Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and goalajieving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellovaliedo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode three point fifty one, and today we're going
Speaker 2: to get into something most leaders neglect but shouldn't and
Speaker 2: that's their mental fitness. Not their mental health necessarily, although
Speaker 2: that matters too, but more like their mental stimulation. The
Speaker 2: day to day job of leading people can slowly turn
Speaker 2: your brain into a task list machine, emails, meetings, budgets, repeat.
Speaker 2: That's not leadership, that's maintenance. So let's fix that. Let's
Speaker 2: get intentional about daying mentally sharp, curious, and engaged. Here
Speaker 2: is a top ten list of mental stimulation activities that
Speaker 2: help you stay sharp, fulfilled in a happy leader. Number
Speaker 2: one morning mind warm ups. Before you open email. Try
Speaker 2: something like wordle or a Saduku puzzle, or a quick
Speaker 2: round of chess on your phone. It's not just a game,
Speaker 2: it's your brain's warm up lap for the day. Start
Speaker 2: your day sharpening your logic and pattern recognition before diving
Speaker 2: into the chaos of leadership. And your job. Number two
Speaker 2: journal with a twist. Journaling isn't just for emotions. It's
Speaker 2: a place to solve problems. Once a week, write a
Speaker 2: leadership challenge like it's a case study. What went wrong?
Speaker 2: What could have gone better? What did I miss? Treat
Speaker 2: your day like it's prepping you for a TED talk.
Speaker 2: Number three the wh Why I walk? Take a ten
Speaker 2: minute walk, but with one role. You pick something you
Speaker 2: see and ask why why is that delivery truck park there?
Speaker 2: Why is that building designed that way? Why is that
Speaker 2: sign red and not blue? You're not looking for right
Speaker 2: answers your training curiosity. Number four Reverse roles exercise. Pick
Speaker 2: a role in your organization that you don't have, and
Speaker 2: imagine you're that person for ten minutes. What are they
Speaker 2: worried about today? What's on their plate? What decisions do
Speaker 2: they wish you'd make differently? This is leadership empathy training,
Speaker 2: fast and free. Number five Learn something totally random. Take
Speaker 2: one hour a week and go learn something that has
Speaker 2: nothing to do with your job. Watch a documentary on honeybees,
Speaker 2: or read about submarine warfare. Listen to a podcast about
Speaker 2: deep space. It's not a waste, it's cross training your brain.
Speaker 2: Number six Book Club of one. Always be reading a book,
Speaker 2: not scrolling, not headlines in actual book fiction, non fiction leadership,
Speaker 2: even graphic novels. Books slow your brain down and force
Speaker 2: you to focus. That's an underrated skill in today's rapid
Speaker 2: response leadership world. Number seven microw ted talks. Give yourself
Speaker 2: three minutes and explain something out loud and idea of value.
Speaker 2: A decision is if you're on a TED stage. It
Speaker 2: doesn't have to be recorded, but it forces clarity. If
Speaker 2: you can't clearly say it, you haven't clearly thought it.
Speaker 2: That's a leadership red flag. Number eight Mental debate drill.
Speaker 2: Take a strong opinion you have and argue the opposite
Speaker 2: side for five minutes, not just to be devil's advocate,
Speaker 2: but to train your ability to think flexibly. This kind
Speaker 2: of brain gymnastics helps you approach tough decisions with better
Speaker 2: balance and less bias. Number nine New environment, same job,
Speaker 2: once a week, do your usual routine in a totally
Speaker 2: different place. Take a zoom call from a park, write
Speaker 2: your reports from a coffee shop, move your one on
Speaker 2: ones outdoors. Physical shifts help spark mental ones. Your brain
Speaker 2: loves variety, its bored with your desk in number ten,
Speaker 2: play with people smarter than you. Seek out conversations with
Speaker 2: people who challenge you mentally. This doesn't have to be
Speaker 2: about leadership. It could be a chess partner, a history buff,
Speaker 2: a data scientist. The point is to surround yourself with
Speaker 2: brains that push yours steal sharpens steal. So leadership isn't
Speaker 2: just about making decisions or setting direction. It's about staying
Speaker 2: sharp enough to notice the details, nimble enough to change
Speaker 2: when needed, and aware enough to spot the blind spots.
Speaker 2: That takes mental stimulation. This list isn't about adding more
Speaker 2: to your day. It's about how you move through your day.
Speaker 2: A curious, stimulated brain leads better, listens better, and lives better.
Speaker 2: So try one or two of these this week and
Speaker 2: you'll notice the difference. You'll feel it, and eventually so
Speaker 2: will your team. And before I close, I've been notified
Speaker 2: that this show is number four on the feed spot
Speaker 2: Top thirty best seven minute podcast list. I've included a
Speaker 2: link in the show notes in case you want to
Speaker 2: check out that full list of podcasts. This has been
Speaker 2: the seven Minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more. Paul fell of Alito podcasts. Visit Paulfellowalito dot com.