Sep 6 2009

Faking Confidence

Confidence

Feeling confident is not always easy but can be vital to a successful outcome in stressful situations such as job interviews, first dates and auditions. Sure, the best way to look confident is to actually be confident, but “being confident” is much easier said than done when you are up against many candidates for the same job. Since you only get one chance to make a good first impression, it is often important to know the techniques to come across as confident. These techniques and habits are not only advantageous in critical situations, but can actually help you to feel more confident as you practice them.

Appearing confident starts with posture. Body language is the the first thing people read about you and an open body language helps both partners in communication feel more engaged. Sit our stand tall. Keep your shoulders back and down. A hunched position exudes insecurity or fear. Open your body language to receive the person you are coming into contact with. Keep your arms or legs uncrossed. Crossing your limbs indicates that you are unwilling to share or receive information. Leaning back or to the side can signal to other parties that you are not interested in what they have to say. If you are interested, smile. Smiling is the fasted way to give another person a good feeling and to receive a good feeling in return. There is a reason that the smilie emoticon was invented for text chat. We respond quickly and naturally to the smile. A person who can easily smile through a difficult question or situation exudes confidence like no other.

The number one reason for stage fright is lack of preparation. Go into every situation ready. If you are auditioning, know your piece very well. If you are interviewing, practice with someone else before you go in. Know the information you wish to share and be ready for as many questions as you can. If you are going on a date, do not try to answer in a way that you think the person wants to hear. Instead, be yourself and be honest. This has the advantage of weeding out the people who you might be incompatible with. Your date may not respond to you, but if that is the case it is actually good. You have saved yourself the trouble of finding out that information at a later time. Remember that you deserve a mutually beneficial relationship.

If an opportunity arises to show your abilities, take it. However, be humble when you receive praise. You have talents or abilities that are unique to you. Explore these and find opportunities to share them as often as possible. You have value, so show it off. Be careful however not to peacock around too much because this can actually show insecurity rather than confidence.

http://mindcafe.org/images/confidence/build-confidence.jpg

Maintain eye contact. There is nothing that shows insecurities like looking away or at other things during a meeting. If you are with one person, establish eye contact early and maintain it. You can use your eyes to charm and connect with another person if you just have a few simple guidelines. Most psychologists say that the inability to maintain eye contact is often received as an intent to deceive. An insecurity may not actually be an intent to lie to someone else, but it is how you will be perceived if you do not meet someone else’s eyes and keep them.

Most cultures around the world equate honesty with the ability to converse while maintaining open eye contact. In the animal kingdom, the act of looking away is interpreted as the act of submission. It is a natural defense mechanism. When you engage another this way, you are saying that you are not afraid and you accept them. If you have nothing to hide, keep those eyes on the person you are with and you will be rewarded. Most people focus on one eye or another; dominant eye to dominant eye. However, if you find yourself looking from one eye to the other, focus on the space between both eyes and you will give a better impression.

If you are addressing a group, pick out the friendliest faces in the crowd and meet them with your eyes. Most of these people will be nodding along with what you have to say. Use them as your base, but don’t neglect the others. Meet everyone’s eyes but continue to come back to the friendliest of the group.

Be sincere. There is nothing to gain from making false statements or not being honest. You can’t fake credibility and people respond best to sincerity and genuine interest. You have a lot to offer, so there is no reason to lie about it. Most people fudge a little on their resume, but if you fudge a lot it is going to show. After all, consider who you enjoy speaking with. Who are you going to trust?

Approach everything as an opportunity to learn. When we dwell on our failures, we fail to give ourselves the ability to gain valuable insight from them. If you botch an interview or a date, it is fine. Everyone does. The people who choose to learn from their mistakes are the ones that have the most success. The more you put yourself out there, the more confident you will become.


Jul 8 2009

Unlock the power of your memory through Mnemonic Devices

enhance your memory

Have you ever wondered why it is impossible to remember what groceries you need without a list? Why is it musicians can remember the lyrics to hundreds of songs and are able to recite them on cue? If you were able to remember trivial details about the people you meet in your every day life it would make quite the impression on your colleagues, business associates and subordinates. In fact, Jesus Christ used the very technique of remembering the names and family and friends of his disciples. It is a winning way of influencing your friends and making them feel they are an important part of your life. Never again will you have that embarrassing moment at a party when someone who remembers you comes up and says your name, but you can’t say theirs.

The reason that musicians can remember the words to so many songs is that rhyming song lyrics work as mnemonic devices. They tap into our brain’s natural ability to use the power of rhyme as a memory tool. By saying the rhyming word we are more easily apt to remember the word which makes up the second half of the rhyme.

From the time that we are infants we are taught things through the power of rhyme. Some of the first things we learn as children are how to tie our shoes and do other every day things, and we learn to do them using mnemonic devices. Some of the most memorable children’s writings were by an author known as Dr. Suess. What made him so popular? His I-Can-Read books used familial rhyming schemes to help children anticipate what words would be coming next. This increased the confidence of children who read his now immortal writings. Many of his stories can be memorized and recalled word for word at the drop of a hat because they use the power of rhyme.

So what are Mnemonic Devices?

mnemonic devices

There are two basic types of mnemonic devices. There are those which use rhyme as a memory tool and there are those which use the first letter of each word to form an acronym. Acronyms are great memory tools which help you to remember anything from complex formulas to the answers to common trivia questions. If I were to ask you to name each and every color of the rainbow in the correct order, without using any form of mnemonic device, you would likely be hard pressed to come up with an answer in under 5 seconds. What if I told you that I can answer this without even having to think? What if I told you my five year old can name the colors of the rainbow in the correct order without even pausing to think?

It sounds amazing, but it is just the simple use of a mnemonic device which allows her and I to remember such trivial facts as the colors of the rainbow. The colors, in the correct order are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. Can you take a guess at how I recall this so easily? The answer is with a mnemonic device. In this case I have used an acronym to recall the fist letter of each color, since there are only so many colors in the spectrum, it is quite simple to deduce the names just by knowing the first letter. The acronym for memorizing the colors of the rainbow is: ROY G BIV. It sounds like an interesting name for a person. That is probably what makes it so easy to remember. It sounds like a very strange name, and we rarely forget the very strange. The cognitive power of your mind is not to be underestimated. You will be surprised at how little it takes for your mind to memorize anything and everything through the use of simple memory tools and mnemonic devices.

If you have ever learned to read music (and you really should learn to read music, it is a great way to exercise your mind) you are no doubt familiar with these devices. Mnemonic devices using acronyms are the same tools which music teachers use to teach their students the notes on the staff. Guitar teachers even use them to help their pupils memorize the notes on the open guitar strings with greater ease. Who can forget the simple devices for memorizing the bass and treble clefs on a musical staff? Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge and Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always.

Mnemonic devices are also frequently used as learning tools by math teachers. The method for memorizing Orders of operations in mathematics is BEDMAS, for Brackets, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, and Subtraction. In fact, many of the mnemonic devices we were taught in school are so memorable they have become tiresome and annoying. Who can type a word like conceive or receipt without remember the old “I before E, Except after C” a mnemonic device using rhyme.

If you have attempted to use the power of memorization to amaze and impress people but have been unsuccessful you are likely approaching it in the wrong manner. Many people use the approach of Rote Memorization which is a method a shocking your brain into memorization through the use of flash-cards or another quick question and quick answer method. Many people think they can use this hard-hitting method of improving their memory but it is actually highly ineffective.

Your brain uses a large portion of muscle memory in your day-to-day routine. This means that when you are going through a typical cycle your brain doesn’t have to work as hard and uses its’ muscle memory as something of a “cruise-control”. This is also called muscle retention, and it can be a good thing and a bad thing. Muscle retention can be built up and augmented. The result of this is your brain is operating at higher levels when it is in this cruise control mode. The brain is a glutton for punishment and your brain is challenged, it grows as does any other muscle. A common practice of body builders is to to “shock” their muscles in order to produce higher ranges of muscle memory and promoting more rapid muscle growth. This works with fantastic results for most muscles and it is the concept behind using flash-cards for memorizing mathematics. However, Rote-Memorization is highly unpleasant and does not produce results as effectively as mnemonic devices.

Using mnemonic devices establishes new neural pathways in your brain, which allows you to more quickly access information with almost no effort. Are minds are naturally attune to word play such as rhyme, homonyms, acronyms and other literary devices. Most of the information that we need to remember consists of arbitrary sequences such as phone numbers, postal codes, account numbers, first and last names, dates and years, all such boring combinations of data. The human brain more easily remembers information which is spatial or personal. we remember things that affect us because they are either surprising, humorous, sexual or provocative in some way. Mnemonics can be used to memorize entire lists of information or single important details such as what year the Bill of Rights was adopted by Congress. It is one of the first ways our mind learns to absorb and store vital information such as how to tie your shoes.

Examples of Mnemonic Devices

Memorizing the number of days in the months:
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one
Excepting February alone:
Which has twenty-eight, that’s fine,
Till leap year gives it twenty-nine.

When did Alaska and Hawaii become part of the United States?
the United States:

’59 was the date,
When Alaska and Hawaii became new states

Mnemonic Device for remembering the order of the planets:
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

How to memorize the signs of the zodiac:
he Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins,
And next’ the Crab, the Lion shines,
The Virgin and the Scales.
The Scorpion, Archer, and the Goat,
The Man who holds the Watering Pot,
And Fish with glittering scales.

Advancing the power of your memory is one of the most important steps you can take in improving your mind power. Once it becomes effortless to recall information you will be able to impress and influence people with your amazing memory. Memorizing trivial details about your friends, all the important numbers and dates you need to know, the names and phone numbers of everyone you’ve ever met, and even important business information can be a great way to get ahead in many aspects of your life. Advanced memory is used by many mentalists and hypnosis experts as the basis of many of the psychic effects that we see created on television and in theaters and street performances. You too can master the power of your memory with mnemonic devices.


Jun 2 2009

8 Things your Dreams Might Be Telling You

Dreams

There are deep meanings of dreams that we can find in our nightly trip away from reality. Most people find their dreams to be unintelligible scrambles of mixed messages and cryptic symbols from things they encountered in their day. The subconscious mind is a much more remarkable machine than it is given credit for. Precognitive dreams are dreams that are designed by your subconscious mind to make you feel a certain way or even tell you something.

Disturbing dreams are often linked to tragic or traumatic incidents in your life. Situations involving trust can cause you to have bad dreams. However, a disturbing dream can also be tied to a significant risk you are taking. It is possible you are realizing just how bad a particular situation could become. Some dreams might just be reflecting your fundamental fears but others could be warning you that action is needed to prevent the worst from happening.

Some time before he was assassinated, it is said that Abraham Lincoln had a dream that there would be a funeral at the White House. In his dream, he asked an onlooker who was the person that had died. The onlooker replied “The President of United States has died.”

When Lincoln told his wife about having this dream she told him that he was going to be killed while he was in office. Two weeks later, Lincoln was assassinated.

Dream interpretations

The precognitive power of our minds is a very real phenomenon. The subconscious mind often relays these precognitions through our dreams. Our different interpretations of these dreams may adversely affect the outcomes of the situations they inform us about. The symbols in our dreams can have direct or indirect interpretation when it comes to the meanings of our dreams. That is to say that a symbol can be interpreted directly as it appears or it can be used metaphorically. Most often it is the latter which is true. In any effort to interpret what the subconscious mind is telling you in your dreams, you must be aware of the margin for error within the realm of dream interpretations.

Some of us are as different as night and day. As such our subconscious minds may communicate with us in different ways. Some people fear snakes. Within their minds a snake may be a symbol for fear or danger, where in the mind of someone who respects and idolizes snakes, a snake may be a positive symbol reflecting future accomplishments. What we make of our dream interpretations may reflect the way we deal with challenges in our normal lives.

Because our minds often work differently from person to person, it can be difficult to gauge the meaning of a particular symbol appearing in the dreams of one person to the next. However, there are many inherently similar common dream symbols with distinctive and sometimes surprising meanings. In order to help you understand some of the hidden meanings in dreams, here are eight commons symbols which appear in dreams and their different meanings.

1) Dreams of Death

Dreams of Death

To dream of your own death or the death of a family member can be very upsetting. If you believe the dream to be prophetic it can seem like cause for concern. Your subconscious mind often looks at death as a stage or phase that is part of life. A dream of death often symbolizes the end of an era or phase in your life. People who are approaching a graduation or certification often have dreams involving their death or the death of a loved one. Likewise people who are considering separation and divorce often have similar dreams.

2) Drowning and Dreaming of bodies of Water

Drowning and dreaming

Many people think that if they are drowning in their dream that it may be a precognitive dream and they should avoid exposing themselves to anything involving water or possible drowning. Water is a symbol in your subconscious mind for the portrayal of emotions. Dreams of drowning may in fact signify that you are overcome or ‘drowning’ in your emotions.

3) Fire

Fire in Dreams

Fire is one of nature’s most destructive forces. People who dream of fire may believe there is some form of disaster approaching. They may even have fears that they will be burned to death. Although it is true that fire destroys, it also acts as a cleansing and purifying agent. Fire can often symbolize passion, intense desire and even sexual arousal.

4) Predatory Creatures

Predatory Creatures

Although we often associate animal predators with fear or danger, different animals may have different interpretations. If you dream of a wolf which is in a peaceful state it could signify coexistence with a potential threat. However, dreaming of a wolf on the prowl may indicate possible treachery. Some creatures indicate a clear threat and the best way of judging the type of threat the symbol represents is by the attributes of the predator itself. A shark is a clear indication of an emotional threat, as their natural habitat is water and water represents emotion. Spiders, though they have the power to harm you, are tiny creatures who’s bite typically produces an irritating effect. Therefore a spider can signify small annoyances or irritants going on in your life.

5) Cats and other non-threatening Animals

Cats in Dreams

Cats often represent femininity. A large cat, such as a lion or tiger can symbolize a woman in your life who holds a position of power or respect. With some animals it might be a simple metaphor. Dream about a rat: I smell a rat!

6) Falling in your Dreams

Falling in your dreams

Almost everyone has had the falling dream in different forms. Some people have all different forms of falling dreams and there are several ways to interpret what it means. Falling can symbolize the loss of something. It can symbolize the loss of control or it can mean the loss of a material object. You might feel like you are losing out on a significant bonus at your job or you might be more deeply affect than you think about the loss of your teddy bear.

7) Cheating Spouses

Cheating Spouses

It is more common than you think to dream about your spouse having an affair or cheating on you. Your first instinct might be that your dreams are telling you to suspect your lover of cheating on you. These dreams can actually be your subconscious mind’s way of reaffirming your commitment to this person. Your dreams could be telling you that you care about this person by invoking one of your strongest and most primal emotions: Jealousy! :D

8 ) Sleeping with your Friends

Sleeping with your Friend

We’ve all had weird sex dreams about someone we know and felt strange or even creeped out about it. People often wonder what a weird sex dream means. Sometimes you dream about sex as a way of expressing certain affirmations in your mind. It can often indicate that people on some level satisfy an emotional need for you.

An important thing to understand is that you experience hundreds of dreams every night and you could very well go through all of these dreams in one night. When you go to sleep you have three stages of sleep. The first stage is a period between awakening and unconsciousness. You may start to dream a little in this phase but you can be awakened easily. The second phase is REM sleep. REM stands for rapid eye movement and this is the phase where your subconscious mind is rapidly showing you dreams. The third is a phase of sleep is a deep sleep where your body rejuvenates and replenishes itself. During sleep you frequently drift back and forth through the latter two phases of sleep. During REM sleep very detailed and seemingly lengthy dreams are experienced in a manner of seconds. You could potentially dream up to a thousand times a night.

The dreams you remember are the ones which are most significant to whats going on in your life. When you are deeply affected by a symbol in one of your dreams it can likely be telling you of a major problem in your life that needs dealing with. Either physical or metaphysical.

What weird dreams have you pondered the meanings of? Have you ever dreamed of your spouse cheating or had the falling dream in a more extreme than usual way? Have you interpreted any of the dreams you’ve had?


Apr 23 2009

75 Amazing Ways to Maximize Your Brain Power

You all must be aware of the fact that exercise keeps your brain fit, “jog” your memory and boosts your brain power. In this article, we will try to describe every possible scientific, psychological and logical way that can help you to capitalize on brain power. Brain power, according to dictionary definition, is somebody’s mental or intellectual ability.

You wish to improve Brain power – Not Higher IQ Scores!? Well, maybe you want higher IQ scores too. The American Heritage Dictionary describes Intelligence Quotient (IQ) as “The ratio of tested mental age to chronological age, usually expressed as a quotient multiplied by 100.” Actually, it’s a test of intelligence with 100 as the average score.

A recent IQ test asked which of four fruits was dissimilar. It was the fruit containing multiple seeds; however, imagine you were not accustomed to these fruits? Clearly this test is culturally slanted. You are supposed to have certain knowledge, yet you are being tested for intelligence, not knowledge.

Now suspiciously observe this lettering: “A-N-L-D-E-G-N.” reorganize them and you’ll have the name of a(n): Sea, Nation, State, Municipality or Animal. This is from an IQ analysis I only just gave. Well… There are not many oceans, so I could discount those – but wait a moment! That’s an assessment system. An aptitude examination should not calculate your test-taking capacity. I’m pushed to score higher than a person of equal intelligence who hasn’t learned simple techniques for scoring higher on multiple – choice tests.

“True Life Results” in opposition to “Test Results”

Now enlighten me with one thing. What was Henry Fords’ brain capacity? Who knows? He was one of the most inventive citizens of the previous century, and he succeeded by neighboring himself with intelligent individuals.

That practice single-handedly has to be merit more than 20 IQ points in terms of true life results.

True life results are what you desire, true? So if you would like to be more inspired, find out how to exercise imaginative problem solving practices. If you want to focus better, there are devices for that. Learn to speed-read and you’ll learn twice the information in equal time. After you build your first Ark, write your first novel or make your first million dollars, what will your IQ results be? It won’t matter

Okay, a defective examination is better than no examination at all, and it is amusing. I recently wrote an IQ test, and even though I don’t believe my IQ is really the 138 it showed, it was enjoyable. Of course I might have a better score on a good day than a bad day, so try these guidelines to improve your IQ test results:

70 Techniques to Improve Brainpower

1. Take a deeep breath. Increased airflow means heightened oxygen levels in the blood and, as a result, in the mind. Breathing through your nose and you’ll observe that you use your diaphragm more, drawing air deeper into your lungs. Numerous deep breaths can also help to relax you, which is beneficial to clearer thinking.

2. Meditate. An easy meditation technique you can accomplish presently is to just close your eyes and listen carefully to your breathing. Tensing up your muscles and then relaxing them to start may be of assistance. When your mind wanders, just bring your concentration back to your breath. This will help unwind you, clear your mind, and leave you more prepared for any intellectual undertaking.

3. Sit up straight. Carriage affects your judgment process. Demonstrate it to yourself by doing arithmetic in your head while slouching, looking at the ground and letting your jaws dangle open. Then do the math in your head while sitting nice and straight, with a closed mouth and look forward or slightly up. You’ll realize that it’s easier to think with the second posture.

4. Using Phosphotidyl Serine (PS). Shown in medical studies to boost clarity and rate of education, this supplement activates cell-to-cell communication, helps normalize cell expansion, increases the functioning of the unique receptors seen on cells, and prepares cells for movement. That means it can aid your brain power. It’s also considered to repeal memory refuse. Phosphatidylserine has no identified unpleasant side effects.

5. Using Vinpocetine. Derived from an alkaloid discovered in the Periwinkle plant, this extract is used as a cerebral vasodilator. It amplifies the flow of the blood stream to the mind, which advances its oxygenation and in doing so raises psychological awareness and insight. Studies imply it may also be the most dependable memory enhancer accessible today.

6. Take Gingko Biloba. The foliage belonging to this tree is confirmed to augment blood flow to the mind. The trees are regularly found in parks. My associates and I used to eat a small amount of leaves when we required a extra dose of mind power. It is also fairly cheap, if you get the pills or tea bags at any health food outlet.

7. Try Some Saint John’s Wort. This is a ordinary wild plant that may be budding in your own backyard. Although it’s mind power improving components aren’t as widely acknowledged (research does document it’s helpfulness for treating clinical depression), Countless people affirm by its temporary mood-elevating effect, and our common sense tend to improve in function when we are in high spirits. It is easy on the pocket, but I would frequently just collect it in the wild and make my own tea. (Hyperacum Perforatum is the botanical name if you care to research on your own).

8. First-class thinking practice. Simply making use of a problem solving method for a number of weeks and it will develop into a routine. Revamp everything you observe for a period of time, and that will grow to be a custom. You can build up countless good thinking habits with a little bit of work, and then be more capable naturally from then on. Employ the power of practice.

9. Make use of quiet time. This is down time that is usually wasted or just not usually spent wisely. Driving the car, time used up in waiting quarters, or even time spent cleaning your house can be incorporated here. If you have a normal walk-man or tape player and access to a library you can use this time to listen to educational audio books. You could spend 200 hours in your car each year. What might you become skilled at in that time?

10. Learn a language. Mastering a new tongue has been revealed to halt the age-related refuse in brain function. It also better acquaints your brain to fresh concepts and new methods of looking at things (in English we are frightened, in Spanish we have fear). It is one of the greatest brain training methods.

11. Rosemary. Inhaling this familiar herb may have a positive effect on the brain. The studies have not yet come to light, but several people believe that just breathing in rosemary awakens the mind. It seems harmless, so if you have rosemary kitchen, give it a whirl.

12. Exercising your mind. Concentration and clear thinking are more or less mechanical once you eradicate interruption. Learn to impede and observe your hectic mind. As you observe things that are delicately annoying you, work these small things out. This could mean making a phone call you have been putting off, or adding things to a to-do list so you don’t need to worry about them for a while. This will make you a more powerful thinker and, with some time will begin to come more naturally to you.

13. Write. Writing is beneficial to your brain for many different reasons. It helps’ you memory understand what is most useful and makes it easier to access later. It is a way to elucidate your thoughts. It is a way to keep fit your imagination and diagnostic capability. Writing in a journal, composing poems or verse, taking notes and writing stories are all ways to use writing to enhance your mind power.

14. Listen to Classical Music. Investigations at University of California, explained that kids who studied music by learning an instrument or learning to sing, were greatly superior at solving puzzles, and when examined, scored 80% higher in spatial intellect than the non-musical crowd. In a different study, 36 students were prearranged three spatial analysis experiments on a typical IQ test. Just before the primary examination, they would listen to Mozart’s sonata two piano sonatas, K. 448 over a period of ten minutes. Prior to the subsequent test, they listened to a relaxation recording. Prior to the third, they did not listen to everything. The standard scores for all 36 of them: 1st examination: 119. 2nd examination: 111. 3rd examination: 110. A Student who listened to classical music saw an increase of nine points.

15. Expand your sixth sense. Natural perception can be a vital component of mind power. Einstein and others depended greatly on their instinctive hunches. Man is given instincts to help him decide what is best.

16. Avoid food which can cause allergic reactions. This may include corn, wheat, diary products or even peanuts. Be careful if you react to these foods as they trigger digestive troubles and mental haze in certain individuals.

17. Sleep well. Your body needs a specific amount of sleep – most likely at least five hours – the value seems to be more essential than the amount. Also, small naps in the mid-day appear to assist in rejuvenating the mind for some people.

The trick to sleeping more effectively is to sleep LESS and have MORE energy by augmenting your sleep cycle in order to produce a wealth of vigor in your life.


18. Caffeine.
Students who knock back coffee prior to major exams score higher on testing. My chess playing improves. Too much caffeine has been shown in research to cause decreased decision-making abilities. Caffeine affects you in your own way, and has some malicious long-term side effects for a few of us, but short-term – it does the trick!

19. Avoid sweets.
Ingesting useless carbohydrates can cause “brain blocks”. On occasion referred to as the “sugar crash” as well, this lethargic reaction makes it difficult to reason effectively. Insulin hurrying into the bloodstream to offset the sugar rush is to blame for this feeling. Stay away from starchy pasta, sugars, white bread and potato chips before any essential psychological responsibilities.

20. Audio Hypnosis.
The influence of implication is genuine, and one way to exercise it is with hypnosis recordings, Compact Discs or digital format. This type of “brainwashing” has more substantiation for it than subconscious implication.

21. Speed-read. Contrary to popular belief, your understanding of material increases when you learn speed-reading techniques. You will learn and obtain more knowledge in less time.

22. Work Out. Exercise over an extended period can heighten your brain power, that is to be expected. Positively affecting your physical health should also positively affect your mental health. Modern studies, however, reveal that cognitive function is enhanced instantly after only a few moments of low impact activity. If you require a brain refreshment, you could try walking up and down the stairway a few times.

23. Make-believe Friends. Chatting to and receiving guidance from characters in your head is a surprisingly good technique for accessing the information in your subliminal psyche. See in your mind’s eye a discussion with someone who has an assortment of awareness in the area you need to work on.

24. Increase your Imagination. Inventiveness gives command to your judgment. Unprocessed calculation can be completed by computers currently, but people provide the creative notions that characterize our society.

25. Study more competently. When you make a decision to learn a little, take annotations from the get-go. Take home with you from each educational endeavor a inquiry or two, to produce eagerness and inquisitiveness. By taking short breaks you create more starting and ending points in your lessons. The start and ending points of any lesson are always recalled with ease

26. Use procedures for lucid thoughts. Chaotic workspaces and offices can encourage messy thinking. Systematize a space for cerebral labor. Prepare yourself for a task by sighing, stretching and taking a deep breathe. Organize some time for brainstorming without distraction.

27. Brain wave stimulation. The most recent mind wave stimulating products are great utensils for shifting your mind function. Some of them work to relax the mind where others get your brain to stretch its’ muscles before a real work out.

28. Creatine. This is a complex originating in meat. Athletes use it to assist muscle growth. New substantiation is now showing that it facilitates brain growth also. Recent research showed progress in operational memory and common intellect following creatine usage. The quantity used in the experiment was 5 grams each day. This is roughly the amount used to improve athletic performance, and is as much as you’d usually get in four pounds of meat.

29. Speaking. Speaking is only beneficial to the mind if you are in fact exercising it. If you try to explain something that you have an okay understanding of in your own words you will observe that the procedure of explanation will lend a hand to illuminate your comprehension.

30. Spend time on things you take pleasure in. This can be a great way to both decrease stress and kick start your mind. The solution is to accomplish something proactive. Watching TV doesn’t count. Whether it is playing a mentally stimulating game or something constructive like woodworking, when you are energetically occupied in an activity that you get pleasure from, you are concerned less about things and you begin to think more effectively.

31. Adjust your beliefs. Believe you more intelligent and you will become more intelligent. Self-Affirmations such as actually telling yourself you are getting smarter may help, but showing yourself actual proof is more helpful. Write down all of your successes. Say to yourself, “Wow, that was really ingenious,” and recognize when you do something innovative. Write down your good ideas. Put together the proof of your good ideas and look back on them to see your improvement.

32. Intelligence Aerobics.
Do math in your head while you are working at other things. Think of a new application for everything you see. Habitual use of the brain has been proven to spawn new neuronal growth, and even stop the decrease in mental abilities that are experienced when we get old.

33. Keep on learning. This goes hand-in-hand with exercising your mind. You can do this in your spare time by listening to educational audio books.

34. Go Walking. Physical activity has been proven to benefit the intelligence, and walking is one of the finest exercises for a lot of people. It is easy, and the recurring nature of it puts you in a state that is very favorable to comprehensible thought. Why not carry a paper and pen or a tape recorder and use your 15 minute walk to work out problems.

35. Find a role model. Seek out people who are inspired, intellectual, or exceedingly industrious. Try to mimic their actions and think in the manner that they think. This is a huge standard in neural-linguistic encoding (brainwashing). However, you should use caution when taking their recommendations. Successful individuals frequently don’t in fact recognize why they are doing well. Act the way that they act, but do not do what they tell you to do.

36. Fish is Brain Food. Consuming fish truly increases the speed of your brain waves, and picks up attentiveness. Researchers have also discovered a nearly faultless relationship between eating of fish and decreased levels of depression in an assortment of different countries. Americans are 24 times as likely to suffer from depression as the Japanese, for example, who eat a significant amount more fish.

37. Pass up pointless arguments. When we use an excessive amount of strength to support a point just to “win a fight” or “prove a point” your self-image comes into play. This isn’t favorable to the reception and application of fresh information. This means that you place your brain in a rut, and you only proceed to put it in deeper with every squabble. Healthy debates can be a helpful thing, but when the sense of self takes over, the mind can begin to narrow. This is not a formula for healthier thoughts.

38. Laugh it up. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins and lowers stress levels. It is good for long term brain fitness. Laughter also tends to leave you feeling unbolt towards new ideas and views.


39. Go out and play.
Exciting the brain triggers significant differences in the organization of the brain. New neural pathways are established and fresh brain cells are developed. Intellectual games, as well any activities involving hand-eye coordination motivate the brain.

40. Solve puzzles. A great way to exercise your mind is by solving word puzzles, lateral thinking puzzles, and even the odd riddle. You can toil on them even as waiting for a meeting or prior arrangement such as a Doctor’s office, or on the transit, if you need to really squeeze it in.

41. Play Video Games. That’s right, research has uncovered that video games can advance mental adroitness, while working on our hand-eye coordination, depth acuity and pattern Video game players also benefit from higher attention spans and information processing ability than most other people. Ask a person to spend one week playing video games and watch as their visual-perception skills improve. Believe it or not, video games could actually save your life. Operating Room Surgeons, who play video games, even just for a few hours a week, make one-third fewer errors during surgery than the doctors who don’t play games. Don’t be quick to judge gamers as reclusive or outsiders: one investigator found that white-collar professionals who play video games are more self-assured and social.

42. Sing out loud. When you are driving alone, try singing about something that is going on. This utilizes the right side of your brain: The Creative Side. Have you ever noticed it is easier to rhyme words when you sing them than it is to write them down? This is due to the right brain’s ability to notice patterns. Singing often will train your mind to slip over to the right brain more effortlessly. Being able to switch in this manner will help you to become a more accurate problem solver. If you are skeptical about the differences between the brain hemispheres, just observe a person who stutters. They may not be able to tell you how they feel without stuttering but ask them to sing and they will suddenly be able to stop.

43. Go Nuts. Educational Scholars at the universities in many South American countries often consume large quantities of brazil nuts before a test, convinced they improve brain power. The facts are starting to corroborate this. Many types of nuts that have raw materials and amino acids that are valuable to the intelligence include almonds and walnuts.

44. Olive oil. Olive Oil is surprisingly high in mono-unsaturated fat which has been known to develop better memory retention. A less expensive option is canola oil, but there are limited studies supporting its’ value.

45. Vitamin supplements. In research, children tended to have higher scores on tests when on a routine of daily vitamin supplements. Phonies will tell you that while eating a balanced diet, you don’t require vitamins, which, given way we live our lives day-to-day, is nothing but a sales pitch for vitamins. Who in this day and age eats a wholly balanced diet?

46. Fiber is your friend. It is not only what is going in, but what is coming out that is vital to brain ability. Toxic swelling in the body and brain can cause poor brain function. People frequently report improved thinking as one of the perks of curing their constipation.

47. Be Self Aware. This may perhaps not appear key to brain power, although it is. As soon as you identify yourself better, you know how to steer clear of the typical effects of sense of self and feeling in your apparently “logical” thinking. Otherwise you can at least take it into consideration. Look at yourself, mainly as you clarify things or dispute.

48. Force yourself not to forget. Sometimes you want to recall the title of a song that you heard or the name of an old friend that you bump into. It is there, right at the very tip of your tongue but you still can’t quite spit it out. What did you usually do when caught in that position? Most likely ask some close by buddy for the name, and upon the shock you will even holler triumphantly, “Oh yeah! That’s right.”

The next time this occurs make yourself to memorize that name. The mind can be exercised similar to your muscles and the further you work out the better it will become.

Do not border yourself to recollection of names. Do you rely on your cell phone to keep track of phone numbers? Don’t use an address book even on paper – you can learn by heart all the numbers you need to know. Attempt to visualize the keypad of your mobile phone in order to produce a mental image of what the series of digits looks like.

The worst thing that might come of this is that you will have to to consult your contact list for the numbers anyways…

49. Motivate yourself. Motivation is as important to mental tasks as it is to any other. Learn a few easy methods for self motivation.

50. Avoid too much stress. A Neuro-psychologist from the George Washington University indicated bluntly that stress causes brain damage. Extended periods of stress have repetitively been shown to damage the brain as well as the rest of the human body. By mastering a few stress cutback techniques you can lower your stress level.

51. Become educated. Scientists have acknowledged for some time that people with less education are more likely to fall victim to Alzheimer’s. Learning in any region of study appears to make the mind stronger.

52. Practice information often and “over-study”. Go over what you have covered the same day you learn it, and do so regularly afterwards. Research shows that spaced out learning over time is more effective than just “cramming” information in a rush. Always “over-study” by learning more than you think you will need to know. With familiarity comes expertise.

53. Avoid fatty foods.
In scientific studies, animals without fail learn at a slower rate when they are eating high fat diets. Non-saturated fats found in Olive oil are what you should stay with. Saturated fats have been revealed to in fact arrest the development of brain cells.

54. Eat less. Eating too much has the initial consequence of redirecting more blood to the digestive tract which leaves less for the brain. Over time it can be responsible for arterial blockages that permanently decrease blood flow to the brain. In one particular examination, rats on a calorie-restricted eating plan had more brain power.

55. Avoid suspicious foods. There is substantiation that these foods can be horrific for your mind: synthetic food colorings, artificial sweeteners, soda-pops, corn syrup, frostings, other highly sweetened beverages, hydrogenated lard, sugars, white bread, and any white-flour products.

56. Eat breakfast. When kids who don’t normally eat breakfast begin regularly eating it, studies found that their math scores went up a whole grade on average.

57. Evade diabetes. The progression of diabetes corresponds with a reducing of IQ test results. So if you want to prolong your brain power, pursue your doctors’ nutritional advice for steering clear of or treating diabetes.

58. Eat foods with lots of antioxidants. Antioxidants defend all your cells, as well as brain cells. Several of the foods containing high levels of antioxidants are: raisins, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, strawberries, spinach, garlic, kale, and raspberries. In one analysis, rats had age-related mental turn down inverted by eating the same as a 1/2 cup of normal blueberries every day.

59. Drink wine. In restraint, red wine can be fine for the brain, it seems. It is endowed with antioxidants, which work to guard brain cells. A glass of wine each day for women and two for men is typically considered a harmless and sensible amount.


60. Always drink alcohol responsibly.
Research at the University Of Indiana School Of Medicine, indicates mature light drinkers (less than 4 drinks each week) had superior tests scores relating to thinking capacity than non-drinkers. Those who drank 10 drinks or more a week had poorer scores. It is recognized that alcohol is capable of killing brain cells, so self-control is always the key.

61. Folic acid. According some research, the quantity of folic acid found in 3/4 cup of cooked spinach, helps with depression and repeals memory loss.

62. More brain foods. Other foods that can be excellent for your brain are: Avocados, oatmeal, bananas, lean beef, peas, eggs, flaxseed oil, potatoes, soybeans, brewer’s yeast. broccoli, wheat germ, brown rice, brussel sprouts, cantaloupe, cheese, chicken, collard greens, oranges, peanut butter, romaine lettuce, salmon, spinach, tuna, turkey, and yogurt.

63. Vitamin E. Many intelligence researchers recommend taking up to 400 I.U.s of vitamin E each day. Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and diminishes the obstruction of blood vessels, including those that lead to your brain.

64. Vitamin C. Found in orange juice and other citrus fruits, ingestions of vitamin C has been found to increase IQ test results in young children.

65. Selenium. 100 micrograms of selenium has been proven to have mood-elevating effect. Your mind tends to function more efficiently when you are happy. Foods rich with selenium incorporate Brazil nuts and garlic.

66. Alpha-lipoic acid. Alpha-lipoic acid (10 to 50 mg per day) progresses recollection and care for nerve cells.

67. Inositol. This natural and organic substance is grouped in with vitamin B. Inositol brings stress levels down and helps to clear your mind. It furnishes energy production, and helps to wake your mind up. Animals in lab tests showed a calculable enlargement in physical motion for nearly five hours after using Inositol.

68. Huperzine A. This is a composite extorted from Chinese club moss. It has been used to treat Alzheimer’s in Israel and the United States. It applies to the memory and learning parts of the brain and appears to be safe to use.

69. Question everything. Its’ an important step in keeping your brain fit. Get into the routine of asking questions about everything that is new to you. Why are skyscrapers built so high? What do worms eat? Ask whatever thing that pops into your head and examine the possible solutions.

70. Smell basil. This could be another herb that could be beneficial for your mind. That isn’t any research to prove it but many believe that the odor of basil is good for the brain.

71. Climate. A lot of people have taken into consideration that they are more capable thinkers when the room temperature is just right. Generally, it seems as if cooler temperatures, though not unbearably cold, tend to encourage better thinking. Try testing it for yourself to observe what warmth facilitates your comfort the best.

72. Rainy days amp up brain power. Studies from Australia have indicated rainy and gloomy conditions may help the brain’s capacity to store memory. A University study surveyed customers at a major shop in Sydney, Australia. They discovered that people achieved higher scores on recollection exams during rotten weather when customers felt depressed.

The conclusions, available in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, reflect earlier examinations that showed students who were feeling down achieved higher scores than students were in high spirits.
When you are happy, you tend to think in a more worry-free style that encourages you to overlook details and be less aware of the worlds around you.

73. Use systems. From Since I was a child the way to find 12 times 49 was to multiply 12 by 50 take away 12. It is much simpler to find the solution in your mind by doing this. I received no acclaim for my special algorithms at the time, but they are advertising these kinds of tricks on infomercials now, because they are effective. You can discover many simpler methods for doing math or other intellectual tasks in your head. Or you can find out about them in literature.

74. Create a brain power diagram. Many Doctors will advise you it takes roughly twenty to thirty days of recurrence to create new routines. This indicates that when you form your diagram for better brain power, be positive you arrange to use that new-fangled problem solving system, or devour those new intellect foods for a minimum three weeks. You can make use of numerous of the brain elevators here and get instantaneous outcomes, but it is harboring new routines that will grant you the majority of your brain power.

75. Apply new knowledge to things you already knew. Connect new data to information you already remember, whether it’s new material that builds on previous knowledge, or something as simple as an address of someone who resides nearby someone else in your life.