3 Daily Things for Personal Development

Mind, Body, and Spiritual Development is the Key!

The Origin of The Daily 3

I started doing The Daily Three when I was a young Marine officer. Doing this practice helped me in all areas of my personal and professional life. It has been great how something that only takes a little bit of time each day can have such a big impact. I'm not the only one who has found this to be true. I've taught The Daily Three t people from all walks of life and they have reported the same results.

The key to success with The Daily Three is consistency.

It's not about doing it perfectly, it's about doing it every day. When you make it a habit, it becomes part of who you are and what you do. It's like brushing your teeth or taking a shower. You don't think about it, you just do it.

The Daily Three is simple, but it's not easy.

It will challenge you and push you outside of your comfort zone. That's good! Embrace the challenge and use it as motivation to become the best version of yourself.

Marine Corps Inspires

The Marine Corps, at the time, had and still may have something called The Daily Seven. The Daily Seven was a set of exercises that included a three-mile run, pull-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, squat thrust, and a bunch of other calisthenics that you should do every day.

In a professional sense, that's what The Daily Three is.

I think that if you endeavor to do these three things every day, you will be in a much better position personally and professionally. Over time, you'll have significant progress. Not only in your career, but as a human being.

What are The Daily Three?

1. Train your mind.
2. Train your body.
3. Train your spirit.

Let's talk about them a little bit.

Number one, Train Your Mind

No matter what you are doing, your brain is the most important thing you have. You can train your mind in many different ways. One way is to get a formal education. But you can also learn by being curious and asking questions. If you don't know something, ask a question!

Read!

Reading is a great way to train your mind. You should be reading something all the time. You should have a book that you're working on, and you should read the newspaper every day. If you just read 10 minutes every day, about 20 pages, think about how many books you would go through in a year and how much further ahead you would be.

Try Something New

Doing new activities, we've never done before may be the most beneficial activities for us in later life. Participants in one of the most important studies learned either digital photography or quilting. The findings showed that people in these 'productive-engagement' groups had better memory performance. 

The study also found that when these groups were tested six years later, those who had done the new activities showed a delay in onset of memory decline by an average of 2.6 years when compared to the control group.

Maintain Cognitive Fitness

Memory and other cognitive changes can be frustrating, but the good news is that decades of research have revealed how to get your mind moving. There are a variety of ways we can maintain cognitive fitness. Here are a few you might try.

1. Challenge Your Brain with Mental Exercises. Mental exercises are one of the best ways to sharpen your mind. This stimulates your brain cells, causing them to communicate with one another. Solving the Rubik's cube can be a great cognitive exercise. You may also want to try a new pastime or learn a foreign language. Learning new skills, mentoring others, and volunteering are all ways to challenge your brain.
2.  Repeat Information. Repetition and writing down information you've just read or heard is a good way to recall it. This helps to reinforce the new information in your memory. However, don't just repeat the information several times and then forget about it. Instead, plan to revisit it in the near future. In other words, space it out. Review your new knowledge every few hours throughout the day, every day, until it becomes ingrained in your mind. You're helping to improve your memory by spacing out periods of study. Thus, repetition works best when it's timed correctly.
3.  Engage More with People in Challenging Games. Other people should be included in addition to challenging yourself with games. You're 65 percent to 75 percent more likely to stay sharp and prevent memory disorders like Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases when you engage in interactive, challenging games and activities with others. Dancing is another form of social interaction that aids in the development of your brain.
4.  Make Schedules. Consider how today's business world is extremely competitive and busy. That's why creating schedules should be a requirement rather than an option for your personal development growth. Time management is, in a nutshell, critical if you want to grow personally and professionally. Learn to prioritize, as some jobs require more urgency than others.

Number 2, Train Your Body

Let's talk about training your body. The Marine Corps is big into physical fitness, so you don't have to tell Marines to work out. However, it's something that, in general, much of society could use more of.

Handle Stress

There's a secondary benefit to the physical training aspect. I've seen this deployed in combat, and I've seen this in stressful situations, it is that people in better physical condition tend to make better decisions under challenging and very stressful conditions.

Everyday Stress

If you think, I'm not going to join the Marine Corps. I'm not going in there. I'm not going to be in combat. I don't need to worry about this. You're wrong. Okay. So why do I say that? A job may entail a lot of late-night deadlines, you're there at midnight working on a proposal or your work may involve doing something very stressful. That's going to happen in almost everybody's career. And the better physical condition you're in the better you're going to be able to handle that and the better decisions you're going to make, especially in a sleep-deprived environment.

Fitness

So what kind of fitness should you pursue? Well, that depends on your goals. But here are some things to keep in mind. First, focus on functional fitness. That is exercises that mimic the activities you do in everyday life. If you sit at a desk all day, focus on exercises that target the muscles you use when you sit. This will help to counteract the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

Sleep

Finally, don't forget to get adequate sleep. Most people need around eight hours of sleep per night. Lack of sleep can have a negative impact on your physical and mental health. It can also make it difficult to concentrate and make good decisions.

So think about the things that you can do to improve your physical fitness, whether it is taking a walk every day, going for a jog, going to the gym, or playing a sport. All of these things are going to help you handle stress better, make better decisions under pressure, and improve your overall health.

Number 3, Train Your Spirit

The last one is training your spirit, training your soul. What I mean is, this is more personal. Everything we know about humans point to some subconscious need for understanding.

As Napoléon Bonaparte stated, “The moral is to the physical as three is to one."

This is something that is often neglected in today's society, but it is incredibly important for your personal development. Why? Because if you don't have a strong foundation, everything else is going to crumble.

What is the foundation?

Your beliefs, your values, and your principles. These are the things that you stand for. These are the things that guide your actions and your thoughts.

If you don't have a strong foundation, you're going to be all over the place. You're going to be pulled in different directions by different things. And this is going to have a negative impact on your personal development.

But if you have a strong foundation, you're going to be more resistant to the negative influences in your life. You're going to be able to weather the storms better. And you're going to be able to pursue your goals with more focus and more determination.

How do you develop a strong foundation?

Well, it starts with understanding yourself. Who are you? What do you stand for? What are your beliefs? What are your values? What are your principles?

Once you have a good understanding of who you are, you need to start building on that. You need to develop your character. You need to become the best possible version of yourself. You need to do the things that are important to you. You need to develop a strong moral compass.

And you do this by reading and studying the things that are important to you. You do this by surrounding yourself with positive people who will support you and help you grow.

Spiritual health is the part of our well-being that organizes our values, relationships, and lives' meaning and purpose. You need to do things that train your ethics, that train your understanding of life.

Mindfulness

One way to do this is to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is the quality of being present and aware of what's happening around you. It's about being in the moment and not letting your thoughts wander. When you're mindful, you're less likely to get caught up in negative thinking and rumination.

Practice Mindfulness

There are many different ways to practice mindfulness. You can try meditation, yoga, or tai chi. Or you can simply focus on your breath and be aware of your surroundings.

Inspiration

Another way to train your spirit is to read inspiring stories or books. Stories about people who have overcome great obstacles or who have done something amazing can inspire you to be your best self.

In conclusion

If you incorporate the practice of The Daily Three, every day, it doesn't take much time. Even when you look at it, a half-hour workout, 10 minutes of mental training, 10 minutes is spiritual training is less than an hour out of the day. You're talking less than an hour a day. And the gains that you'll make on a personal and professional level will be significant.

As you can see, there are many things you can do to improve your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. These are just a few suggestions. Experiment and find what works best for you. And don't forget to make time for the things that are important to you. If you neglect your physical, mental, or spiritual health, you'll pay the price in terms of your overall well-being.

I highly recommend you incorporate The Daily Three into each day and look forward to hearing what you think.

Key References

Health.Harvard.edu. (n.d.). 7 ways to keep your memory sharp at any age. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/7-ways-to-keep-your-memory-sharp-at-any-age

Meeting clients' spiritual needs. Nurs Clin North Am. 2007 Jun;42(2):279-93, vii. doi: 10.1016/j.cnur.2007.03.002. Nurs Clin North Am. 2007. PMID: 17544683 Review.