9 Brain Training Hacks for Peak Performance

What could you accomplish if you were able use your brain more efficiently? 

Do you ever have those moments when something you “know you knew” just slips away and you can’t pull out that information that you need? 

Do you ever have that feeling of brain fog that saps your energy and creativity? 

There is a belief among many people in our society that our brains deteriorate with age and that you can’t achieve neurogenesis (developing new brain cells) but recent research is proving this to be a 

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, becoming “smarter”, increasing your IQ or just being able to use your brain more efficiently is high on your goal list.  In fact, it’s not just entrepreneurs… this is what a lot of people look for, ESPECIALLY as they get older. 

Luckily there are totally plenty of free brain training hacks you can use and practice so you can “train your brain” to be smarter, work faster and be more efficient.  

Brain training is a powerful (yet simple) way to improve your brain power, IQ, creative thinking, and critical thinking skills.

So, let’s talk about a few of my favorite simple ways to increase brain power! 

Feed Your Brain

This might be the singular most overlooked aspect of brain health. What you put into your body affects EVERYTHING in your body and that includes your brain. Unfortunately, far too many people are eating a crap diet of fast food and sodas and expecting to get good results. 

Try doing a clean eating program for 30 days and watch happens to your brain AND your body… 

Be sure you’re getting the right fuels for your brain. Until recently, there has been a belief that the low fat diet is the way to go.  But the reality that we’re discovering is that our brains are powered and upgraded by fatty acids, particularly those Omega 3’s, 6’s and 9’s. So, make sure you’re eating or ingesting high quality fats like coconut oil, especially MCT oil, almond butter, grass fed beef, grass fed butter, wild caught salmon. These healthy fats will give your brain the best supply of energy it can get.

Teach What You Most Need to Learn

Author Richard Bach of Jonathan Livingston Seagull fame (and several other books) said: “We teach best what we most need to learn.”

When you have an interest in learning something new, dive deeply into it. Get into the details that you really want to absorb and then find a way to teach it. Create a small workshop, or have a few friends over and talk to them about it, or see if you can arrange for a special teaching session at a community college, or give a talk to a business group… there are lots of ways to come at this, but the best way to learn something is to teach it. 

Write It Down

We always talk about taking notes during trainings, but writing things down in general, or just WRITING in general creates new synaptic connections in the brain. Take the time to jot down notes, thoughts, ideas and things you want to learn. Remember, we live in a distraction-oriented society these days and those fleeting thoughts can be supremely valuable to your productivity. 

I like to use voice recorder apps, too. But that’s just to capture the ideas. If you really want to kick your brain into gear, spend time every day writing, in a journal, or on your computer and just let the thoughts flow. You’ll be amazed at what this can do for your focus and mental acuity. 

Exercise Every Day

I would love to say that this goes without saying, but apparently it doesn’t. Your brain thrives on water and oxygen. Getting more exercise means getting more oxygen to the brain, it’s as simple as that. You don’t have to be a triathlete or marathon runner, you can start with just taking a walk around the block or doing ten pushups… or ONE pushup if that’s where you need to start. 

Practice Awareness

You can’t change something if you’re not aware of the what needs to change.

This is a simple, and very actionable way to upgrade your memory. Just practice awareness. This simply means to focus on only one thing and one person at a time. Is your business partner talking to you about an important idea and instead of listening, you’re thinking about your own important idea, or what you’re going to say next? It simple to just take that few minutes, focus and be present. The people in your life with greatly appreciate it and will probably even reciprocate, and you will also quiet your mind in the process…which leads to our next hack…

Meditate 

Practicing meditation is a method of just quieting your mind and allowing your thoughts to drift by without dwelling on anything specific. There are all kinds of meditation apps or audios or videos you can use to get started, but there isn’t any fancy trick to any of it. Just sit quietly, either in silence or with some meditative music and breathe. Focus on your breath. Breathe and and breathe out. Try it for a few minutes at a time. If your thoughts starting jumping all over the place, just go back to focusing on your breath. 

It’s called “practicing” meditation for a reason… because it’s never perfect. But with some practice, you’ll find that it does wonders for your brain! 

Get Plenty of (Quality) Sleep

Sleep is vitally important to brain functions, including how nerve cells (neurons) communicate with each other. In fact, your brain and body stay remarkably active while you sleep. Recent research has also indicated that sleep plays a housekeeping role that removes toxins in your brain that build up while you are awake.

You can refer back to our Finish Strong Friday episode a couple of weeks ago where we talked about a number of tools you can use to improve your sleep quality but suffice to say that getting a good quality of sleep for 7-8 hours per night is undoubtedly one of the most important things you for your brain. 

Listen to (and move to) Music

Music is a powerful brain trigger and a great motivator! There is a reason why peak performers jam out to music when they are working. 

Whether is Mozart or Shinedown, the Beatles or Beethoven – music fires up those neurons and also hits you at an an almost intangible emotional level that triggers your brain to move into motivation mode. Classical music and certain types of specifically composed instrumental music even has the ability to reduce stress, reduce pain, stop seizures and can even help you to battle insomnia.

Use Brain Training Apps 

Our technologically advanced lifestyle has created all kinds of awesome tools that we can use to help train our brains. You can look up brain training apps on your phone and see what you come up with but my favorite and one I’ve been using a lot lately is called Luminosity and you can find on Google Play or the the Apple app store as well as for your computer. 

I really enjoy it because it’s also entertaining. It’s fun and great good memory improvement games, along with progress tracking. 

So, there are our 9 Brain Training Hacks for Peak Performance!

Remember that you absolutely can (and should) do everything in your power to improve your brain function because it is the most powerful supercomputer in the Universe and everything you do relies on the proper function of your brain. 

If you want to be more creative, think faster, be smarter, increase your IQ and maybe even leap tall buildings in a single bound… then get yourself on a routine and practice of training your brain for peak performance.  

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