Oh My…It’s Just So…Well It’s Just So…Huge!

Twinkie, this one’s for you, you pretty little prethinker* you. Why talk dirty when you can talk nerdy? Rock your mood, memory, and mental functioning with these tips.

Do You Have These 10 Brain Skills?

1. Before you do anything else nogginal, read and implement the 10 Habits of Highly Effective Brains. Best tip: don’t outsource your brain to anyone. It’s your most valuable asset, but it won’t grow in value if you don’t put in the work.

2. Learn a language. Not just to impress the Italian supermodel, you farmboy, but to wield your lolcats prowess.

3. Take a fish oil supplement. This is – in my opinion – the most important supplement you can take. It’s good for your mood, mental function, and basically everything else mind-related. But don’t take my word for it (seriously, don’t, I have no idea what I am talking about). Here are some details, and here’s another one, and here are more facts about fish oil. And a great review. Want some more information? Here. You get it.

4. Practice outcome based thinking. This instantly turns you into a solution-oriented person instead of a helpless (and hapless) reactor. Thinking in terms of the outcome you want isn’t a miracle fix for life’s stresses, but it does empower you.

5. It’s been said that a relaxed mind is a creative mind. Sleep on it, the old saying goes. But I’m not so sure that is always the case. Some of my best work has come from my darkest moments – the ones fraught with anger, fear, loathing, and sadness. If you want to maximize your brainpower and really produce – whether creatively or otherwise – perhaps it’s more important to simply harness your passion, even if it is negative. Are you feeling scared and nervous? Good – it means you’ve got a frippin’ pulse. To quote Kierkegaard, “anxiety is the dizziness of freedom”. Don’t fight what you feel – work with what you’ve got.

6. Exercise. What, you don’t want all those fabulous endorphins? Don’t think about exercise in terms of vanity (you tiger, you). Exercise is nature’s built-in way of helping your brain regulate hormones, which leads to greater mood stability and enhanced cognition. Exercise also prevents premature aging and can help you manage stress.

7. Those rugrats are on to something. What do kids do? They laugh and play and ask questions – lots of questions. Curiosity and a lack of self-consciousness define children, the ultimate sponges. Maintaining a sense of play and curiosity will help you learn and retain information better.

8. Read, dork. Did you know that 33% of high school grads never read another book…ever? 42% of college grads never read another book, either. Reading is a natural stress-reliever and one of the simplest, best activities you can do to stay sharp. Your brain may be comprised of half fat, but it still needs a daily workout.

9. Turn off the TV. I don’t watch television, and haven’t for a long time. If I need a 30 Rock fix I can always catch it online, but in general I never watch TV. (Though I do spend far too much time online. It’s sick.) Still, television is passive and draining while reading, discussion with friends, and exercise are positive activities that nourish your spirit and your mind simultaneously. I’m all for vegging out from time to time with a movie, but if you are in the TV habit – get home, turn on tube, plop – try stopping for a week. I promise you’ll feel a rush of mental and physical energy. Be sure to report back to the ‘bolt.

10. Give it attention. If you want to learn more or better, or improve your memory, or develop better thinking skills, the single best thing you can do is simply give “it” attention, whatever “it” may be at that moment. Though all our IQs vary to some degree – I personally think IQ is horse sh*t – few of us lack the ability to improve or the inherent skill of remembering something. So if memory is a weak point, this simply means you are going to have to develop a technique to give more or different attention to what you want to remember. If you keep doing the same thing you’ve always done, nothing will change, after all. Example: Let’s say you are really bad with names. Invent a hack and focus your attention on this from now on. It might be a mnemonic device or repeating the person’s name over and over in your head several times, or saying it back to them. But the bottom line for improving your brain is to give your grey matter goals attention.

*Pre-thinking: the act of thinking before thinking; noncommittal premeditation; totally catching your thinking before it’s been thought.

Bonus: Get the Hung Like a Horse shirt (note: they have no idea I am shilling their threads).