Get more wisdom in less time with a Heroic membership. Get started for FREE today: http://heroic.us/ Ready to actualize your Heroic potential? Move from Theory to Practice to Mastery: https://heroic.us/mastery Join 12,500+ Heroes from 110+ Countries by becoming a certified Heroic Coach: https://heroic.us/coach About Heroic: Heroic integrates ancient wisdom, modern science, and practical tools into a beautifully-designed app to help activate your best. Premium Heroic members have access to 600+ of the absolute greatest personal development books distilled into 25-min PhilosophersNotes and 50+ hour-long masterclasses on all areas of a flourishing life. === +1 #20: How to Stop Thinking The #1 Tip on How to Master this Important Lost Art (Inspired by Patrick McKeown) https://www.optimize.me/plus-one/how-to-stop-thinking Patrick McKeown is one of the world’s leading experts on optimal breathing. When I interviewed him recently, he made a very interesting point. He said that we spend all our lives in school learning how to think but that we’re never taught how to STOP thinking. Fact is, most of our “thinking” isn’t thinking at all. We’re simply looping the same unproductive thought over and over again. Get this: According to a study done at USC, the average person has 70,000 thoughts per day. And, according to some experts, 80-90% of those thoughts are useless. That’s crazy. (Literally.) It’s also really enervating. We waste a ton of energy spinning our mental wheels—creating more stress and anxiety and fatigue while diminishing our performance and well-being. (Not a winning combination.) So, learning how to STOP thinking is a very important skill. Patrick’s #1 tip on how to master the art of not thinking? Breathe. Specifically, breathe through your nose. Deeply (but lightly!) into your diaphragm. (One of Patrick’s Big Ideas we’ll talk about more in another +1 is the fact that we all breathe way too much—which, paradoxically, decreases the amount of oxygen released into our cells.) For now: Breathe through your nose. Deeply. Yet lightly. And, ahhhhh… Our mind has slowed down. All that wasted energy is recouped. btw: Two other ways to stop that mental chatter? Put your attention on your body = #2. And the final tip from Patrick? Immerse yourself in the present moment. Let’s think productively when it’s appropriate to do so. And then get really good at turning the brain off. === Get instant access to hundreds of free Optimize +1s (and unlock the full Optimize experience) at https://Optimize.me/