Let’s admit that the one thing which all of us want is to ensure that we have an edge over others when it comes to thinking right and fast. One thing which actually differentiates the wheat from the chaff is not only a smarter but a faster brain.
Even though most of us have been gifted with the most complex organ in the universe,we hardly use more than a miniscule percentage of its potential. During my Coaching sessions, I come across people who want to specifically work on sharpening their Brain.
Even though there is no one way, I have seen over the years that some of the things given below will give you a heads-up for sure
Eat healthy: Well this one is a No brainer. When you eat healthy your body responds accordingly. However there is something else one can do on improving the condition of the occupancy of the penthouse and that is to eat food rich in Omega 3 and stick to the recommended 4-5 servings of fresh fruits & vegetables.
Well more is better but looking at the practical side of life, look at 2-3 servings to begin with and include at least one food rich in omega 3 daily.I have seen drastic changes in the way my own mind functioned, when I switched over to this one habit. You will begin to see the difference in couple of weeks for sure.
Stick to good old reading: With advent of technology, most of the people I interact with spend far too much time looking at an electronic display. Even though it is no doubt hassle free and easy, stick to reading something from the good old book for at least 30-45 minutes in a day. What this specifically does according to me is that, it helps one to develop concentration. Even though I use technology and my work is absolutely paperless, I make it a point to read for at least couple of hours from books, magazines & newspapers every day without fail.
Challenge yourself: What I do mean by this is that, doing things repeatedly will eventually make you do things at the sub conscious level. So look at doing the things you do differently – say use the opposite hand to brush the teeth and eat food. Taking a new route to your work/home will also help the brain to think differently and keep it challenged.
You will eventually activate the new neural pathways of the brain which at times would never have been used. This helps in reinforcing the neural pathways which will be easy to use going forward. Have you tried using something new? Initially it will be tight but over a period of time it tends to become more flexible.Well the same logic works, with our Brain to a large extent.
Exercise Exercise Exercise: Once thing which will pump more oxygen rich blood to the brain is exercise. Resistance training over here gets more brownie points, than cardio because the more time you spend lifting in the gym, the brain tends to focus more on what the body is doing. Also if you are someone like me who visualizes while lifting, then it is called the “body mind connect.
Even a couple of times of lifting will do you a world of good.If you thought all the gym rats only go to develop the muscle,well you can’t be more wrong than this.
Take a breather: When you work non stop then you are compromising on the efficiency. Stick to the thumb rule of going for a small walk after 75-90 minutes, when at work. Are you aware that the brain can perform better, if it is done in intervals of 75-90 minutes? When I began doing this, my own productivity and thought process went on an overdrive and am a big advocate of this.
Practise Meditation: The easiest thing you can do without any equipment is to practise meditation along with deep breathing. One easy way is to follow the logic of 1-2-1 breathing pattern. Here you breathe in for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 8 seconds and then breathe out for 4 seconds.
Now in short what this does specifically to the brain is that it pumps it up with oxygen and removes the toxins from each of the cells. If you practise this just after you get up and as the last thing before you go to sleep for 10 minutes it will make a phenomenal difference to your thinking and thought process.
I am sure you would be jazzed to work on sharpening your most powerful organ if you have come so far in my Blog. Would love to hear from you as to how you feel you could make use of these thoughts in your life and with people whom you care about on my mail Id coach@satishrao.in or on my Facebook Fan Page