Category: ListFriday

13 Must Read Books To Improve Your Habits and Life

Happy Friday Shockers! We hope you had a great week!  Team Pavlok has an exciting weekend ahead with our founder and CEO Maneesh giving a TEDx talk on the greatest story ever told.  You can hear his outline of the speech here.

While we typically reserve Friday’s for sharing interesting stories around the web, a fellow Shocker recently asked what some of the best books on habits were, so our team put together some of our favorites.

As you know, habit change and personal growth are a never-ending journey – there’s always more we can learn!

While not all these books are specifically related to habits, we’re confident you’ll find a gem or two to help you take your habits and life to the next level!

The Power of Habit – Easily one of the most popular habit books in the last ten years, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg shares the latest scientific discoveries on how to change your habits and behavior. If you haven’t given this a read yet, cancel your weekend plans.

Mindset:The New Psychology of Success – Written by Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., this incredibly successful book put the concept “growth mindset” on the personal development map. Dweck shares some of the best insights and strategies to live an exceptional life.

The One Thing – With so many apps, hacks, and strategies pulling us in thousands of directions, it’s no wonder it’s so hard to make lasting change. The One Thing challenges us to hone our focus and make daily strides in the areas of our lives that matter. If you’ve struggled to stay focused on your big picture goals this book is for you.

Drive – Understanding motivation and how it affects your day to life is essential in building a life in which you’re growing and improving every day. In this excellent book, Daniel Pink shares the latest research on motivation and why it’s so misunderstood. You’ll walk away with a new understanding of the world after you finish this one.

Allen Carr’s Easy Way To Quit Smoking – One of the most popular books on how to quit smoking every written, Allen Carr takes a unique approach to how to quit smoking for good. If you’ve struggled to quit smoking no matter what you’ve tried, this book will give you the mindset needed to become a non-smoker once and for all.

Make It Stick – Learning how to learn is one of the most beneficial investments you can ever make. Unfortunately, we rarely take the time to examine how we’ve been taught to learn and whether or not what we have been taught is effective.  Drawing on the latest psychology and cognitive science, you’ll learn how to be more productive in your personal and professional life.

The Miracle Morning – One of the best selling books in recent memory, and for good reason, Hal Elrod shares his incredible transformation from having a morning routine. Even if you’ve never considered yourself a ‘morning person’ this book is packed with actionable insight on how to get the most out of your day.

The Motivation Myth – “Motivation” is perhaps one of the most misunderstood concepts in science and personal development today. What’s the real ‘secret’ to motivation? Are people born with the ‘motivation’ gene? One of INC.com’s most popular columnists shares a deep dive of the latest research on motivation, and his findings will surprise you.

The Now Habit – Procrastination is a habit. The Now Habit shares actionable steps and strategies to help you stop delaying and get to work. With dozens of inspiring stories from ‘lifelong procrastinators,’ there’s plenty to take away and apply in your life. While we all procrastinate from time to time, this book will show you how to be more productive and get more done than you ever thought possible.

Nudge – With the average person making hundreds of choices each day, everything we do from what we wear to our bedtime routine can change the quality of our life. Nudge shares the latest research on how to make high-quality decisions that will create positive ripples throughout every area of your life.

Predictably Irrational – One of the most popular books among the Pavlok team, Dan Ariely shows how irrational humans are. Why do we spend hundreds of dollars on a night out, but cut out coupons for the grocery? Why do we have such counterproductive habits when it comes to romantic relationships? This book is a true masterclass in human behavior.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull – This short story about a seagull committed to living his best life is sure to move you to think about how you can take your life to the next level. It didn’t sell millions of copies around the world on accident. If you’ve ever struggled to fit in especially when it comes to your personal development journey pick up a copy today.

The Compound Effect – Small actions add up over time. Instead of swinging for the fences with your habits, finances, and fitness, invest in the long term and take small actions each day. If you’ve struggled to lose weight, quit smoking, or move up in your career, this book is a must-read.

That’s it for our special edition of #LinkFriday.

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next week!

-Team Pavlok

6 Products That Will Change Your Sleep Forever….

As you may have noticed, over the last few weeks we’ve discussed a lot about the power of a morning routine, and while we’ll have much more about that coming up soon… getting high quality sleep should be your number one focus when trying to improve your habits and life.

At Pavlok we believe getting high quality sleep is one of the best things you can do improve your life.  Being well rested is especially important for having more willpower and implementing positive habits.

Unfortunately, you’ll read a lot of blogs and books out there that push the “Hustle! #NOSLEEP” lifestyle, which for many, does much more harm than good.

Of course, we believe in working hard in any area you’re trying to improve, but you shouldn’t sacrifice quality sleep in the process. If you’re looking to dive into the science of sleep, we highly recommend Arianna Huffington’s recent book “The Sleep Revolution.”

In today’s post, we’ll be sharing 5 products that will help you get better quality shuteye — all tested personally by the Pavlok team.

1. Philips Wake Up Light

One of the reasons many people are so groggy in the morning is because they wake up to a blaring alarm in the wrong stage of sleep.

Making sure you wake up at the ideal stage of your sleep cycle goes a long way in making sure you wake up with the most energy and focus as possible.

The Philips Wake Up Light is programed to wake you up gradually within a 30 minute window and it’s light mimics the sunrise, so your body is woken up naturally.

It also includes a variety of soothing sounds from nature and elsewhere so you wake up feel refreshed and ready to go.

 

2. Melatonin

For most people, getting to fall asleep is the biggest roadblock to actually getting high quality sleep.

Maybe you toss and turn for several hours before finally reaching dream land.

Melatonin is easily one of the most effective supplements to help you fall asleep and quickly.

Melatonin is a hormone found naturally in the body and responsible for adjusting your bodies internal clock. Unfortunately, many of our bodies “internal clocks” are a little off.

When taking Melatonin, you’re basically telling your brain — it’s time for bed. It won’t work for everyone, but for many, it does just the trick.

Note: We don’t play doctor at Pavlok, but one of the benefits of melatonin over a prescribed sleep medication, is melatonin is not addictive by nature. Please speak with your Dr. first.

 

3. Flux

One of the reasons our bodies “internal clocks” are so off, is we’re constantly being bombarded with unnatural light, particularly from our computer and phone screens.

So it’s no wonder why after watching Netflix for three hours before bed, you struggle to finally get some sleep after shutting your computer down.

Fortunately, there’s an awesome application that alters the color of your screen to emulate the respective time of day, so your body and eyes know it’s getting close to bed.

Using your phone and computer’s GPS signal, Flux will alter your screen light automatically. After using Flux for a few weeks you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

You can download Flux here.

 

4. Swannies Blue Light Blocking Glasses

Altering the light from your computer screen and phone are one thing, but there’s still plenty of bad light that affects your sleep — your TV, Kindle, the light outside, etc.

Blue Light Blocking Glasses are designed to block ANY incoming bad light so you’re free to continue on as usual.

Most blue light blocking glasses are anti reflective and anti glare so it actually reduces quite a bit of stress on your eyes as well.

Just pop these bad boys on an hour or two before you go to sleep.. and you’re good to go.

These glasses are game changing.

 

5. Aroma Therapy + Music

Another fantastic combo for getting to bed at a decent hour is aroma therapy + soothing music.

You can get an aromatherapy mister and humidifier for just 20 bucks.

It’s a nice ritual to get your brain in the mood for sleep and helps you relax after a long or stressful day.

My favorite go to is Lavender while listening to The Monument Valley soundtrack.

I fall asleep almost instantly.

6. The Pavlok

The best way to improve any area of your life is to start tracking.

If you’re trying to lose weight, log what you eat.
If you’re trying to gain muscle at the gym, log every workout.

The same goes with sleep.

Use the Pavlok to help you track your sleep.

Over time as you continue to track your sleeping behavior, you’ll discover patterns on what your body does and does not respond to.

Maybe you start to notice your sleep quality is significantly better when you don’t drink. Or maybe you notice you get more sleep if you read before bed.

The only way to find out is to track it, the Pavlok and our app will help you get there.