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  • Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business

  • 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 youre 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 youre 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 youve 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 youve 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.

  • Did you like this video? If so, subscribe to our channel because it rocks. And, of course,

  • we’d be so appreciative if you shared this with your friends. And if you want even more

  • incredible resources to create a business and life that you love, plus some personal

  • insights from me that I only talk about in email, come on over to MarieForleo.com and

  • sign up for email updates.

  • 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.

Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business

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