Tonight, take a closer look at something you probably do on autopilot: your nighttime teeth routine.

After watching a video from Ben Azadi about the oral microbiome, I started thinking differently about mouthwash. Some of the bacteria in your mouth may actually play an important role in nitric oxide production, and strong antiseptic rinses may disrupt that process.

That doesn’t mean every mouthwash is bad. It means it may be worth looking at what you’re using, what’s in it, and why it’s part of your routine.

Tonight: floss, scrape your tongue, brush the gumline, and examine whether your mouthwash is actually helping you create a healthier environment—or simply trying to kill everything.

Ben Azadi’s video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNZpD7sgbKk

Tonight, explore the difference between praise and appreciation. Praise can put someone on a pedestal, while appreciation allows you to recognize someone without making them bigger or yourself smaller. Before bed, choose someone you love and tell them specifically what you notice, value, or appreciate about them.

In part four of this self-assessment exercise, you’ll turn reflection into measurable results. After examining your facts, feelings, and focus, define the “fruit” you want in your faith, family, fitness, finances, and fun—then take one small action toward it tonight.

Your current results didn’t appear by accident. In part three of this four-part exercise, examine the focus—or lack of focus—that produced the facts of your life. Across faith, family, fitness, finances, and fun, ask yourself: What have I actually been paying attention to?

Yesterday, you separated the facts from the stories. Tonight, you add the emotional layer.

Using the same five areas—faith, family, fitness, finances, and fun—look at the facts you wrote down and identify the feelings, emotions, and stories attached to each one.

Don’t fix anything yet. Don’t judge it. Just notice what comes up.

Set aside no more than 20 minutes, tell the truth about how your life actually feels, and come back tomorrow for the next step.

Before you can change your life, you need to see it clearly. Tonight, map out the facts of your life across five areas—faith, family, fitness, finances, and fun. No excuses, emotions, or stories. Just an honest snapshot of where you are today. Tomorrow, we’ll take it to

If you have stacks of notebooks from conferences, seminars, and self-improvement events, tonight’s Night Shift is simple: pick one and spend five minutes going through it. Pull out anything worth acting on, put those actions somewhere you’ll actually use them, and consider letting the rest go.

You don’t need to preserve every insight you’ve ever written down. Sometimes the value isn’t in keeping the notes—it’s in finally doing something with them.

Tonight I read three chapters from Wallace D. Wattles’ The Science of Getting Rich: Chapter 4, The First Principle in the Science of Getting Rich; Chapter 14, The Impression of Increase; and Chapter 7, Gratitude. Three ideas that connect surprisingly well—how you think, what you communicate to others, and the role gratitude plays in keeping you pointed toward what you want to create.