The Halo Effect is a key concept in Dr. A’s Habits of Health Transformational System. When we build a Habit of Health, we get the direct reward for our health, but then we also unlock a range of secondary benefits that radiate outward, like the glow of a halo. For example, going to bed on time directly improves the quality of your sleep. At the same time, improving your sleep can boost your mood, improve your energy, impact the way you interact with others, and also supercharge the way your body uses sleep for learning, digestion, and recovery.
Using Habits of Health to improve your mind and enhance the way you interact with the world has been a big focus for me in recent months, so for this week’s blog, we are exploring a few of the ways you can use your daily healthy choices to give you more clarity of thinking, reduce anxiety, and help you regain control of your thoughts.
1. Habits of Healthy Sleep – Setting and keeping a bedtime.
I hinted at this reward in the introduction, but it’s so helpful that I want to make sure you don’t overlook it. A wealth of research connects sleep quality to your ability to manage your emotions and to make decisions. The less sleep we get, the more susceptible we are to reacting in ways we later regret. At the same time, we are more likely to make unhealthy eating choices when we are sleep-deprived, so if you want to feel better during the day and also stick to your Habits of Healthy Fuelings, improving your sleep is a good place to start.
2. Habits of Healthy Motion – Daily exercise.
Your body uses physical activity to manage the chemicals generated by stress. For our Stone Age ancestors, a stressful moment often meant immediately running or fighting, which forced the chemicals that generate stress out of their systems. Today, our fight or flight response is often triggered by something not truly life threatening, so we get the same chemical reaction from a tough conversation with our bosses, and then we go sit at a desk for another few hours.
Regular exercise has been found to improve emotional stability, improve your general outlook, and even enhance your creativity. So, while you might first start exercising to lose weight, you can also use exercise to help you when you’re feeling down or uninspired.
3. Habits of a Healthy Mind – Practicing mindfulness.
Initially, we talk about mindfulness as a way to become more present in the moment, helping us to see when our auto-pilot is reinforcing a Habit of Disease so that we can make the healthier choice instead. The ability to be more aware of our thoughts, feelings, and the choices available to us not only makes it easier to build Habits of Health around fuelings and exercise, but it can also help you to identify and resolve sources of stress and anxiety. Without the awareness that mindfulness brings, a stray thought can derail your entire day. With mindfulness, you can acknowledge that thought for what it is – a passing thought – and return to making the most of the present moment.
Getting the Most from the Halo Effect
As I’m sure you can see already, a few Habits of Health can compound the benefits you receive from the Halo Effect. The more Habits of Health you build, the brighter the glow of your halo. The stronger the Halo Effect becomes in your life, the easier you will find it to build new Habits of Health as the momentum of your choices build.
But it all starts with one choice, just one Habit of Health. Choose to start today if you aren’t already on the journey to optimal wellbeing.