Written by Jessi Kohlhagen You have been blessed with the power to choose. Every living, breathing moment, you are making a choice. What to eat, how to move, how to react, how to breathe, what information to consume, what desires to indulge, how much to work, how much to play, who to connect with, how to care for yourself… The average adult makes around 35,000 choices each day. The beautiful thing about being human is that we have the power to make these choices consciously or unconsciously. And whichever we choose will consistently deliver, in tangible and measurable form, a quality of experience that harmonizes with our choices.
The Evolution of Our Consciousness
Making conscious choices can be a tricky thing, because our experience of “consciousness” is a moving, evolving, unfolding experience. It’s extremely difficult (if not impossible) to see our current blind spots because, well, we’re blind to them!

Written by Lifebook contributor Paige Johnson For some people, it seems like a healthy lifestyle comes naturally. No matter what stressful event life throws at them, they never seem to be thrown off of their health game. Day in, day out, they stick to a healthy diet, avoid unhealthy habits, and exercise. They even find a way to smile about the whole ordeal. This begs the question, how do healthy people stick to their lifestyle?
It starts with a smile
Being happy about your current lifestyle may not be a realistic choice right now due to a few bad habits that you possess. Despite this, you could find something to smile about, like the fact that you are reading this and hoping to learn what the winning ticket to a healthy lifestyle is. The benefits of smiling can be vital to the success of your healthy lifestyle goal, thanks to the way that smiling promotes positive feelings. This trick will work regardless of whether or not the smile is real, and it may help you maintain a good mood throughout the day. The uplifting mood a smile generates is nothing to scoff at either. Your happy, smiling face can aid you in alleviating stress and tension on a molecular level. Over time, the physical relaxation you feel could make you more productive, meaning that you may find yourself a bit more eager to go on a walk or hit the gym.
Where to improve
Now that you have your go-to energy booster, it is time to decide on which unhealthy habit you would like to eliminate from your daily routine. Make the first habit you pick as specific as possible, and preferably something you can change right now. By focusing on removing one bad habit at a time, the odds of succeeding greatly increase. If you opt to choose a habit you can alter right now, it becomes more probable that you will start your healthy lifestyle transition today.

Lifebook Pocast Host Jordan River presents his top 6 favorite podcasts mind-expanding podcasts in honor of Intellectual Month. Each of these podcasts are informative and creative… and there’s sure to be something for everyone. Click here to download the audio (right click player and "save as"). Here are...