Being smart is incredible, but it doesn’t happen overnight. If you have set your heart to be smarter, you need to acquire habits that will groom your intelligence and feed your mind.
One of the biggest misconceptions today is that intelligence is something that one person is born with. After all, how would someone look so smart compared to another without much effort? But more than a trait, being smart is actually a flexible and changeable capability to learn and stimulate your brain that can perk up over time.
The thing that smart people have in common is that they are staunched to lifestyle habits that support and safeguard their mental health. If you would take a closer look at academics and entrepreneurs that have leaped to the top of their field, you’ll realize that they made it through their ability to come up with solutions to daily problems.
Here are the habits that smart people have in common that make them smarter every day:
1. Ask Questions
While many people don’t ask questions because they think it would make them look foolish and empty-headed, German philosopher Hans George Gattimer believes otherwise, saying, “Knowledge can only be with those who have questions.”
Asking questions is necessary for learning and finding answers. Take yourself back to when you were still a child when your curiosity about all sorts of things was boundless, and everything intrigues your interest— this is the habit you should nourish as an adult to get smarter every day.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions or research the solutions on your own. Rather than spending your precious time binge-watching a new Netflix series, consume your time looking for materials online that will help you understand topics you’re confused about.
2. Hangout With Smart People
You are who you hang out with because your surroundings are what will shape your values, beliefs, and ways of thinking. When you spend time with intellectuals, you’re doing yourself a favor by feeding your brain since smart people always have something valuable to discuss, and so there’s always something new to learn.
At first, you might feel a bit out of place, not knowing what they are discussing, but even that discomfort has its own perks. As a result of your shortcomings, your mind will push you to improve to acclimate to your surroundings. You don’t necessarily need to find God-like intellectuals, you just need friends who always have something interesting to discuss.
3. Read Across Genres
Reading is a mental exercise that stretches the brain to be in its tip-top shape. Thanks to smartphones, e-readers, tablets, and the internet, we can have access to almost all written books that were written by different kinds of people from various places.
Unfortunately, despite this privilege, we still tend to waste our time viewing amazing pictures and videos on our social media feed, mindlessly scrolling through a newsfeed.
Instead of using all your freedom to do nonsensical things that won’t benefit you, make it a habit to read to teach your brain to function well. It would help you continuously learn new, random things. Try going for lengthy articles, instructional periodicals, and websites.
4. Prioritize Eating Healthily
They say glucose-rich food is necessary for the brain, but a balanced diet of vitamins and minerals is actually the best fuel that you can get to ignite your thought engine. A balanced diet includes enough protein, a moderate amount of carbohydrates, and enough healthy fats, which only means that grains, lean meats, fish, nuts, and dairy products should always be on your dinner table.
It would be better if you would eat just enough to be satisfied. Don’t eat too much, and refrain from eating unhealthy junk food as much as you can because it will only tire you out in the long run.
5. Keeping A Diary
Writing reflections about your thoughts and happenings in your life perk up the brain. Every night before you go to bed, take some time to jot down the things that happened all throughout the day and the insights you got from them. This way, you’re giving room for yourself to analyze and work out certain ideas that come to you.
Journaling can help you kickstart your brain, coordinating the hemispheres of the brain. It’s like working out your muscles for them to become stronger and develop. Since there’s a movement done when we write, the motor cortex of our brain becomes largely stimulated compared to when we just type in information on our gadgets.
6. Take Time To Think
There’s so much to think about in this life— that’s for sure. However, thinking too much can take you far away from the real essence of the information received. The habit of taking pauses to ponder on the things you have learned is greatly beneficial to your brain, and it is a crucial part of the learning process.
When you give yourself some time to think, you get to consider all factors that might indirectly or directly have an impact on whatever it is that you are doing. If you would notice, smart people also tend to talk less, yet they still manage to get things done with fewer words.
7. Exercise Frequently
Exercise releases endorphins, which is a hormone regarded as a mood elevator that has been shown to improve memory. Physical health has an explicit influence on the quality of our thoughts.
Moreover, it instills discipline which is pretty advantageous for the efficient growth of positive habits and new ideas. Don’t deprive yourself of at least one form of exercise every day.
