and a life that you love like this. Now, today I wanna talk to you about something that we

all do that is scientifically proven to make us dumber. Now, the good news is that we can

all stop doing it immediately and the fix really is quite simple. So what are we doing

that makes us dumber?

It has to do with stress.

Now, don't stress out about this, because, as I shared, there is a fix. But first let’s

make something super, super clear. In life there is good stress and there’s bad stress.

Now, good stress can spur your body into action, say if you’re getting chased by a big bear

or you heard there’s just one more cupcake left in the breakroom.

See? If you embrace stress in high pressure situations, it can actually help you perform

at your best. But what I’m talking about here is the bad stress, the chronic stress,

the kind that makes most of us just crazy pants. The kind of stress that makes you feel

anxious and frustrated and like everything is happening outside of your control. Now,

here’s what’s super scary about this bad kind of stress: research shows that this kind

actually makes you stupid.

Neuroscientists at the University of California Berkeley have found that chronic stress triggers

long term changes in brain structure and function.

And the stress hormone cortisol can kill, shrink, and stop the generation of new neurons

in the part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is vital for learning, memory, and emotional

regulation.

Meaning? Stress makes you dumber and more prone to anxiety, depression, meltdowns, and

embarrassing hissy fits. So you might be asking, what’s the fix? Well, it actually comes

from one of my favorite teachers of all time, Mr. Eckhart Tolle.

He says: “All stress is caused by being here, but wanting to be there.”

Now, another way to say that is that all stress comes from wanting something to be different

than it is. Wanting whatever’s happening right now to somehow not be happening right

now, which is impossible because whatever is happening in this moment already is, and

wishing it was different is totally useless. And, as we said, it does shrink your brain.

So let’s make this actionable so that the next time you find yourself in stress mode

you have a simple toolkit to not only quickly get yourself out of stress mode, but also

to save yourself and your brain from some unnecessary shrinkage.

Shrinkage stopper number 1: make isness your business. So that means you wanna embrace

whatever is happening right now. So you wanna say yes to your isness. Really just like hug

the moment, so to speak. Because wishing it wasn’t so or going into any drama about

what already is done does you nothing but harm, and it hurts your brain. Plus making

isness your business doesn't make you a doormat and it doesn't mean that you’re not gonna

take action to change the situation. It means that you get yourself tight and right on the

inside so that if you do take action, if you can take action, it’s actually from a place

of clarity, not from a place of…

Shrinkage stopper number 2: recognize you have only 2 choices, so pick one. Now, here’s

what I mean. Once you make isness your business and get yourself tight and right on the inside,

realize you have 2 options to move ahead. Option number one is take action, meaning

do something about the situation. So pick up the phone, ask for help, set a gameplan

in place, have that tough talk, be an adult. Do whatever you’ve got to do if there is

something that can actually be done. And if there’s not something that can be done,

there’s option number two.

Option number two: car dance. Now, some situations are like being stuck in traffic. There is

nothing you can do about it. So you’ve got to make the best of it. Because, really, like,

what other choice is there? You can, of course, curse, you can melt down, you can honk your

horn and all the other cars honking their horns, or you can crank up the tunes and you

can dance it out. Now, that’s what I used to do whenever I was stuck in the Holland

tunnel when I lived in Jersey trying to get into the city and, I’ve gotta say, not only

did it help me not stress myself out, but I also gave myself a six pack.

And that, my friend, is how not to make yourself dumb. So let’s wrap this up on a Tweetable.

“Stress comes from resisting what is. If you want less stress, make isness your business.”

Now I would love to hear from you. What’s one specific situation that seems to stress

you out on a consistent basis? And what negative impact does that create for you and, of course,

for those around you? And what would change if you no longer allowed yourself at all to

stress about that situation?

Now, as always, the best discussions happen after the episode over at MarieForleo.com,

so go there and leave a comment now.

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Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that special

gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll catch you next time

on MarieTV.