| Who says self-improvement has to be hard? Here | | | | You need to break out of the rut! |
| are 10 quick and easy ways to improve your | | | | Even a slight change to your normal route can |
| most important asset - your brain. | | | | help your brain make new mental connections. |
| 1. Try something new. | | | | This is turn will do wonders for your creativity. |
| Take up a hobby or interest you've never tried | | | | 6. Exercise in the fresh air. |
| before. | | | | Your brain needs oxygen. Make sure you get |
| Latin dancing, Chinese cooking, Pottery. | | | | some by allocating time every day for some |
| Anything. It doesn't matter as long as it's new to | | | | healthy walking in the clean fresh air. |
| you. | | | | Stop along the way and try some gentle deep |
| Learning a new skill drags you out of a mental rut. | | | | breathing, driving more oxygen into your lungs |
| You're forced to use your brain to meet new | | | | and onwards to your brain. |
| challenges, awakening your innate problem-solving | | | | 7. Read a book on a topic you'd never choose. |
| ability in the process. | | | | Read (or at least scan through) one book a |
| 2. Do puzzles. | | | | month on a topic that has never interested you. |
| Word games, crosswords and Sudoku all make | | | | You'll be amazed what you can learn when you |
| great mental workouts. | | | | step outside your familiarity zone. |
| Many newspapers feature a daily chess position | | | | 8. Join a foreign language class. |
| or logic puzzle. | | | | Foreign languages offer excellent practice to both |
| Don't read the newspapers? Then make up your | | | | sides of the brain. You get to exercise your |
| own daily quiz: | | | | memory, your imagination and improve your |
| Take a word and see how many other words | | | | language skills too. |
| you can make from it. Start with a smallish word, | | | | 9. See things from other people's point of view. |
| say 5 letters long, and progress to longer words | | | | Emphasize with other people. When you're listening |
| as your skill increases. | | | | to somebody, try to mentally step outside of |
| Whatever your puzzle of choice, try fitting one a | | | | yourself and truly see the topic from that |
| day into your busy life. Like any muscle, your | | | | person's perspective. |
| brain benefits from a regular workout | | | | 10. Visualize something for 3 minutes. |
| 3. Memorize something daily. | | | | Don't think you can visualize? Then try a little |
| Take one item you usually need to look up. It | | | | experiment by answering the following questions: |
| could be a friend's telephone number, a reference | | | | (a) What color is the front door of your home? |
| code at work, or the date of a special | | | | (b) Is the handle on the left or right-hand side of |
| anniversary. | | | | the door? |
| Memorize it by repeating it to yourself 7 times. | | | | (c) When you open the door, what do you see |
| Then recall it several times throughout day and | | | | inside your home? |
| the next day too. Periodic recall fixes the item in | | | | You can visualize. To answer the above questions, |
| your longer-term memory. | | | | you had to. |
| 4. Drink more water | | | | So practice a little visualization every day, using a |
| Make sure you drink the recommended 8 glasses | | | | different object each time. |
| of water per day. | | | | Think of something familiar like your home, car, |
| It helps the flow of nutrients and oxygen travel | | | | office building, gym or whatever. |
| throughout your body including, of course, to the | | | | Use your imagination to picture it from all angles, |
| brain. | | | | inside and outside. Imagine yourself walking around |
| (Did you know your brain is actually 85% water? | | | | it, moving through it. Really notice all the details. |
| It's true.) | | | | Try to 'feel' the surfaces as you move around, |
| 5. Take a different route to work. | | | | and hear any sounds in the place too. |
| You'd be surprised how often you take exactly | | | | You know what they say: "All great things begin in |
| the same route. (And I do mean 'exactly'.) This | | | | the mind." Improve your mind and who knows |
| can lead to living your life on autopilot and | | | | what you'll achieve. |
| seriously limiting your mental potential. | | | | |