9 Small Things That Will Help You Feel Amazing Again

The Mel Robbins Podcast

Mel Robbins shares nine simple, research-backed habits to instantly boost energy and well-being. These small changes are easy to apply daily and create surprisingly big emotional and mental shifts.

Key takeaways

• Mindset shapes action: believing you can leads to trying

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast. You know, a couple days ago, I asked you online in the stories on Instagram and comments on YouTube, what is keeping you from feeling amazing right now? I saw the same answers over and over. You feel exhausted, overwhelmed, stuck. And look, I get it because I've been feeling that way too. And so I thought to myself, all right, what could I do that could help you and me feel more energized today, as in right now, and without some big 90-day plan or some huge commitment because we don't have the energy for that. I found exactly what you and I needed to hear right now. There are nine simple changes that I'm going to share with you today that make a surprisingly big difference in your life and how you feel. These are like little life hacks that are super easy to remember, plus they're based on all the latest research on feeling better and improving your life and your health. And I guarantee you, you and I will be able to do all of them today. Now, if these nine small things feel a little familiar, that's because I've shared them before. They make such a big difference, so much so, that this episode that you're about to listen to became our most shared and recommended episode on YouTube. And it's one of my personal favorites. And you may not have heard it. And even if you have, trust me, this is exactly what you need to right now because you need these reminders again. So I wanted to give this episode to you and to me now so you can take back your time, your energy, and your sanity. I want to help you make your life easier right away because you deserve that. Hey, it's your friend Mel, and I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast. I am always so excited to be able to spend time together with you. And I want to start by thanking you for taking the time to listen to something that could help you be happier. today's conversation is absolutely going to do that. And if you're brand new, I also want to personally welcome you to the Mel Robbins podcast family and say you are listening to the perfect episode. Because I have nine simple changes that I'm going to share with you today that are going to make a surprisingly big difference in your life. And what I love about each one of these nine simple changes is that each one of them has its own kind of little fun way to remember it. I'm going to teach you the little tricks to remembering these things. And what's also really awesome about these nine simple changes is that each one is a way that you can apply the latest research in an easy way to your life. And the fact is, there are lots of episodes that you and I do together where we get to sit with the world-renowned leading experts on topics ranging from neuroscience and habits and health and happiness and relationships. and they go so deep on a specific topic. And I guarantee you, the second you hear me explain each one, you're going to be like, oh my gosh, I make so much sense. Why did I not think about it that way? And you're also going to go, thank you, Mel, because the way that you just explained it and that simple little saying that you gave me, now I can remember it. And if I can remember it, I can apply it. And not only can you apply it, you want to know how simple these nine changes are, you'll be able to do most of them while you're listening. And the ones that you can't do while you're listening, you'll be able to do them today. That's how easy and impactful this is going to be. So let's just start with the very first little change that you're going to make. I want you to start repeating that phrase that my grandma used to say to me to yourself. Whether you think you can or can't, you're right. And let's unpack that because there is so much power packed into that one little sentence. Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right. And I'm going to give you an example. Let's say that you're in a situation where you would really love to get a better job. I mean, who doesn't want to get paid more? Who doesn't want to work somewhere where they feel valued and they're having fun and they're making a difference. If you think you can't get a better job, are you going to apply? Nope. Are you going to do the work on your resume if you think, well, I can't get a better job? Nope, you're not. Are you going to network with your parents' friends or reach out to college friends so that you can get a better job? Not if you think you can't. Are you going to update your LinkedIn profile? Nope. Why? Because you think you can't. That might. mindset of thinking, I can't do that, stops you from taking action. And if you stop yourself from taking action because you think you can't do that, you're right. You can't do that. The mindset itself is what's stopping you from taking the actions that are going to get the result that you want. Now, let's flip it, okay? If you think you can get a better job, now what happens? Now you're opening the door to optimism, to hope. If you think you can get a better job by trying, you're going to want to try. You have a reason to try. You're going to feel more resilient. Because if you say to yourself, if I think I can or I think I can't, I'll be right. One thing that you say, if I think I can, creates a mindset where you try. And when you try, that's what matters, because it's all in the trying that you create the results. And so here's how you apply this first little change so that you create surprisingly big results in your life. Just start telling yourself, I can do that. I can try that. I think I can change my attitude. I can improve my relationship with my spouse. I can get in better shape. I can learn this AI coding thing if I wanted to? Because if you think you can, you'll be right, because you're going to be more likely to try. You're going to open up the door to all kinds of opportunities because now, just through that small little tiny shift in your mindset, I think I can. You will make the effort. So remember, the first tiny little change that creates a surprisingly big difference. We're talking domino effect here. Whether you think you can or you think you can't. You're right. So by gosh, you better tell yourself you can. Now let's go right in to the second little change that I want you to make. And honestly, I can't believe I didn't stumble into this one sooner. And I don't even know who to give credit to for this. But we're just going to take it and run with it. So the little change number two is this. If you want to get eight hours, of sleep, spend nine hours in bed. What the heck? That is so obvious. If you want to get eight hours of sleep, spend nine hours in bed. I'm the kind of person that if I think, okay, I want to get eight hours of sleep tonight, I literally climb in bed at 10 o'clock at night and then I set my alarm at 6 a.m. That's eight hours. Do I get eight hours of sleep? No, because it takes time to fall asleep. In fact, one of the world's most renowned researchers in the science of sleep is none other than Dr. Rebecca Robbins at Brigham and Women's Hospital right here in Boston, Massachusetts. It's one of Harvard's many hospitals in the Boston area. This is what she told me about the average time that it takes for someone to fall asleep. This is a great question, and I think a big area to promote awareness about because we think that we just should be able to crawl into bed and flip our brains off like a switch. Wrong. Sleep is a process. And so falling asleep actually takes time and more than a lot of people realize even a healthy sleeper with no problems should take about 15 or 20 minutes to fall asleep. I mean 15 to 20 minutes on average if you have no problems. And when I was mentioning this little simple change, you want to get hours of sleep, you better spend nine hours in bed. My friend and one of the producers on the show, Amy, she looked at her kind of sleep data and she's like, well, no wonder, I consistently track at seven hours, 35 minutes. Why? Because like you and like me, she's climbing into bed at the exact time she thinks she needs to fall asleep and then she sets her alarm for eight hours later. And we're not doing that anymore. You and I, we are making a little change that's going to have a surprisingly big impact. Instead of you and I focusing on getting eight hours of sleep, nope, we're not going to do that. We're going to focus on spending nine hours in bed. Doesn't that just shift your mindset right away? Simple change. Surprisingly big difference. And I want you to think about that in your own life. Think about it tonight. Instead of thinking that you need to get eight hours of sleep, I want you instead to go, oh, I got to spend nine hours in bed. And you want to know the cool thing? So let's just say that you're one of the lucky people that Dr. Rebecca Robbins was just talking about. You can fall asleep quickly. That's wonderful. 15, 20 minutes, bada bada bada boom. if you think about being in bed for nine hours and you fall asleep 20 minutes into climbing into that bed and then you wake up eight hours later, guess what? You've got 40 minutes to spare and you're now getting up even earlier than you thought. I mean, this is such a win for such a simple change. I've just freaking love this. And while we're on the topic of sleep, I've got another little change that will make a huge difference in the quality of sleep and your ability to fall asleep. I call this the 5-10-20 rule. I'm going to break it down in a minute, but this relates to all of this research that's out there right now about getting light exposure first thing in the morning and how if you get up and you get outside right away and you get exposure in your eyeballs right away, it resets your circadian rhythm, and that helps you sleep at night. Now, all this research is super-duper exciting, but the second that you hear, okay, the moment you get up in the morning, one of the best things that you can do