Seven Habits to Jump Start a Healthy Mind and Body.

So where do you start in finding the balance needed to achieve both a healthy heart and healthy mind? Taking small, but meaningful, steps is the key to forming positive and lasting health habits — but this is sometimes more easily said than done! Long term behavior change often falls flat when approached in a drastic way (think of all the well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions that are abandoned by February), so instead of a big shift, think about taking these small steps:

1. Focus on one thing at once: Map out your day, compartmentalize your time, and avoid multitasking, even during meals.

2. Dedicate a moment to meditate: Just as you devote time every day to watch your favorite TV show, eat a meal or take a shower, it’s important to pencil in time — even if just a few minutes — to practice mindfulness.

3. Move your body: Set a reminder to get up and move around at least once every hour, whether it’s a walk around the block or even a stroll to the water fountain. Although it’s easy to think you need that additional 15 minutes to finish a task, ignoring our bodies’ needs can actually make our minds less productive. In addition, clock in at least 30 minutes of exercise daily, which can be as simple as walking to work, walking to lunch or vowing to always take the stairs.

4. Practice moderation with meals: Variety is the spice of life, and it should be the spice of your food choices, too. Think about incorporating colorful foods into each meal, and try to remember moderation: don’t deprive yourself of the foods you love, but make sure to compensate healthfully at other meals when you do indulge.

5. Track your activity: Today there are a variety of apps and devices (such as fitbit, Moves and RunKeeper), available at different price points, that help us track activity and calories burned.

6. Use higi to pair activity data with outcomes: There’s a free tool available where you already shop for groceries or pick up your prescriptions that allows you to see the impact of this activity on your health: higi, which makes tracking your health simple, fun and rewarding, offers free self-screenings of your blood pressure, pulse, weight and body mass index at retail Stations nationwide.

7. Join my Challenge: Feedback is a powerful driver of human behavior: it’s how we measure success through school, progress in our careers and maintain personal relationships. So too is feedback data — and the context around it — critical to changing our health behaviors.

I believe so strongly in the power of pairing activity data with outcomes to achieve a healthy mind and body that I’ve teamed up with higi this month for Deepak’s Challenge, which will award one grand prize winner with a trip to meet me and 25 runners-up with a signed copy of my latest book, The 13^th Disciple.

Joining the challenge is simple: Just visit my Challenge page, click “Join higi” to create your free account, follow the instructions to sync your activity tracking device (if you have one) to earn points for physical activity, then find the higi Station nearest you to check your vitals and start earning points for check-ins. Earn just 1,000 points this month to become eligible. Even more rewarding? You can redeem those points on healthy rewards, including a weekly chance to win a Misfit Shine.

I hope you’ll join me on the journey to creating positive and lasting health habits!