You’ve been told success comes down to willpower, grit, and outworking everyone else—and chances are, you’ve already lived some version of that story and made it true. You’re someone who has built their career through discipline and drive. But if you’re still relying only on brute force to get through your workload, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Namely, much of the capacity of your brain. This May, it’s time to create momentum by authentically working smarter. This means harnessing the power of neuroscience, which has the roadmap for you to follow. The efforts are up to you, but if you commit, results become inevitable.
I’m grateful to live in a time when we know our brains are not fixed machines. Rather, they are adaptable, dynamic powerhouses that respond to your environment, habits, and mindset. The proven science of neuroplasticity shows that your brain is constantly rewiring itself based on what you focus on and how you respond to stress, challenge, and even rest.
You might be surprised to learn that the way you structure your day, the way you breathe during conflict, and even the tone of your self-talk are all shaping your neural pathways. You’re either reinforcing burnout or you’re building your resilience. There is no neutral ground.
Professionals in high-stakes roles—especially attorneys—often operate with chronically high cortisol levels. When I burned out from my law career, my stress levels were through the roof. I used to say I was at DEFCOM 5 24/7. What I thought was happiness was low-grade anxiety. The stress hormone plays a role, keeping you alert in the short term, but over time, it impairs memory, reduces emotional regulation, and shrinks the hippocampus, the area of your brain responsible for learning and recall. You could continue to work harder and harder, pushing your best efforts to keep the hamster wheel going. But in doing so, you literally compromise your natural abilities. You can’t afford to let stress hijack your cognitive edge, especially when your brain is your greatest asset.
The good news is (and there is always good news), you can interrupt this cycle. May is the perfect month to shift from mental overdrive to creating intentional momentum. Neuroscience-backed strategies allow you to optimize how your brain functions. I suggest going to the root and beginning with how you start your day. When you begin your morning in reaction mode, checking emails or doomscrolling before you’ve even grounded yourself, your amygdala becomes activated. That’s your brain’s threat detector, and it’s far from subtle. It primes your nervous system for fight-or-flight, which makes thoughtful decision-making harder. Most of us have already lost some control over our emotions and our day’s experiences before we even leave home.
Instead, you can train your brain to anchor itself. Just five minutes of breathwork or focused attention before jumping into the storm can help activate your prefrontal cortex—the area responsible for strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, and problem-solving. With this small but impactful change, you move into what I call your Guru state. That shift alone can change the trajectory of your entire day.
Momentum sounds like it is about speed, but it’s actually about direction. Neuroscience shows that the brain needs small, consistent wins to build that momentum and to head in the directions you desire. When you check off a task, complete a case file, or simply step away from your desk to recalibrate, your brain gets a natural hit of dopamine. It’s your brain’s way of saying, “Let’s keep going.” Many people associate dopamine primarily with pleasure, which is one of its hallmarks, but it’s also the engine of motivation. It thrives on progress and does not care about perfection.
You can use this understanding to your advantage. Set up your workday so that you’re fueling your brain, not draining it. Break up heavy cognitive tasks with intentional resets. Step outside for sunlight, even a few minutes can regulate your mood and help you sleep more deeply that night. That’s far from a luxury. If “used correctly”, it’s a performance tool. And it feels good and requires extremely little effort! The ROI is tremendous.
As attorneys and high-level professionals, I know you pride yourself on pushing through. But your nervous system isn’t built to be on all the time. Cognitive load builds, and when it does, it silently lowers your ability to focus, listen, and retain information. You might notice yourself rereading the same paragraph or forgetting what someone just said on a call. That’s not a lack of discipline on your part. It’s your depleted brain asking for a break.
The fastest way to regain momentum isn’t to grind through it—it’s to strategically pause. Neuroscience shows that even microbreaks—just 60 to 90 seconds of shifting your focus—can reset your attention span and restore working memory. The brain needs contrast to stay sharp.
You don’t need an overhaul to get results. You need consistency. That’s how the brain wires new habits—through repetition and emotional reward. When you feel better after taking a walk or setting a boundary with a client, your brain remembers that and starts to favor those choices.
In May, I invite you to align your habits with how your brain actually functions. This is the season of momentum, when the year is in motion, but burnout is generally not on the imminent horizon. It’s the perfect time to reassess what you’re doing, and more reflectively, how you’re doing it.
High performers often wait until something breaks—health, relationships, passion—before they recalibrate. I know I did. But your brain loves proactive moves. The more you anticipate what it needs, the more it gives back in stamina, focus, and creativity. You begin to develop the cutting edge of cognitive performance.
You’re much more than what you do for a living. You’re a neural ecosystem. Every email, every conversation, every glass of water or skipped lunch either supports or sabotages that system. If you want long-term success, you need to start optimizing for sustainability, not just sprints. Neuroscience gives you the tools to create a thriving mind inside a demanding role. But you have to use them.
This May, make your momentum intentional. Let it be grounded in the biology of your brilliance and potential, and leave behind the trajectory of burnout of your past habits. Train your brain to work with you by understanding its functions and harnessing them accordingly. Then you will move from working smarter into your future of elevated professional excellence and personal peace of mind.
I invite you to read my award-winning book, which offers a compelling invitation to harness the energy of spring to reawaken and optimize your brain’s potential. Link Here