Today’s world is full of unknowns. We all face adversity, but how you adapt defines who you are.

From the beginning of time, it’s been about survival of the fittest, or how creatures adapted to their ever-changing environment. It’s in our nature to adapt.

Adaptation comes with factors you can control, and ones you cannot.

The best way to be prepared for these changes is to control what you can.

I find the best way to do this is to make sure my body remains at baseline.

By putting your exercise, diet, drinking enough water, and sleep at the forefront, you can have enough mental clarity to take on challenges as your best self.

Hope Molecules

Exercise is crucial because it’s proven to relieve stress, improve memory, help you sleep better, and boost your overall mood.

If you’re having anxiety or depression around the adversity you’re facing, you can release it through physical stress.

Studies show that exercise can treat mild to moderate depression as effectively as antidepressant medication—but without the side effects.

Another study done by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that running for 15 minutes a day or walking for an hour reduces the risk of major depression by 26%.

It gets better.

There is a term called “hope molecules”.

These are molecules known as “organokines” and they are released into your body during resistance training (weight training).

They are essential for organ-to-organ communication, which gets us closer to that baseline I mentioned.

Imagine what all of this can do for your creativity.

Just taking a small break from your stress, can help you come back and deal with it more efficiently and effectively.

Cold Therapy

A huge trend recently in the fitness world has been cold therapy or cold plunging.

This not only helps lactic acid build up after your sore from a workout but increases the production of a neurotransmitter called norepinephrine (focus, attention, vigilance, mood).

As a result, cold therapy can produce a feeling of calm, happiness, and well-being which can also decrease feelings of depression and anxiety.

Not only that but there is something called “cold shock protein”. These are reserve proteins in our liver that are released in cold plunges.

When you submerge in water, your body also pushes oxygen to your core and your brain and burns calories at an insanely high rate.

(I’ll go into more detail in later articles.)

Input = Output

Diet is how we get energy and affects how we feel daily.We get about 20% of our water from food – most notably – fruits and vegetables, but many of us aren’t eating right to begin with.

A crappy diet of processed foods also provides more cravings and higher alcohol consumption.

Heavy alcohol consumption lowers mood, disrupts sleep, increases anxiety, and produces physical symptoms, emotional symptoms, and symptoms of fatigue throughout the next morning.

When you drink less alcohol it helps decrease your “hangxiety” and in turn, provides the mental clarity you need to make decisions.

As many times as you’ve heard it, water really is key for high-functioning mental capacity.

A study of women showed an increased rate of error of about 12% when dehydrated. You can literally change this in 20 minutes.

Recharge

When you’re in a pinch, you might think giving up sleep is necessary to get all your things done and be more productive, but it can really have the reverse effect.

Going without sleep can have the same effect on the body as drinking alcohol. Being awake for 24 hours is similar to having a BAC of 0.10% (above the U.S. drunk driving level of 0.08.).

When combined, sleep and gratitude are a great way to recharge.

One of my favorite practices is showing gratitude for the things I do have. Having a positive outlook can help rewire your brain, to deal with challenges in a more optimistic manner.

This doesn’t mean ignore life’s difficulties and act out of toxic positivity. Simply list out small wins that you are thankful for. It can be as simple as a conversation with a friend. 

Dr. Robert A. Emmons and Dr. Michael E. McCullough did a study on gratitude and found that after 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives vs those who wrote negatively or even neutrally.

No matter what is on your mind or all the things you need to do in the coming days, you have to live in the moment.

Taking the time to absorb your surroundings and enjoy what you have can help provide mental clarity and allow you to be more moldable, aka adaptable, to roadblocks you might encounter. 

With all this in mind, you have the tools to equip yourself for what’s next. That doesn’t mean it will be easy, it means you give yourself the best chance to win.