Next level? First, get the basics right.

"You must master the basics before you try to take yourself to the next level."

Heard that before? Throwing in a few thoughts to reflect on and challenge ourselves on. 

I think, there are quite a few items we human beings should go “back to the basics” with, as it’s clear we do not master them and they cause us trouble in life (even without us realizing).

These are: 

• Breathing
• Sleeping
• Eating
• Entertainment
• Conversing 

 Basics, right?

What’s wrong then? I am happy to do a 1-hour talk around each of these topics but today I’ll try to summarize the key points instead. 

Breathing: Most of us have some issues with breathing. This could be anything from mouth breathing to chest breathing or in between. Breathing issues affect our cognitive game and so much more! 

Sleeping: Sleep deprivation, poor quality of sleep. Causes and effects vary. What’s clear, if you don’t sleep, your brain is not going to function either. Nor is your body.

Eating: Processed foods, vegetable oils, sugar, alcohol (not eating but drinking).. can’t talk enough of these. Your gut health is linked to your brain. 

Entertainment: We over consume entertainment, through mobile phones, Netflix, social media, internet… 100 years ago you would’ve been happy with one cultural experience (show, theatre, circus) a year! Imagine! Our brains have not developed to handle that kind of increase in these types of activity levels. 

Conversing: What is a dialogue anyhow? We are so busy looking at the phones or screens or planning what’s next that we are unable to be present in the conversation. What is true active listening? How does one actually ask questions? And why?

And I didn’t include movement here. That’s for another time. 

So much to work on, but hey - that’s life. Live and learn. 

With the above, I’d like to challenge us to go back to basics should we wish to become “Masters of Life". Or Superhumans.

___________________________________________________

About Satu Ahlman  

Satu Ahlman is the Founder and Performance Advisor at Saga Performance. Her passion is for people development through a complex systems approach to performance. This leads to incredible results with top #executives, athletes, and #entrepreneurs around the world. 

Saga Performance works with corporate professionals as the catalyst to achieving and sustaining high #performance. Typically, our clients are executives, entrepreneurs, and driven corporate professionals who seek to optimize nutrition, sleep, and ability to cope with stress. Through genetics, additional testing, technology, and behavior change, our clients gain higher energy, increase focus, and build stress resilience.