to music during dinner prep? Could coffee with a friend be a stroll through the park once you grab your drinks?
Simple Ways to Move More
A couple years ago I started paying attention to my daily step count as tallied by my Apple watch. I’m a sucker for numeric tracking and it’s an easy source of motivation. In 2025 I picked a target daily average that was a thousand steps more than the previous year. I pretty easily met my goal, mostly by replacing an evening episode on Netflix with a brief after dinner walk with my husband. And there’s real debate in my house as to whether I should admit this or not, but when the weather isn’t walkable or a day includes a lot of sitting, I dial up “laundry laps” and fold the clean clothes one at a time as I walk around the kitchen island. Yes it’s weird (I’ve often said that being “normal” is completely overrated), and yes I feel better after doing it.
Movement is medicine.
While the weather is warm and the days are long, what could you do to bring more movement to your life and clarity to your mind?
Click here for other suggestions on sneaky ways to incorporate exercise into your life.