HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR BRAIN TO THE FULLEST: 9 PRACTICAL TIPS - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

In this article I will give you 9 tips to develop your brain and walk towards strengthening your intelligence and mental capacity. Your mind is yours alone: ​​no one can take it away from you and you cannot give it away. Since it will always be yours and controlled by you, only you are the architect who can build and shape it.

Ten years after the scientist Hebb discovered the phenomenon of brain plasticity, different scientists demonstrated that the brain can be shaped using training techniques.

In the same way that we can tone and exercise our body, the brain can also be strengthened through brain gymnastics.

Brain gymnastics is the quintessential method to achieve this goal. It will help you achieve effective control over your mental processes through the development of intellectual instruments aimed at solving problems.

In other words, brain gymnastics will lead to greater clarity and precision of thought, and indirectly, you can see how this will translate into greater self-confidence.

As in classical gymnastics, the key to brain gymnastics is in getting into the habit of exercising it. Through the repetition of a series of exercises and routines, you will make them become part of your day to day and habitual way of thinking.

Finally you will acquire new skills that will allow you to expand and develop your mind using a new way of thinking.

“The only efforts that can elicit all of our energies are those that are really worth it. His mind is one of them. ”- Doctor Robert Jarvik.

Tips to develop your brain

1- Self-awareness exercise

The first step in developing your brain is to become aware of your current way of thinking, generating opinions and making decisions.

You are not just you: you are you and your circumstances. The way you learned to live, think, think, and solve problems is due, in large part, to the context in which you live.

Practice

Help yourself to a photo in which you appear and, looking at it, imagine what the person you see would be like if the life circumstances were totally different.

So, for example, imagine how that person you see would speak, think, give an opinion and solve their problems if: a) he was born in Paris and was a fashion designer, b) he was born in Italy and was the director of an art gallery, c) was born in Dubait and was an architect.

Finally, make the same reflection by looking at your current self in the photo and reflect on your current way of thinking, giving your opinion and solving problems based on your real life circumstances.

2- Use it or lose it

The scientists Rosenzweig and Benett conducted a review of previous scientific publications in 1996 to answer the following question:

Which of the following statements is correct?

• Who had, retained.
• Use it or lose it.

Through a thorough analysis of studies conducted in humans of all ages and in animals, they concluded that the correct statement is the second.

In this way, they advise to exercise the brain and not stop learning and setting new intellectual challenges whatever your age.

3- Memory, a matter of attention

Memory is nothing other than the ability to remember.

On many occasions we will be surprised by always remembering the same thing on a certain topic, losing details or different information. This does not mean that you have a bad memory, it just means that you use it "like everyone else."

Practice

How to use memory in a more beneficial way?

Our tendency to believe that we already know things prevents us from paying attention to new data. Therefore, when reading something about a family matter, we tend to remember only what we already knew because, by carelessly going through new information, we forget previously unknown information.

In this way, every time you read or listen to something, focus your attention on new concepts and ideas and leave the information you already knew in the background. This is a habit that, even if it challenges your instincts at first, will help you learn more quickly and effectively.

4- General culture

General culture is the accumulation of knowledge that a person possesses on various subjects, regardless of specialization in a specific sector of knowledge.

The source of culture is the society in which a person is immersed and, in general, we refer to what is frequent or habitual.

Why is general culture important?

You may be a great scientist or highly specialized in your area of ​​knowledge due to your life context. Within this context, you may be seen as an intelligent and wise person. However, most likely in your general life context you are considered considerably less intelligent.

Given that our self-perception of intelligence is partly generated through the opinions that others generate of us, and this self-perception is a fundamental motivational tool to continue developing your intelligence and mental abilities, it is very important to make others believe that we do not we are ignorant when it comes to general or day-to-day culture.

Practice

Try to spend some time in your life talking to people you consider vitally cultured or wise. These people will transmit you knowledge and ways of thinking that you cannot learn using books.

Another good way to develop your general culture is, even if it sounds stupid, to play some trivial game. It has worked for me personally.

I have always been overwhelmed by people who feel entitled to say to you “But you, what world do you live in? I considered you an intelligent person ”. Perhaps it is simply by ignoring who has won the soccer league last year, who has written this or that book or what a certain word means.

A good example of a trivial game that will not consume hours and hours of your life is the asked application. It is a fast game and it will make you discover things that everyone "should know" in a motivating way, so that, practically without effort, you will learn them.

In addition, it will help you develop a predictive ability about general cultural events. For example, in what architectural style to classify a cathedral or a painting? You will immediately pick up patterns that will make you look great in your social conversations.

5- The expression: reflection of your ability to think

“You don't really understand something unless you are able to explain it to your grandmother.” -Albert Einstein

You may be proficient in a subject but, due to poor expression skills, you finally give the impression that you "have no idea." This happens, and generally the people you talk to won't tell you because they don't hurt you.

Practice

How can I express an idea so that my interlocutor understands it?

The key is to present the information in a logical way. On many occasions, we transmit information in the wrong order in a way that seems illogical or contradictory. Managing the expression involves being able to transmit the information as if you yourself were ignorant of it.

The more our mind has worked on a series of concepts or ideas, the stronger our tendency to express it illogically.

So when you express an idea, try to make short, simple, and clear statements that answer the most basic questions (who, what, where, why, and when). Only after laying the groundwork can you delve into more complex conclusions.

In this way you will avoid experiencing the feeling of incomprehension on the part of your interlocutors that will lead them to think that you are a contradictory or ignorant person.

6- Comprehension: How?

The same principle outlined in the previous point, with a small variation, will help you to improve your understanding automatically and permanently.

When we set out to learn or understand a new topic, we often begin by exploring specific details that we do not understand, forgetting the

general and basic structure of the topic: who, what, where, why and when.

To these five points we must add one more in the case of understanding: the how. When you focus on something you want to understand, consider that how is the most important question to ask yourself because it will help you understand the information and integrate all the other details in a much easier way.

Making a nod to the previous point, the how is something that we do not normally transmit when we express the information: it would be tedious and uninteresting for the non-specialized interlocutor. In addition, it would not be easy to integrate since we would be calling our interlocutor to understand.

7- Challenge your mind

Do you feel like your mind is stuck in a rut?

Many times we have the feeling that we are not developing our full mental potential simply because we always train our brain with the same types of activities.

Routine in our way of learning is the greatest enemy of progress.

Practice

Set yourself a learning challenge: learn a new language, learn to play an instrument, explore a new area of ​​study, etc.

You will notice that you develop learning skills that you can apply to your previous and more common learning routines. For something it is said that knowledge has no place.

8- Read, books or the internet?

Reading is considered an activity that encourages learning, concentration, and language skills. Now, thanks to technology, the traditional conception of reading has changed.

According to scientist Gary W. Small, the majority of people over 29 years of age continue to read in non-digital format while the majority of people under 29 years of age show a clear preference for digital reading, especially by searching the internet.

A study carried out by Small in 2009 shows that reading through active searches on the Internet has advantages compared to traditional reading since it involves the activation of a broader neural network: more brain areas work together.

The difference between both types of reading lies in the activity / passivity of the reader. Thus, while in traditional format readers only an activation of the brain areas related to vision and language is observed, reading accompanied by searching the Internet activates these and other areas.

Among them are the frontal areas related to decision making and attention. These areas are central to the current definition of intelligence, measured using IQ tests.

Filtering information and searching for it actively are skills that we can develop very easily and comfortably using the internet.

In relation to this dichotomy, Small adds that we must choose the reading method that we like the most. Why? Learning activities that are most engaging to us have been shown to predict better short- and long-term cognitive performance.

9- Exercises and more exercises

Finally, I recommend these games that will also help you exercise your mind:

Games to train the brain.

Exercises to improve the memory.

10-Play

References

1. Savant, M. and Fleischer, L. (2005). Brain GYM. EDAF.
2. Savant, M. (2000). Brain gymnastics in action. EDAF.
3. Rosenzweig, MR and Bennet, EL (1996). Psychobiology of plasticity: effects of training and experience on brain and behavior. Behavioral Brain

   Research, vol 78; 57-65.