Brain Boosting Strategies
If I were to tell you that there was just one surefire way to boost your brain power, I would be lying – because the fact of the matter is that the human brain can be boosted and stimulated so many ways that it’s actually difficult to pick particular strategies because there are simply so many of them.
In this part of the book, I’m going to show you all of the possible ways that you can improve your brain power through different strategies. In the first part of the book, I showed you how to feed your brain by picking special wholesome food items.
In this part of the book, we are going to dive headlong into the different ways that you can increase your brain power, because once you’ve improved your diet by integrating specific food items that enhance the brain’s functions, you are now ready to apply strategies to stimulate your brain. Let’s start!
Important Note: Some strategies require more work than others. Choose strategies that are doable in the first few days and weeks and feel free to add more strategies as you see fit.
Mind Mapping
You have probably heard of software programs that allow you to create “mind maps” or groups of interconnected ideas. While these software programs are great for presentations and the like, you are by no means limited to these software programs if you want to try mind mapping.
Mind mapping is best done either on paper or on a large board. So if you want to buy something for yourself to improve your mind mapping, experience, I recommend a large sketching pad or a simple notebook.
You need lots of paper so you won’t run out of space and the two options I mentioned are the most cost-effective choices.
Since your mind maps will be used later on, either for your personal use or for your work, having a thick sketch book would be worth it. And the best thing about these things is you can easily bring them anywhere you want!
For those of you who like technology (i.e. tablet computers), you are free to try a sketching software for your mind maps but I can assure you that the experience will be a little subdued because you won’t have the same freedom when you are creating a mind map manually.
Now, some people think of mind maps as really crazy, loopy maps of ideas and words. At the outset, a mind map might look crazy to someone only because it’s not hismind map. In short, mind maps are personal expressions that tend to make sense to its creators, specifically.
Sure, you can share mind maps with anyone you like. But that doesn’t mean that your audience will automatically understand your mind maps because no two people think alike.
What makes perfect sense to you might be confusing and utterly baffling to the next person across the table. Are you ready to create your very first mind map? Here’s how:
1. Think of just one thing that you want to plan or map out. It can be a story that you’ve always wanted to right or a plan to make a million bucks in ten years. It doesn’t matter. As long as you can put a finger on what you want to do, it’s a viable starting point.
2. Break down the idea to two or three “big ideas”. For example, if you want to make a million bucks, ‘big ideas’ that you can write down may include “selling unique products that people love”, “producing those great products” and “marketing those great products”. You can expand your mind map indefinitely. This is just a sample starting point. You can have one big idea of twenty five.
3. After you have the first few big ideas, stop there and start expanding the big ideas. Start creating the first few branches of your big idea. After the first level of expansion, you can start creating more branches in your mind map.
If one idea leads to another, connect those two ideas immediately. In the end, you would have a mind map that would look exactly like the nerve cells in the brain.
Don’t be afraid to use appropriate spacing and long, curving lines that distinctly separate large groups of ideas from one another. If one page isn’t enough, move on to the next page (that’s the beauty of having a sketch book!).
Journaling
Recent studies have shown that regular journaling is not only effective in improving one’s thinking skills but it also helps people manage their stress. Journaling is excellent if you feel that your thinking in general is disorganized and you have trouble stitching together ideas and stuff that you have to do.
Journaling is not the same as making a to-do list! Journaling focuses on your present experiences and personal expression. I suggest that you get a good notebook or journal and start writing.
If you want to use special software to create your journal or if you want to start a blog of your own, feel free to do that. If you feel that your thoughts belong only to you and you enjoy the solitude and peace that a regular journal gives, then stick to a journal/notebook.
It’s easy to start a journal – justwrite. Don’t focus on making your handwriting extremely beautiful or readable. Don’t focus on appearance – instead, focus on getting your emotions and ideas out unto the paper or keyboard.
Journaling is all about you. The activity should bring pleasure and it should please you. Journaling should also bring fun and enjoyment – and this brings us to our next point.
This activity should not be done every day if it bores you and if you feel forced to do it. Sure, a little initiative is awesome when you are trying to accomplish something. But all the same, if you feel horrible when you try to write down something, perhaps it is not the best option for you.
But if journaling (even a little writing) brings you pleasure or enjoyment, then by all means, continue with this activity. Who knows how much journaling can help power your brain power?
Power Naps
Need I say more? Rest is absolutely essential to human health. Some people may brag that they can feel perfectly rested after only 4 or 5 hours of sleep every day.
Only a small percentage of the population is aware that if you stick to this type of sleeping pattern, you not only harm your brain power (i.e. recall, retention, etc.) but also your general health. Getting too little sleep every night can actually increase a person’s risk for cancer, stroke and heart attacks.
Sleep is very important to the human body. That’s why our current strategy focuses on restingthe body, even if it’s not too long. If you can snatch thirty minutes of rest in the middle of the day, that would be a very good start.
If you can only nap for 15 minutes, then that’ good, too. The benefits of the power naps add up during the week and your whole body (including your brain) will appreciate the fact that you are setting aside even short periods of time for recuperation.
Most people who are suffering from memory-related problems are often physically fine – they are just plain exhausted and fatigued from overwork.
Work is important because it gives one’s life direction and with work, you are able to stabilize your finances. But work should never be the cause of mental and physical malaise. If it is, you may want to re-evaluate how you work and your general working conditions as well.
If I were to tell you that there was just one surefire way to boost your brain power, I would be lying – because the fact of the matter is that the human brain can be boosted and stimulated so many ways that it’s actually difficult to pick particular strategies because there are simply so many of them.
In this part of the book, I’m going to show you all of the possible ways that you can improve your brain power through different strategies. In the first part of the book, I showed you how to feed your brain by picking special wholesome food items.
In this part of the book, we are going to dive headlong into the different ways that you can increase your brain power, because once you’ve improved your diet by integrating specific food items that enhance the brain’s functions, you are now ready to apply strategies to stimulate your brain. Let’s start!
Important Note: Some strategies require more work than others. Choose strategies that are doable in the first few days and weeks and feel free to add more strategies as you see fit.
Mind Mapping
You have probably heard of software programs that allow you to create “mind maps” or groups of interconnected ideas. While these software programs are great for presentations and the like, you are by no means limited to these software programs if you want to try mind mapping.
Mind mapping is best done either on paper or on a large board. So if you want to buy something for yourself to improve your mind mapping, experience, I recommend a large sketching pad or a simple notebook.
You need lots of paper so you won’t run out of space and the two options I mentioned are the most cost-effective choices.
Since your mind maps will be used later on, either for your personal use or for your work, having a thick sketch book would be worth it. And the best thing about these things is you can easily bring them anywhere you want!
For those of you who like technology (i.e. tablet computers), you are free to try a sketching software for your mind maps but I can assure you that the experience will be a little subdued because you won’t have the same freedom when you are creating a mind map manually.
Now, some people think of mind maps as really crazy, loopy maps of ideas and words. At the outset, a mind map might look crazy to someone only because it’s not hismind map. In short, mind maps are personal expressions that tend to make sense to its creators, specifically.
Sure, you can share mind maps with anyone you like. But that doesn’t mean that your audience will automatically understand your mind maps because no two people think alike.
What makes perfect sense to you might be confusing and utterly baffling to the next person across the table. Are you ready to create your very first mind map? Here’s how:
1. Think of just one thing that you want to plan or map out. It can be a story that you’ve always wanted to right or a plan to make a million bucks in ten years. It doesn’t matter. As long as you can put a finger on what you want to do, it’s a viable starting point.
2. Break down the idea to two or three “big ideas”. For example, if you want to make a million bucks, ‘big ideas’ that you can write down may include “selling unique products that people love”, “producing those great products” and “marketing those great products”. You can expand your mind map indefinitely. This is just a sample starting point. You can have one big idea of twenty five.
3. After you have the first few big ideas, stop there and start expanding the big ideas. Start creating the first few branches of your big idea. After the first level of expansion, you can start creating more branches in your mind map.
If one idea leads to another, connect those two ideas immediately. In the end, you would have a mind map that would look exactly like the nerve cells in the brain.
Don’t be afraid to use appropriate spacing and long, curving lines that distinctly separate large groups of ideas from one another. If one page isn’t enough, move on to the next page (that’s the beauty of having a sketch book!).
Journaling
Recent studies have shown that regular journaling is not only effective in improving one’s thinking skills but it also helps people manage their stress. Journaling is excellent if you feel that your thinking in general is disorganized and you have trouble stitching together ideas and stuff that you have to do.
Journaling is not the same as making a to-do list! Journaling focuses on your present experiences and personal expression. I suggest that you get a good notebook or journal and start writing.
If you want to use special software to create your journal or if you want to start a blog of your own, feel free to do that. If you feel that your thoughts belong only to you and you enjoy the solitude and peace that a regular journal gives, then stick to a journal/notebook.
It’s easy to start a journal – justwrite. Don’t focus on making your handwriting extremely beautiful or readable. Don’t focus on appearance – instead, focus on getting your emotions and ideas out unto the paper or keyboard.
Journaling is all about you. The activity should bring pleasure and it should please you. Journaling should also bring fun and enjoyment – and this brings us to our next point.
This activity should not be done every day if it bores you and if you feel forced to do it. Sure, a little initiative is awesome when you are trying to accomplish something. But all the same, if you feel horrible when you try to write down something, perhaps it is not the best option for you.
But if journaling (even a little writing) brings you pleasure or enjoyment, then by all means, continue with this activity. Who knows how much journaling can help power your brain power?
Power Naps
Need I say more? Rest is absolutely essential to human health. Some people may brag that they can feel perfectly rested after only 4 or 5 hours of sleep every day.
Only a small percentage of the population is aware that if you stick to this type of sleeping pattern, you not only harm your brain power (i.e. recall, retention, etc.) but also your general health. Getting too little sleep every night can actually increase a person’s risk for cancer, stroke and heart attacks.
Sleep is very important to the human body. That’s why our current strategy focuses on restingthe body, even if it’s not too long. If you can snatch thirty minutes of rest in the middle of the day, that would be a very good start.
If you can only nap for 15 minutes, then that’ good, too. The benefits of the power naps add up during the week and your whole body (including your brain) will appreciate the fact that you are setting aside even short periods of time for recuperation.
Most people who are suffering from memory-related problems are often physically fine – they are just plain exhausted and fatigued from overwork.
Work is important because it gives one’s life direction and with work, you are able to stabilize your finances. But work should never be the cause of mental and physical malaise. If it is, you may want to re-evaluate how you work and your general working conditions as well.