Keeping the Grass Green — External Factors for Increasing Cognitive Capability.
How to set the way for success by changing your external factors.
If you want to keep your grass green, you do not only have to sow it every few years.
You have to care for it. You have to treat it right. Every day.
The same goes for your brain. If you want to increase the chances of achieving extraordinary success, you do not only have to be as productive as hell.
You have to keep your grass green — with a lot of care. Brainpower does not only correlates with reading or learning. It correlates also with activities and habits, which seem to be quite non-obvious.
I will show you what you can do easily to increase your brain’s capabilities. I will show you how to change your environment to help you improve your brain’s capabilities.
Such as learning, understanding logic, or: Remembering.
Let’s dive in.
Physical Health = Mental Health
There’s actually a huge connection between mental health and physical health, so keeping your health high and yourself in good condition will improve your memory and learning capabilities.
Your fitness will “maintain” your brainpower.
I suggest going for a walk every day. Or ride the bike if you want to. Just make sure to get that blood flowing for a bit. The benefits will last for a long time.
If you aren’t that kind of a runner, I can recommend my daily routine.
Every day, right after waking up, I stretch myself to get into mood and prepare myself for the day.
It help’s me to get focused and ready.
Moreover, since I stretch myself, I never had any dislocation in my back. I think this alone is worth giving it a try.
Learn & Read. Then repeat.
If you train your brain a bit every day, you improve your overall memory and actively prevent the loss of it. Start by reading or doing some kind of brain activity every day.
I for myself read every morning (after my stretching) for about half an hour to get my brain started.
To increase overall performance, you can add things like solving math problems, learning to play an instrument, or reading dense material.
What I recommend:
- Learn new things every day and keep going to learn new things for your whole life.
- Challenge your brain with hard tasks like memorizing whole paragraphs once in a while.
And Now: Sleep.
It’s obvious. Sleep is important. How much you sleep is up to you.
The recommended time is somehow between 7–9 hours a day on average. Just try to get through all important stages of sleep to feel well-rested.
Personally, for me, it’s more important to have the right quality of sleep.
I’d rather sleep five hours of high-quality rest than 9 hours of interrupted and stressful sleep.
There are plenty of tips to increase sleep quality.
My personal routine is to keep it dark and hear some good audiobooks on Audible until I sleep in. Before that, I journal and meditate to reflect on myself and my day.
For real, it helps to get down after a stressful day.
You can also read right before you sleep. Again, it’s up to you. Just don’t stare at the mobile phone’s screen for hours before trying to sleep.
Water. The brain’s petrol.
Did you know that an adult should drink around 2–3 liters of clean water per day?
Set this as your goal! Water is the brain’s petrol. It needs water to keep running efficiently. Don’t try to substitute with lemonade or coffee.
It will not work (trust me!).
Instead, try to keep a bottle of fresh water next to your working space. Be aware of it and keep it in eye-sight. That will help you build your own drinking habit.
And in the long term, it will definitely pay off.
Nutrition, Nutrition, and more nutrition.
Besides water, you should nurture the right foods. Interestingly enough, there are actually foods that can help you boost your memory in the long term.
Especially helpful are foods with lots of antioxidants (like broccoli, blueberries, or spinach), as well as those with Omega-3 fatty acid (like salmon or almonds)
Since drops of sugar decrease the capability to focus, you should try to keep the sugar on a good level.
It will help if you eat every once in a while a bit instead of 2–3 big meals.
This method is also combinable with intermittent fasting. I eat from 10–18 o’clock. And in the meantime, I try to eat a few healthy snacks (obviously everything in accordance with my caloric input).
I can recommend fruits like bananas or apples, cashews, or any other kind of nuts.
What I cannot recommend, however, is eating foods with a lot of carbohydrates in the lunchbreak. It will decrease your chances for good work in the afternoon. So keep it fresh!
Conclusion
There are actually possibilities to set the way for success by changing your external factors. Try to improve your environment for learning and remembering!
I did this with small steps: By drinking more, sleeping better, and keeping myself in good condition. It will pay off. Trust me.
