Live w/ Dr.Charryse 🧠: Resetting Your Baseline

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Depending upon when you are listening to this, it's a new month. Technically, it's also a new quarter. If you're listening to this right around the time that it's live. Welcome to fall. It is officially fall. I want you to consider this. A lot of times I come in and I encourage you to rate your weekend. But what I would like you to do and yes, I do need a cup of coffee that is this big this morning. Good morning, Steph Irwin. Hello Ken. Is I want you to really consider what do you need?

I want to shift us from just rating your week. Please do rate your week one to 10. One being the lowest 10 being. You are doing phenomenal given the context of your life. Let me know where you are the world. Many of you know that my home city is Charlotte and I want you to then add to that. What do I need this week? So share with me. Hello, Speak Wonder. Your rating where you are in the world and if you're comfortable, what have you identified in terms of what you need? Here's why those things are extremely important.

This is a time of year, year where we find opposing dynamics going on. Good morning, Eerie. For example, there may be some people who this is their uptick season. This is where they feel like they produce the most and they feel extremely creative and they are ready to be as hard and as fast as they can through the end of the year. I love that Speak Wonder. I need more peace too. However, for some of you, you might find you're tired, you're coming into October. Hello, Savannah. In a place where you need this year to smooth out and slow your pace.

So one of the things that I want to set from the beginning. Good morning, Marilyn. Is you determine how you're going to end your this last quarter, people are going to invite you to a million things. People are going to have all kinds of ideas about what you need to do. But part of me asking you to determine what you need is you want to be able to center yourself and make sure that you center your own well being. One of the things that nature teaches us, the seasons show us, is how to move with rhythm.

Many of you may have heard of the concept of a circadian rhythm. We all have a tentative circadian rhythm that exists during the day. It's set by the day and the night. And the seasons also tell us that this is actually a time to slow down and to go deeper. All right. So with that being said, I want our focus today to be centered around resetting your Baseline. You had a baseline that you set for yourself at the beginning of the year. Tell me this, when you came into 2025, what was your baseline?

Right. Did you come in thinking, this is going to be my year, here's all the things that I'm going to do. And then how has things. How have things changed from then till now? Steph Irwin. Oh, my goodness. I am so sorry. No, speak wonder. I'm so sorry to hear that you were in a car accident. I am glad that you are healthy and your body's okay. And hello from Pleasant, South Carolina, or hello to Pleasant, South Carolina. So again, beginning of the year, how did you start off the year? What was your mentality?

And then I want you to think about all of the things that have happened to you between January and now. And let's consider where your baseline needs to be, given everything that you've been through January through September. Because a lot of times we can get towards the final quarter and we're still operating off of unrealistic expectations. So let's talk resetting your baseline. Here's why it's important. As we move into the final quarter of the year, you're also feeling, just a recap from a few minutes ago, a little bit of mental fatigue, a little resistance.

You might feel a little heavy, you might feel a sense of autopilot, you might feel a sense of withdrawal or desire to kind of go out. You get to determine what that looks like. But let's really allow October to be a reset month where you pause and take inventory of what you need and how you'd like to finish the year. So brain science for a moment. Neuroplasticity is the brain's built in reset system. What that means is we have the ability to change. That to me, will always be one of the most exciting and the phenomenal aspects about being human.

We are not stuck in any habit, in any pattern and any way of thinking or being unless we choose to be there. Because we all have neuroplasticity. As long as you have a brain that is fully functioning. And I don't mean that in a funny way, I mean that in the sense that sometimes we've had traumatic brain injuries and different dynamics that do impact our brain. And I'm always cognizant of that. So the ability for our brain to reorganize itself, self, to form new connections allows us to constantly rewire and we get a say in how.

Here's one way that we challenge old systems, old ways of thinking, novelty, right? When we Create some kind of intentional practice that sparks and creates a new pathway. Maybe you bring something back in that you go, you know what? Four or five months ago I was doing this and I stopped. And I don't know why, or maybe I do, but when I was doing that, I felt really good. I'll give you an example out of my own life. My meditation life has suffered. I allowed myself to get way too busy and there's been so much transition that I've not anchored myself in meditation and prayer.

So one of the ways that I'm going to choose to reset my baseline is I started today with just kind of re establishing when I wake up, how I wake up, what I reach for when I wake up. Because I know that that's a practice that will help me anchor and rewire in a way that is helpful to me. So when we are intentional about creating those new pathways. For example, when you exercise, you create bdnf, Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factors Factor super important. It's like a fertilizer for your brain and it helps your neurons grow, thrive and connect.

And so here's the rule of thumb with bdnf. If we don't use it, we lose it. Let me also add as a caveat so that you're putting this together the way I want you to receive it. It is such an important time for you to continue to move your body. This is a season where we do have a desire to kind of slow down a speak. Wonder says to sequester and you can do that as you need to. But please continue to move and make sure that you are having some kind of gentle or moderate movement. For brain health, for heart health, and for your mental health, here are two practical ways that you can reset your baseline.

The first one is a micro novelty challenge. So each day do something a little different. Take a different route to work. Read a paragraph in a genre that you wouldn't normally pick up. Here's another one where I'm going to challenge myself. I love information. I love to read books that teach me something. I cringe as I say it, but I'm going to do it. I'm going to work on this month reading a book that is fiction. So if you have good ideas, honestly, please put them in the chat. What do I need to read that isn't about me learning something new?

You could listen to a song outside of your typical playlist. All of those tiny acts of novelty refresh the circuits of your mental energy so it keeps you out of that routine. Autopilot and then this works across all learning styles. Visually, kinesthetic, auditory. You decide. Second tip is a two minute power pause. So in the middle of your day, close your eyes and imagine a reset button. For me, it'll be one of those little push buttons that we've seen all over the place. Red with the white letters that says push picture its color or shape.

I love red, so I'm good with that. You decide what it looks like for you. You take a 30 second breath while holding that image and letting tension melt away. It's simple, it's fast, and it interrupts the brain's default loop and gives you a neurological reboot. Do not sleep on this tip. I know I give you guys tips and I can feel you in your mind being like, does that really work? I don't know if I want to try that one. Just try them. You might surprise yourself. Two minute pause, middle of the day reset button.

Here's the other value. Sometimes our days do not go the way that we would like for them to go. When we take those two minutes and we do that two minute reset push, it puts us in a situation where we also get to decide, okay, if the first half of my day did not look the way I wanted it to, this is the moment where I reset, where I pivot. I'm going to choose how the rest of this day goes instead of just letting our day take us for a ride and then getting at the end of the day and being frustrated and processing all of those emotions.

So here's your challenge. I want you, I want to encourage you. I cannot tell you what to do. I want to encourage you to commit to a seven day micro novelty log. And I'm going to ask you about it next Wednesday. I've got my month down. Even with travel, you will still see me every Wednesday morning. And keep an eye out, because there are going to be a lot more lives from me throughout the day and throughout the week. Each day, I want you to write down one small new thing you tried and then reflect on these two questions.

But first, a sip of cottage. What mental circuits are you overusing? Rumination. Worry. Autopilot. And then the second question is, what new circuits could you intentionally strengthen this month? Pause, reflection, encouragement. That's just an example. I want to end you with this thought. Growth is a choice. Neuroplasticity is the biological proof that your choice can become changed. So you decide what this month will look like for you. One day at a time. All right. As always, I'm so glad that you came.

It was wonderful to be with you, to spend time with you in this space. And I look forward to seeing you next week. Make it a great one.