As we get older, we get smarter. How to approach the issue of self-development, what to do so as not to miss anything and what you should focus on

Probably not a single person on the planet would refuse to become wiser - preferably without special effort from my side. Of course, knowledge by itself does not come to anyone, but the advice of some experts will help quickly and effectively fill gaps in education.

You can constantly develop your intelligence if you devote time and effort to it. First of all, books will help you expand your horizons, thanks to which you can become significantly wiser and surprise others with your erudition.

A person's intelligence directly depends on his brain activity. In other words, to develop your intelligence, you need to think as much as possible. And the best food for the mind at all times has been books.

In addition, brain fitness helps you become smarter: tasks, puzzles, puzzles, and so on. To be known as an educated person among those around you, you need to constantly train your thinking abilities and increase your intellectual level.

Going to museums and theaters, visiting exhibitions and simply communicating with more developed people will help to significantly expand your horizons. It's never too late to learn - don't forget about it.

Ways to become smart in 5 minutes - brain exercises

Such a proposal should not be taken literally; it is strange to hope that there are ways to help you become smarter almost instantly. However, if you spend at least 5 minutes every day on self-development, you can strengthen your mind at home and increase your level of intelligence. What needs to be done for this?

• Increase your vocabulary.
• Read more.
• Watch documentaries and educational programs.
• Start learning a foreign language.
• Learn a new hobby.
• Study encyclopedias.
• Meditate.

How to become a smart person - secrets of developing intelligence

The human brain lends itself well to training. The main condition is to do this regularly, devoting at least a few minutes a day to the process. Each developed personality must constantly strive to become even smarter.

If you have the desire, patience and perseverance, everything will definitely work out. The most effective way to increase your erudition is to constantly read books. You don't have to read everything to read a lot free time spend in the library, for this you don’t even have to leave your own home.

Nowadays any book can be found on the Internet. The World Wide Web is an ideal source of new knowledge, don’t forget about it.

How to become an ideal wife for him 10 rules for a smart wife

To become ideal wife For your husband, you need to learn several important rules that will help every girl:

• Always be patient, surround your loved one with care and attention.

• Don’t make a fuss over every occasion – you need to be wiser and not hold unnecessary grudges.

• Always talk about your wishes - do not think that a man has telepathic abilities and can read minds.

• Do not compare your husband with other people’s husbands, do not set other men as an example for him.

• Always be yourself and learn from mistakes.

• Respect your husband and ask him for advice more often.

• Allow him to have some personal space.

• Support a good relationship with my husband's parents, especially my mother-in-law.

• Do not impose your own opinion.

• Do not be jealous and do not give reasons for jealousy.

How to become a smart and interesting girl for others

Interesting, like high intelligence, on empty space does not appear, in order to become like that in the eyes of others, you will have to work hard and acquire the following qualities:

Basic rules wise woman:

• Always be sincere with your man, don’t pretend or lie.
• Don't waste yourself on random and unnecessary people.
• Do not humiliate your man or criticize him.
• Avoid pride in relationships, be more sincere and open.
• In any situation, support your husband and be on his side.

If a child is behind in some subjects - for example, mathematics or physics, this does not mean at all that you need to force him to sit longer in textbooks. The following measures will help improve your child’s academic performance:

• Attending classes at a music school - studies have confirmed that the IQ level of “musical” children is higher than that of their peers.

• Become smart girl At school and being a smart boy is impossible with a lack of sleep - you need to get a good night's sleep.

• You should teach your child discipline and develop the habit of planning his day.

• To make your child smarter, you can teach him game form, then he will show more interest in studying.

• Believe in your baby and support him in every possible way.

It is unlikely that a girl will be able to become smart in 5 minutes in all subjects, just as a boy will not show genius in studying subjects that are difficult for him.

However, it is worth remembering that a stupid person is someone who does not strive to become smarter. Every step towards knowledge, every effort will definitely lead to success on the path of self-development.

How to become a smart person: 17 reliable ways + 3 interesting exercises.

Are you tired of being stuck when the conversation turns to artists of the Renaissance or of staring at a road map for half an hour, trying to understand “where the hell have you gone, sir?”

Yes, and I want to wipe the nose of my “very smart” friend Svetka, who managed to defend her PhD thesis and regularly reminds her of this...

We will give effective advice, how to become a smart person before you turn 95☺ and unlock your brain's full potential.

A healthy body not only has a healthy mind, but also a great brain: 3 tips on how to become a smart person by taking care of yourself and your loved one

If you are seriously thinking about how to become a smart person and develop your brain, we recommend starting with:

“What is our life? Play!”: 3 great ways to become a smart person while playing

To become a smart person, it is not necessary to live forever in the library, dragging a sleeping bag and your favorite cup with Mickey Mouse there, but it will be enough:

Play Tetris.

Yes, yes, the same classic brain puzzle that got you kicked out of music class in 5th grade.

Now you wouldn’t leave with your head hanging, but tell the incomparable and smart Elena Gennadievna that “Tetris” develops the ability critical thinking, and hones the ability to assimilate large amounts of information much better than singing the song “There was a birch tree in the field.”

Play poker, checkers, chess, Monopoly to become a smart person and stretch your brain.

Well, if you are lucky, then not only smart, but also rich! Wondering how much a plane ticket to Las Vegas costs now? Such a brain needs “airing”!

Solve crossword puzzles to become known as a smart person.

Um-mm, well, we understand that from the outside it looks like an activity for pensioners, but your brain, to celebrate, may produce not only a shopping list for going to the store, but also a brilliant “trick” to the guy/girl you like, and in addition – compose a masterpiece commercial proposal for a “reluctant” client.

What is the strength in, brother? In art! 6 ways to “cultivate” your brain to become a smart person

Being on friendly terms with art is necessary not only so that you have something to talk about with the “nerds” at parties and not be ashamed of your brain, but also to become a truly smart person:

Regular listening to classical music will help to “overwhelm” anyone with intellect.

And no mournful “Aria” or thermonuclear “Prodigy”! And even the fact that “Tsoi is alive!” will not help you become a smart person. Only Mozart! Only Bach!

So that you don’t “bother” with finding wonderful music that will make you smart, we suggest you pay attention to these links:

Read, read and read again to keep your brain from drying out!

And not Daria Dontsova or “Fifty Shades of Grey,” but something that will become a real “Growth” for your brain, “slagged” with Facebook and other social networks.

We can suggest that you first master John Fowles, Iain Banks, Kazuo Ishiguro: abstruse words, long sentences, “testable” epithets and metaphors, “buried” in the depths of the works deep meaning– what the doctor ordered in order to become a smart person.

"Serve" information to the brain in an unusual way to become smart.

For example, if you would sell your soul for a fresh bestseller that still smells like printing ink, try listening to it in audiobook format.

A classical music complement by viewing a slide show of classic or contemporary artists. Your brain will be delighted and allow you to become a smart person.

Get creative if you set yourself the goal of becoming a smart person.

If you want, hand-paint silk scarves, or if you want, compose obscene ditties.

In a word, do anything so that your brain first exclaims, “We didn’t go through this, we weren’t asked to do this!”, and then sighed sadly and began to increase mass.

Memorize poetry to become a smart person.

At the same time, you will be known as a romantic person and will charm your loved one with the lyrics of Osip Mandelstam.

If you dream of the glory of an intelligent person.

Nobody demands from you a rich style, like Dostoevsky’s, but the need to express your thoughts in writing forces your brain to keep itself in shape, like a fashion model before an important shoot.

Knowledge Day: 5 options on how to “pump up” your brain with new information to become a smart person

It’s sad, but without fresh food for the brain in the form of new knowledge, you will never be able to become a smart person:

Start learning a foreign language.

If well-worn Englich makes you slightly nauseous, try learning Italian, Spanish, French or, who knows, when God is on vacation, Chinese.

Don't throw away your time like an Indian Rajah with gold coins if you want to be smart and develop your brain!

Have a free moment?

Instead of watching cute videos about cats on the Internet, read a Wikipedia article on a topic that interests you, discover the beauty of TED lectures, go to a professional forum and chat with the “brains” in banking, insurance, travel business or whatever you like do you earn bread and butter?

Download educational mobile applications to your smartphone and become a smart person even at the moment when you take the elevator down from the ninth floor.

Although we agree - checking out a co-worker's cleavage can be much more fun. However, we recommend Genius Brain, Einstein, and Memory Trainer.

Give up TV in favor of your brain.

Nothing depresses your long-suffering brain more than the 201st viewing of an advertisement for sanitary pads and the next episode of a detective series a la “the dashing 90s.”

OK! If you swear to us on blood that you will watch only high-quality “documentaries” from National Geographic, Discovery and intellectual games, then you can leave the “zombie box” in your house for now.

Create yourself a “smart” environment that will make you an equally smart person:

• “Point your feet” to where the chances are to meet smart people and the brightest brains strive for plus infinity:

  presentations of art-house films, literary bestsellers, exhibition openings, city competitions in intellectual games- all this is at the service of those who want to become an intelligent person or, at least, meet this “endangered species”.

  The author of the article met the greatest scholars in her life at the city brain ring championship. And if in the first season she sat in the audience quietly, like a mouse under a broom, then by the third season she “went crazy” and won the title of best player.

  To become a smart person, look with a fresh look their older relatives, teachers and bosses.

  If a person brilliantly defended his doctoral dissertation or earns 15 times more than you, you have something to learn from him. Do you still want to escape from a corporate party with your dear boss?

  If you seriously intend to become an intelligent person, then it’s time to run, your heels sparkling, from your native village of Orekhovo, where the most “intellectual” conversation boils down to bread prices, to the big city.

  After all, here, no matter how sad it is for your brain, “the spiritual grub is not very thick.” At the same time, quit your boring job as a salesperson in a second-hand store for a high-profile position as a sales manager in an elite boutique.

  Do you feel how you immediately became smarter and your brain increased in volume?

We suggest you take a look

TOP 5 ways to become smarter!

Mind games: 3 interesting exercises to become smart

1) “Drum roll” for brain development.

Whenever possible, beat out the rhythm of the music you hear to give your brain a workout.

It doesn’t matter whether you knock on the table, your knee, the hood of your car, or the tom-tam brought from Zanzibar (you’ve finally found a worthy use for this wonderful musical instrument. Was it in vain that they were dragged halfway around the world?). It doesn’t matter whether you do it with your hand, your favorite spoon with personalized engraving or sushi chopsticks.

The main thing is that you become an intelligent person by developing the lobes of the brain that are responsible for motor functions.

2) “The Theory of Lies” for an intelligent person.

Try reading nonverbal cues your interlocutor (facial expressions, gestures, eye expressions, etc.) to guess his next phrase. With a little practice, you can be considered not only an intelligent person, but also a psychic, worse than Vanga herself.

3) Smart “Mint”.

When you take a handful of change out of your pocket or folded bills in half, first try to determine the amount of money “by eye” and then count.

Buy yourself a chocolate medal as the smartest person in “the entire apartment and staircase” and the “carrier” of an amazing brain.

The sense of numbers, by the way, also develops when you are going on a long-awaited vacation and are trying to cram half of your wardrobe into your suitcase and the cat Barsik to boot (and who will you leave him with, the little orphan?). My brain melts trying to decide which of the four pairs of shoes not to take with me.

Take advantage of our tips how to become a smart person and very soon to the idiotic question “Isn’t your hat too tight for you?” You will be able to respond not only with a right hook, but also with a completely reasonable “Soon it won’t fit at all on my magnificent brain!”

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This article is written for those who are wondering: "How to become a smart person" and so on.

It seems to many people, including me, that in order to be a smart person, you need to be born that way, you need to have an innate talent. Like, if you were born stupid, this cannot be corrected. But in reality, this is a myth, the biggest misconception. The fact is that our brain has needed improvement and regular training for many years of our lives. And this means that if we want to become an intelligent person, any of us can.

The first and most banal answer to the question is “How to become smart?” - This - train your brains(first tip)! Even if the smartest person in the world gives up daily training of the gray matter, then in the future, he will lose his mental abilities. His brain is simply atrophying. The brain needs regular activation of a variety of thought processes in exactly the same way as software need constant updating.

What does the phrase mean - “Train your brain?” Today there are both well-known and proven for a long time methods (reading books, solving logical problems of varying complexity and focus), as well as new ways to improve attention, memory and other mental functions.

Take a piece of paper and write down, according to which you will have to read N amount in N time, solve N number of logical problems, master one or another technique to improve the functioning of mental processes.

However, I will read more to you. Reading books develops our brains much more than watching them. In the process of reading books, we have to think a lot, and when watching videos, we basically only have to contemplate and only sometimes think. Although, of course, there are videos that contain a lot useful information. But it’s definitely not contained in the films we watch every day, and certainly not in the news. This is a special educational video - for example, recording of lectures or conferences on some useful topic.

My second advice becoming smarter is independence in decision making. It sounds a little strange, but this is also an important aspect. A person who makes decisions independently first thinks a lot about the choice of his decision. And it’s much easier to put your blame on other people and let them make decisions for you. Maybe that's why women often turn out to be stupider than men. After all, a man much more often takes responsibility and makes his own decisions. And very often a man decides for a woman. And the woman simply obeys the man’s choice and completely transfers the initiative to him. Why use your brains if a man can solve all problems. Maybe that’s why, among the names of the smartest people, it is male names that appear more often.

My third tip for becoming a smart person is: communicating with smart people. As they say, whoever you get along with, that's how you get on. One of the laws on how to become the smartest person is: surround yourself with smart people. And it will be better if they are smarter than you. By surrounding yourself with idiots who admire your intelligence, you will, of course, satisfy your ego. And yet, communicating with stupid people will only lead you to degradation, because you will have no one to look up to and no one to learn from. Of course, communicating with smart people can lower your self-esteem, since you will feel like a dumbass and will not always understand them. But still this is one of the most the best ways become smarter. After all, smart people inspire and always give useful and wise advice.

Fourth tip - actively explore the world, expand your horizons. Becoming a smart person while sitting at home with encyclopedias and educational films is not a very wise decision. After all, as practice proves, what is written in books and shown on TV does not correspond to what reality offers us.

Discard the myth that a sage must be a hermit, and begin to actively explore the world. Visit new places as often as possible, travel more often, if your finances allow it, visit other countries. This helps broaden your horizons.

Fifth tip - act outside the box. Template actions do not contribute to the development of our brain. But coming up with non-standard solutions and their applications is being developed. That is, stop acting according to a pattern, stop being predictable and start improvising in your actions, bring new tones into your life. It will be cool when those around you have no idea what you will do or what you will answer in certain situations.

The sixth tip to become smarter is - ask questions and find answers to them. You need to constantly maintain your curiosity. This, by the way, is Einstein's trick. He said that he was able to keep the child inside him and always asked questions. He was convinced that a person who constantly asks a question will definitely find an answer. If you manage to retain your childishness, you will be able to understand a lot in this mysterious world. You can also find answers to your questions based on your knowledge and life experience, which are already in your head. This way you will force your brain to work actively. And searching for answers, both in your head and in other sources, will definitely make you smarter.

Seventh way - adherence to daily routine. It sounds a little ridiculous, but this tip is one of the top tips on how to become smarter. But why does this seem ridiculous? After all, improper unbalanced nutrition, insomnia, bad habits and working obscenely - all this definitely does not contribute to active brain activity. "Exhausted" It’s quite difficult to wake up the brain.

Therefore, if you want to become smart, you must follow the golden rules good nutrition, rest and work: eat exclusively healthy products, get enough sleep (but not oversleep), do exercises every morning, and so on. You should also give up bad habits, try to avoid overwork and spend time in the fresh air as often as possible.

What about nutrition, then the most the best products for proper brain function there will be those that contain B vitamins: liver, fish, vegetables, nuts.

Eighth tip - engage in spiritual self-development The answer is simple... Start to know your "I"! Thanks to various systems spiritual self-development You can discover the previously hidden abilities of your body, including the abilities of your brain.

Day 1: Add turmeric to your food and drink pomegranate juice

The brain needs no less regular and healthy diet than your stomach, but don’t rush to buy dietary supplements. According to scientists from the Brain Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg) and many other researchers, curry seasoning, which includes turmeric, strengthens memory and is a good prevention of Alzheimer's disease. Turmeric has an incredible amount of natural antioxidants, just like pomegranate juice. The latter, by the way, can even prevent brain damage in infants caused by fetal hypoxia. Rosemary, cinnamon, basil, oregano, thyme and sage are all very good brain spices too. There are many useful antioxidants in blueberries, grapes, prunes, strawberries, spinach, broccoli, artichokes, fish, turkey, olive oil and apples.

Day 2: Stretching out the fun

There is a theory that the hormone dopamine, necessary for attention and concentration, is released in anticipation of pleasure. Children who were able to resist the temptation to eat candy that was placed in front of them turned out to be more intellectually developed years later than those who immediately ate it - because they learned to control their attention by focusing on something else. Follow their example. Leave the cake you were going to eat for dinner until tomorrow's lunch - and you will not only maintain your figure and train your willpower, but also increase your concentration.

Day 3. Memorize the phone numbers of your close friends

For what? To train short-term memory, which scientists call “the lever that can raise all intelligence.” There was such an experiment: volunteers were asked to simultaneously listen to a sequence of letters and watch the appearance of figures in different places monitor. Participants had to determine when the spoken letter and the position of the square were repeated several times. The more they practiced these tasks, the higher their fluid intelligence—the ability to solve problems regardless of their existing knowledge—became. If you have trouble remembering phone numbers, play “memory” games (these are games for memory training – there’s a good selection at www.improvememory.org/category/games), make a list of shopping and urgent matters in your mind, hide your calculator away, or memorize chapters from “ Evgeniy Onegin.

Day 4: Get some sleep and feel the difference.

A study conducted by scientists at Harvard University showed that memory continues to work during sleep, so the next morning it is easier to remember what did not come to mind the night before. Place a bouquet of roses in the bedroom or light an aroma lamp when preparing for an exam or an important performance, and your chances of success will increase - the smell of roses and geraniums has a beneficial effect on memory and calms the nerves. Mint, cypress and lemon are considered aromatic energy boosters for the brain.

Day 5: Get moving

Physical activity promotes the growth of new cells in the hippocampus (the area of ​​the brain responsible for the formation of emotions and memory consolidation) and protects existing ones. German researchers from the University of Ulm have proven that after a 30-minute run, your concentration increases, information is remembered better, and you make fewer mistakes in your work. And in old age, people who lead an active lifestyle with a lot of aerobic exercise are 40% better at spatial orientation, which also correlates with the size of their hippocampus. In addition, when the body spends more kilojoules on muscle work, the brain has to make do with less energy. As a result, special substances are produced that have a beneficial effect on the activity of neurons.

Day 6. Learn a language

It doesn’t matter which one, all are equally useful. When the brain of a French and English speaker chooses which language to use, the cortical connections that control both languages ​​are activated. Then the “managerial” zone in the subfrontal cortex of the brain is connected, which selects the right word. This zone is responsible for higher functions thinking, so when you learn new languages, other areas of the brain become active, raising your IQ. If you're not ready to sign up for courses right away, start with small steps. Learn the words to a French song you like. Find the original audio version of your favorite Shakespeare sonnet and listen to it several times throughout the day. Try watching a familiar movie without translation. Place a Latin aphorism written in large letters in a prominent place. And if you decide to practice the old fashioned way - by memorizing nouns and verbs - you will be rewarded: after an hour of such exercises, you will feel how your head is freed from unnecessary thoughts.

Day 7: Solve puzzles

Puzzles and crosswords reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia, so don’t blame yourself for spending an hour and a half a day solving Sudoku on your phone. It is also useful to put together puzzles - this simple activity trains certain parts of the brain without loading it 100%, allowing you to also think about pressing matters. But for this method to work for sure, get a permanent partner - for playing Scrabble and more! According to numerous studies, those who had a couple in midlife are 50% less likely to become stupid in old age than those who lived alone.

Day 8. Listen to smart people

The world's best minds regularly gather at international TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conferences to discuss last news science and culture - such as brain mapping and prenatal intelligence. You can listen to their extremely fascinating and often sensational lectures by downloading the TED app to your phone or through the website www.ted.com/talks, where you can install subtitles in any language, including Russian.

Day 9: Meditate

The brain is capable of recharging when it works as if in standby mode. This happens when you daydream or just sit without thinking about anything in particular. Using MRI, Japanese scientists measured changes cerebral blood flow in 63 volunteers who were asked to try to consciously stop their thoughts. Those who had the most active blood circulation in the white matter connecting neurons were the best at generating new ideas later. For neophytes, the classic method of meditation is suitable: close your eyes, relax, take your mind off everything, and focus your attention on breathing. If everything is done correctly, within ten minutes you will feel that your brain has rested.

Day 10. Eat dark chocolate, drink red wine and water.

Dark chocolate and red wine contain flavonoids that improve memory. Also try to drink at least 1.5 liters of water per day. Dehydration forces the brain to work harder, which reduces mental activity.

Day 11. Go to an exhibition

British doctors from Oxford Royal University examined 5,350 people from different social classes. One group included lovers of intellectual leisure who regularly attend performances and exhibitions, the second included homebodies who spend weekends watching TV. It turned out that the memory, attention and intelligence of representatives of the first group were much less affected by age-related changes. Conclusion: the brain rests much better when we comprehend, analyze, compare something, and at the same time also receive aesthetic pleasure. When contemplating works of art, blood flow increases in the part of the brain that is responsible for pleasure and desire. When the experiment participants admired the paintings, the MRI recorded feelings similar to those that a person usually experiences when looking at a loved one.

Day 12: Play a video game

Numerous studies prove that video games can activate the hidden potential of the brain and teach you to better navigate not only in virtual, but also in real space. Scientists from the University of Rochester have found that people who play action games several times a week can simultaneously monitor a larger number of objects and more effectively process rapidly changing visual information.

Day 13: Learn salsa

Dancing is generally an excellent therapy that “unloads” the body and brain. Any rhythmic movement accompanied by music will enhance cerebral circulation and will provide the release of the hormone oxytocin, which activates the functioning of neurons. And some dances - especially those requiring developed coordination - teach fast response, help you concentrate and tune in to making decisions.

Day 14. Take a siesta

Participants in the experiment who slept during the day for 90 minutes. After completing a task that involved the hippocampus (remembering the names of 120 people they did not know), they remembered more names than those who did not take a nap. Even more surprising is that in the evening they managed to remember even more names than the first time, and again got ahead of their awake comrades. If you cannot take a nap for an hour and a half, lie down with your eyes closed for at least five to ten minutes. This mini-siesta also invigorates your spirit and increases your energy levels.

Day 15. Book a massage

Make it a rule to do a general body massage at least once every two weeks. Touching the skin activates a huge amount nerve endings– intermediaries between the skin and the brain. The brain responds by giving the body an order to produce endorphin, the hormone of happiness. This the oldest way impact on nervous system can bring more benefits than experiments with medications, especially if you do massage as a course. Sex is also useful - at least once a week, and, as studies show, the presence of orgasm does not affect brain function in any way. The main thing is the process, not the result!

Day 16: Make something with your own hands

Swing your knitting needles and knit beautiful scarf. Make a bracelet made of multi-colored beads as a gift to your friend. Stitch your initials onto your loved one's pillow. At worst, sew on the loose buttons. Any workout fine motor skills activates the intellect. It's even better if you try doing it in a completely new way - for example, try sewing on a button with your left hand.

Day 17: Buy a yellow blouse or scarf

It has been proven that yellow stimulates brain activity. Also mental activity tone red and orange colors, and green and blue, on the contrary, calm.

Day 18. Do an ultrasound of the cervical arteries

Once a year, check the condition of your blood vessels to make sure that your brain is not on a starvation diet. When there are microcirculation disorders or vasospasm, the brain lacks oxygen and glucose. This may give you a headache and you will literally start to slow down. But resort to Ritalin, Cogitum and other drugs to stimulate brain function without serious medical indications not worth it. This is “health on credit” - nootropics help, but they are addictive and weighty side effects. As for vitamins, E, C and folic acid are good for the brain.

Day 19. Build a “Palace of Memory”

This is the name of the technique that helps you remember faster. Associate what you want to remember with some bright picture. Even if you don’t have the patience to build a “palace,” at least familiarize yourself with this technique by reading Dominic O’Brien’s book “How to Develop Absolute Memory.”

Day 20: Try not to smile

Experiments have proven that simply frowning makes you think more skeptically and analytically. Perhaps this American experiment in Russia is not indicative - everyone here is habitually frowning. But in general, this is true: laughter is a rest for the brain, and melancholy provokes serious work of thought and reflection.

Day 21. Listen to Mozart

Psychologists made a discovery ten years ago: Mozart’s musical works improve mathematical thinking. Even rats, after listening to Mozart, completed mazes faster and more accurately than after listening to noise or, for example, Philip Glass.

Day 22: Reread Shakespeare

Scientists from the University of Liverpool have proven that Shakespearean language can make us smarter. Yes, in principle, any artistic language, especially if it is poetry. The linguistic “functional shift method,” in which, for example, a noun is used as a verb, causes the brain to understand what a word means before its function in a sentence is realized. This makes your head work harder. If Shakespeare makes you sleepy, read any classic. Even if it's 15 minutes a day. Reading stimulates the imagination: the plot of the book turns into visual images in the head, which stimulates brain activity. The more you read throughout your life, the less you will be bothered by “cognitive impairment” (read “stupidity”).

Day 23: Try something different.

Neurobiology professor Lawrence Katz calls this “neurobics”—a brain exercise. These exercises prevent dendrites (nerve cell extensions) from atrophying because they involve different areas of the brain. The point is to change the usual course of events and force the brain to work in a new way in new circumstances. For example, take a completely different route to work. Take a shower with the lights off, using your sense of touch instead of your sight. Go to the restaurant “In the Dark” with blind waiters, where they eat by touch. Try holding a spoon with your left hand all day (if you are right-handed). Unexpected breakfast food new way warm-up before training, a crossword puzzle instead of a detective story at night - everything counts! With a little practice, you can easily come up with neurobic exercises yourself. New ones every day, this is important.

Day 24: Enjoy stress

Academician N.P. 

Bekhtereva, who for many years led research into the superpowers of the human brain, received evidence that insights come not only to geniuses. Intellectual and creative breakthroughs for ordinary people occur when they have to solve super problems. From which the conclusion follows: difficulties are necessary, and problems that at first glance seem insoluble may turn out to be the best that life can offer us.

Day 25: Play the piano Take out the old sheet music and dust off the lid. No one is standing over you with a pointer anymore, as in, and you can play to your heart's content. Whatever you want - from a dog waltz to avant-garde plays of your own composition. Didn't study music? You are lucky - you don’t have to overcome your own negative experience! Take lessons from a professional musician, a gifted neighbor, or your own second-grade son. Whether you're blowing, strumming, or strumming, playing any instrument increases your IQ because it engages the part of your brain responsible for memory and coordination.

Day 26: Start writing with a pen

Write a letter to a loved one on paper. Try to rewrite the text you like, changing the handwriting several times until it is unrecognizable. Practice writing with your left hand if you are right-handed. In the morning, do the Morning Pages exercise recommended by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way: get up half an hour earlier, take a pen and just write down everything that comes to your mind without editing or criticizing. You might even want to take up calligraphy. Brain scans show that with the successive movements that the hand performs while writing, the parts of the brain responsible for thinking, speech, memory, that is, the entire system of temporary storage and processing of information, are activated. By the way, it has been proven that primary and secondary schoolchildren use more words, write faster and express their thoughts better when they write by hand rather than typing.

Day 27. Don't deny yourself coffee

You can drink a second cup and a third. It has been found that women who drink up to four cups of coffee a day are less likely to experience depression than those who allow themselves one cup a week. Other studies have shown that coffee improves short term memory. In 2011, the journal Nature Neuroscience published a study confirming that, under the influence of caffeine, laboratory rats activated neural connections. And the more connections between neurons, the higher the ability to learn and remember.

Day 28: Start a blog or write an online review

On the Internet, anyone has the right to be a critic. Write about what you like or don’t like on sites where non-professional reviews are welcome (afisha.ru, tripadvisor.ru, booking.com). Expressing an opinion will help you better understand your own way of thinking. Analysis and critical thinking are effective vitamins for your brain.

Day 29. Do the Pythagorean exercise before bed.

Replay the events of the past day in your mind, remembering the smallest details. Ask yourself: “What did I do today? What important thing did you not do? Why am I ashamed? What should we be happy about? Having mastered the technique of “exam of consciousness” regarding what happened during the day, begin to gradually dive into the past. Remember what happened yesterday, the day before yesterday, trying to restore any more or less important details. “Exam of Consciousness” perfectly trains memory and attention. And conscience - it is no coincidence that they prepare for confession in much the same way.

Day 30: Play with the kids

Their spontaneity awakens creative energy in adults. It's also a great workout for the amygdala, the part of the brain that controls emotions. (Crying with emotion is also good for the brain.) Development emotional intelligence(self-awareness, self-control, motivation, empathy and communication skills) is no less a worthy goal than fighting for a high IQ score. Plus the eternal childhood habit of asking “why?” about everything. It’s a good idea for adults to learn too. If you allow yourself to be curious and ask this question to yourself and others many times a day, they will begin to answer you. Imagine how many interesting things you will learn!

Pliny the Younger

If a person wants to become smarter, then there are always two main reasons for this desire. The first is the need for such self-improvement, when a person not only understands, but also feels that in order to solve some pressing problems/tasks and/or to achieve certain results, he needs to learn something new, understand something, realize or come to new knowledge through reflection. And the second is interest in this process, when a person simply likes to develop and improve, because he gets pleasure from it. Whatever your specific motivation, dear readers, is in this matter, I really hope that it will help you accept and apply the information that I will share with you in this article. And I will tell you mainly about the psychological side of this issue, thanks to which you can find the most effective and convenient ways for you to develop your mental abilities, and most importantly, you will be able to implement them. It is with implementation that I will help you the most, telling you not just about how to become smarter, but also about how to take it and do it.

To begin with, I note that we will not talk about how to become smart, but about how to become smarter, that is, about how to surpass your current self. It doesn’t matter whether you now consider yourself smart or not, in the end, we are all smart in our own way and at the same time, each of us can be stupid in certain issues and situations. If you want more and better, you need to move further in your development. Therefore, do not think about what you already know or can do, forget about your past achievements and be open to new information. Empty your cup of knowledge from excess in the form of confidence that you have nothing more to learn. There is always something to learn.

There are well-known ways to help you become smarter - reading good books, communication with smart people, solving various problems and puzzles. All these things contribute to the development of the mind because they strain it, force it to work, and give it new knowledge. But there are other, more, let’s say, targeted approaches to this process and less well-known ones. That's what we'll talk about. If we explain in general terms the solution to this problem, then all you need is to gain new knowledge and develop your thinking. Then you will definitely become smarter. But in order to do this faster and more efficiently, overcoming various psychological traps, you need to know about the important details of this work.

Attitude towards yourself

This is how our psyche is structured, that the less we know and the more mistakes we make in life, the more we want to think well of ourselves in order to compensate for the psychological damage we have suffered. Our Ego, or, in other words, our Self, is responsible for this. It is this that protects our psyche from negative thoughts about ourselves, which inevitably arise in cases where we feel that we have done or are doing something stupid, that our knowledge is not enough to solve some problems. questions that we are stupider than other people in certain matters, and so on. This is where our Ego stands up for our personality, instilling in us that we are smart, that we are doing everything right, and that other people or circumstances are to blame for our failures and similar protective, but at the same time, harmful thoughts for our development. And until a person’s attitude towards himself changes, until he wants to know the truth about himself [that truth that indicates his weaknesses, shortcomings, mistakes], he will not be able to do the necessary work on himself to become smarter.

I could advise you to always consider yourself a stupid ignorant, so that you experience moderate dissatisfaction with your mental abilities and because of this you constantly look for ways to learn something new, strive to develop your thinking in order to become smarter. This is such simple, rough advice that is completely understandable to everyone. After all, why do you care what kind of person you really are, stupid or smart, if you still need to develop your mind? In this case, you need to think about your shortcomings and weaknesses, so that, thanks to dissatisfaction with yourself, you will be motivated to develop. But I understand that for people with weak character such advice is harmful, because their negative opinion about themselves will awaken in them not a desire to learn something new and develop their thinking, but depression and apathy. Therefore, such people can only rely on the help of other people, primarily competent teachers, mentors, psychologists, who will gently encourage them to work on themselves within their means, without allowing them to experience discomfort from low self-esteem and self-doubt that blocks all activity. For these specialists, this is very delicate work with people. And for those who understand that they need such help, this is the most reasonable solution.

Here you need to understand that this is a real psychological trap for people with weak character, probably due to the laws of evolution pursuing the goal of natural selection. Therefore, the fact is that the dumber a person is, the more intelligent he presents himself, especially in his own eyes, thereby depriving yourself of the opportunity to improve your mental abilities. That is why he does not want to become smarter, since this desire pushes him into traumatic thoughts about what is now, in currently he's not smart enough. But he doesn’t want to think like that. He rather seeks confirmation that he is smart when he communicates with someone on this topic or tries to work on himself [namely, he tries, not works]. For example, wanting to engage in the development of thinking, a person is looking for proof that he is already well developed, so he needs easy tasks that he can confidently solve, and not those that will reveal his shortcomings and weaknesses. And this is not the development of the mind, this is self-deception. That is why such people often need outside help, a strong hand, so to speak, that will force them or competently motivate them, which is much better, to work on themselves. Most of them, I repeat, have a weak character and they do not want to know the truth about themselves, the truth that suppresses them. And you definitely don’t need to put pressure on them, because this will make them even more depressed and apathetic, and not motivated to work on their mental abilities. This is the pattern that exists in this world. It may not be absolute, but it is common.

Environment

Our environment, as you probably know, plays a huge role in our development. It either contributes to it or, on the contrary, hinders it. But now I want to tell you not about this well-known fact, not about the fact that you need to surround yourself with smart people in order to become smarter, but about why people often don’t do this. The fact is that we want to consider ourselves smarter than others and therefore often, consciously or not, we surround ourselves with those who are either in many ways similar to us, primarily in terms of level mental development, or is inferior to us in this component. But most people don’t really like being among the smarter representatives of the human race. After all, it is not at all comfortable and pleasant when you see and feel that another person, other people, know, understand, and are more capable than you. It is much more pleasant and fun to be around those who are equal to you in terms of mental indicators and with whom you can be yourself. As a result, because of such a craving for psychological comfort, a person deprives himself of the opportunity to learn something from smarter people. He simply avoids them. Although if you think about it, in most cases there is no reason for discomfort; our Ego simply misinterprets the situation when an intelligent person is next to us. It divides people into smart and stupid, generalizing their abilities and comparing us with them. This person is smarter than us, and that one is stupider, with this you can show off your intelligence, but with that you can’t. In reality, such a comparison is incorrect. It is too crude and unpromising. We must understand that even a very smart person can be ignorant of something, but a very stupid person can know something valuable. All people are unique and everyone is good at something and bad at something. Therefore, we do not need to compare ourselves with someone, generalizing our own and other people’s abilities, we need to look at the individual qualities and skills of this or that person and think what we can learn from him.

Thus, thinking about your own benefit, about your selfish interests, you can forget that someone is dumber or smarter than us and feel comfortable with any person, any people. There will always be someone in this world who is dumber than us, at least in some specific matters, and there will be people who, again, will be superior to us in some ways. And the point is not to compare yourself with other people according to such a rough scheme - stupider or smarter than me, but to try to find knowledge that is valuable to you in each person and pull it out of him.

There is another very important point here, or better yet, a sub-point that deserves special attention. If you want to learn something from other people, you need to strive to communicate with those of them who, in their worldview, are very different from you. Therefore, what you learn from them should, if not shock you, although this is acceptable, then at least surprise and even unnerve you. You don’t need other people’s thoughts that always and in everything coincide with yours, no matter how pleasant it may be to you. You need those thoughts that turn everything upside down in your brain. When this happens, it means that you are going beyond your mental boundaries, beyond your usual perception. This is often an unpleasant procedure because it distorts a person’s picture of the world and people often get nervous, freak out, and irritated when they learn something new about something they always thought they knew everything about. New information introduces some uncertainty, incomprehensibility, unpredictability, even chaos into their idea of ​​life, so it is best case scenario surprises, and at worst shocks or greatly irritates. This is understandable, because the brain needs certainty and stability in order to feel calm, so it clings to the facts it knows and does not want to revise them. Otherwise you will have to adapt to new reality, and this is not an easy job. But to become smarter, you sometimes need to break old ideas about life and build new ones in their place. Therefore, it is useful to experience stress when communicating with people who tell stories about certain things that do not match your stories about them. Stupid and weak people When faced with such information that is unusual for them, they begin to argue, deny it, criticize it, but the smart ones, at a minimum, take it into account, knowing that no matter how much they know, there will always be something that they do not yet know know, and at most, they add this information to the knowledge they already have, expanding or in some places changing their picture of the world. This is how, through stress and resistance to the new, we move towards a more perfect state.

Why do I call this moment/sub-moment important and demanding? special attention? But because I myself have many times encountered misunderstanding on the part of some people and I know that many of you also constantly encounter this. If you think differently than others or know about something that they do not know about and with your knowledge you destroy their picture of the world, this can lead to the creation of a barrier of non-acceptance between you and them and even lead to serious disagreements and conflicts between you. In such cases, there is a struggle between people's illusions and the harsh reality that they fear. So they may not understand you, not because you explain something poorly, but because they don’t want to understand, because it’s scary to understand you. But the most terrible thing for me is that I myself often did not understand people who thought differently from me and knew something different about certain things, different from what I knew about them. As a result, my conversations with people could become more about who is smarter or dumber than about each other's points of view. I am ashamed that I was such a person; I hate to remember my stupidity and limitations. I understand that even now I have many shortcomings, but then they were more glaring. Therefore, I have learned from my own experience that in order to become smarter, it is imperative to listen to all people and consider a variety of points of view and opinions, including those that are very different from our opinion and therefore do not like us. Think about this life position too. Otherwise, what kind of mental development can we talk about if a person is constantly stewing in the same information broth with people like him who confirm each other’s opinions for the sake of psychological comfort, and do not question their correctness.

Knowledge

Knowledge, like people, is also different, because it comes mainly from people. Therefore, they, like people, should also be treated with respect. great attention and, if possible, without prejudice. You cannot accept some knowledge and criticize others just because you don’t like it, mainly because it does not coincide with the knowledge and attitudes you already have or your desires. The world works the way it works and it doesn’t adapt to anyone’s fantasies. But we have to adjust and adapt to a lot of things in this world. Therefore, any knowledge must be treated with respect. In my opinion, an intelligent person is a person who not only knows a lot, but knows how to use his knowledge and, what is especially important, is open to new knowledge, whatever it may be. Therefore, regardless of what each of us already knows, we must always look for something new, including in the area in which we think we know a lot or even everything.

Unbiased and respectful attitude to any knowledge - this is what is important to develop in yourself first. Use the same approach as when communicating with people - look for knowledge that you don’t like, that makes you uncomfortable. They can frighten you, irritate you, surprise you, they can cause you rejection, rejection, indignation, protest, ridicule, and this will be their value. They are not what you would like, they are not what you are used to, and they, this knowledge, may contradict what you already know. But it is precisely this kind of knowledge that will be a sip fresh air for your mind, they are the ones who can allow it to wake up and start working. You can’t do nothing but look for confirmation of the correctness of your ideas about this world by reading, watching, listening only to what resonates in your head. This is a trap for your mind, for your development. And many people fall into it. I like this, I think this is correct, I agree with this information, it agrees with what I think I know, so I will accept it, study it and remember it. But I don’t like this anymore, this is some kind of incorrect information, it shouldn’t be like this, so I will criticize it, fight it, or close myself off from it, hide my head in the sand, just to continue to feel comfortable. You can still burn at the stake the one who spreads such unpleasant information, such unreliable knowledge from my point of view. Is this position familiar? Does it make a person smarter? That's it.

Now, regarding the sources of knowledge. In most cases, people strive to obtain knowledge from sources that are authoritative and, therefore, verified by competent specialists in order to be confident in their high quality. I don’t want to say anything against this approach; it is generally correct, tested by time and the experience of many people. But I want to draw your attention to one, quite interesting, from my point of view, point. It lies in the fact that authoritative sources of information can view this or that issue or questions rather one-sidedly, due, as a rule, to someone’s interest in this one-sidedness. For example, censored media can talk about an event in the way that the people controlling them need. Or the same history textbook can present the history of the country in a light favorable to the authorities. Yes, any book, any source of knowledge, can represent someone’s interests and, because of this, be insufficiently objective. No one is immune from mistakes either; even the most authoritative sources of information can make mistakes. Plus, the presentation of material through one or another source may be such that not every person will understand what is written or shown or told in it. Therefore, I advise you to find out about something from different sources of information and learn something from different educational materials. It is not the authority of the source of information that should be a priority, but its clarity, openness and detailed presentation of the material. Clever man You must check everything yourself, using practice, logic, and other examples, and not just trust authorities. After all, it happens that a person can be very well-read, know a lot, but not be able to explain his knowledge. This is so and not otherwise, because such and such an authority said so - that’s all the evidence for you. This is not a serious position. Authority may have different reasons say something and keep something quiet. You can't take people's word for it, no matter who they are. They need to be checked, their opinion compared with the opinion of others, even if they are not very authoritative, but clearly and clearly explain their position. In addition, the more sources of information you use to study a particular issue, the broader your horizons will be. Different opinions will make your own opinion more objective, and different way presenting the same material will allow you to study it in more detail and systematically.

One more important point in obtaining knowledge is an understanding of the purpose of obtaining it. On the one hand, the more you know, the smarter you look. But on the other hand, you can’t know everything, which means you need to strive to learn the most important things first, in order to be smart in what will best affect your life. People want to become smarter for a reason, but primarily or also in order to surpass other people and look better against their background in various matters. This is natural competition, the struggle for survival, the desire to win and be the best in order to have the best. This means that you need to become smarter with a specific goal - to surpass someone in something or to do some important thing for your life, or things to do. Then, instead of shoving as much knowledge as possible into your head, spending a lot of time and effort on it, it is wiser to choose for yourself something most important, some most productive direction that will be closest to your life, to to satisfy your needs, to solve problems that are important to you, to achieve your goals. Being smart does not mean having encyclopedic knowledge to solve the same crossword puzzles; such knowledge today will not really surprise anyone. The same Internet that many people have access to will still know more than you and its knowledge on many issues will be more recent and accurate than yours. Being smart, and in our case becoming smarter, means expanding your capabilities and learning to do things that will improve your life.

Think about it, if one of our goals in this world is the desire to take possession of the amount of resources necessary for a comfortable and safe life, then the knowledge you receive must first of all meet this goal. Relationships with people are also important because we satisfy most of our needs with their help. Therefore, you need to gain knowledge first of all about these things. Moreover, this knowledge must be adequate to reality, and not the kind that teaches us how it should be and how it should be, and not how it is. Other knowledge will wait. I’m interested in everything, I’m interested in everything, I’m open to everything, but when I’m short of time, I cut off everything unnecessary and focus only on things that are important for my current life. There are many smart people in this world who understand various complex things, know a lot, but at the same time cannot effectively or at all somehow solve typical everyday problems and tasks that are important primarily for them. own life. I don't mind talking about higher matters, about possible but unproven things - aliens, life after death, parallel worlds and the like, but only after more important things are done. Otherwise, what is the use of a great mind if it does not allow you to obtain even the most necessary things for life and deal with the most pressing problems.

Training program

This moment, friends, is very important. When I fully comprehended it myself, I was delighted with the understanding of how, with a certain approach to the process of acquiring knowledge and developing thinking, one can surpass many smart and well-educated people. Now I will explain to you the meaning of this approach. Wherever and whatever you learn, if the knowledge that you receive is received by other people in exactly the same way, then to some extent you will develop with them on equal terms. That is, a publicly available training program prepares people, specialists, of approximately the same level. It is clear that some people are more talented than others, that people’s attitudes towards learning can be different, that in addition to the program in which a person studies, he can, at his own request, receive other knowledge, and thanks to this, be smarter in some things. But still, the training program that is the same for all people makes them to some extent equal to each other. At least those of them who try to study receive approximately the same level of training. These people become smarter about themselves and about those people who study in other, less effective programs or do not study at all. But compared to each other, they will be approximately the same.

And in order to become smarter than others, smart enough people who have received or are receiving a good education to be able to get around them, surpass them, it is advisable to develop according individual program training. It can be based on training from other educational materials specially selected for you, which you will need to study in a certain sequence, as well as on the competent presentation of these materials and on working with people who are good at explaining, telling and showing, and what is especially important - they know how to motivate to study. Even a simple selection of books to read can be so unique and well thought out that a person can learn something from them much faster and much better than those people who read other books and in a different order. Just imagine, it is possible to develop a training program that will be many times more effective than those programs that are used in the best universities in the world. And you can become smarter than those people who pay big money for their education. But, I repeat, this will only happen if you yourself or with someone’s help can create your own training program, tailored to your mental abilities and basic knowledge. This is the first point.

The second point is the search for the most optimal path to desired result. It logically follows from the first point. Always remember that the same result can be reached in different ways. This applies to many things, perhaps to everyone, and it certainly applies to teaching. Therefore, there can be a great variety of training programs. Some of them are more effective, some less. Therefore, if you cannot master something in one way, look for another. Both the acquisition of knowledge and the development of thinking can include a lot of personalized moments. People are all different, some think faster, some slower, some understand some teachers better, some others, some have a better developed way of perceiving information [visual, auditory, tactile], some another, there can be a lot of differences. And taking them into account, you can help anyone become smarter in the area they need for a relatively short term. Imagine a personalized program that is perfect for you. Thanks to it, you will perceive knowledge and develop your thinking as easily and with great interest. Imagine how quickly you can learn things that are important to you with its help. And just as importantly, it will help you gain a competitive advantage over others who will study in less effective and mainstream programs. And public availability reduces the value of any knowledge. After all, what large quantity people will be able to do the same things, the lower their activities will be valued.

Therefore, my advice to you would be this: try to experiment more often with training programs, look for new ways to learn something and new ways to develop your thinking. Do not rely only on “old-fashioned methods” for improving your mental abilities, because you can always find something more perfect and ideally suited for you. Walking along a path already trodden by someone when studying something is, of course, also correct. This way you can save time. But this treasure must be supplemented in our own ways in order to arrive at some knowledge faster than others and understand it better. Let me remind you once again that in order to become smarter than other people and surpass them, you need to try to find new ideas for your development in order to do something that other people do not do when they are engaged in their development. In this sense, self-education can have a huge advantage over standard education.

Desire to change

Well, the last thing you need to develop and constantly maintain in yourself is the desire to change. Here we return to where we started. If you want to become smarter, you must admit that you are not smart enough now and can improve, and this state of not being smart enough will always exist. In some ways you are right, in some things you are wrong, you know some things, you don’t know others, some things you do well, some things you do poorly - all this does not matter. You still need changes, even if everything is fine with you. Stick to the belief that good enemy the best, and not the other way around.

Sometimes a person needs to step over his pride, through his Ego, in order to admit that he is wrong on some issue and, in connection with this, accept a new point of view and, thanks to it, change. How difficult it is sometimes to do, especially for those people who really don’t like to be wrong. But only by admitting that you are wrong in what you are actually wrong about, you can move to the next stage of development, opening up to a new position, a new point of view, new knowledge. After all, becoming smarter means becoming different. And to do this, you need to give up your current self, what you like about yourself and what you are used to. We also need to give up psychological comfort, because it is this that keeps us trapped in our own limitations. A person is comfortable when he and other people consider him smart. And if you are smart, then why do you need to change anything about yourself. But when someone pokes a person’s nose into his sins, mistakes and misconceptions, you yourself know what feelings this evokes. At a minimum, resentment, and at a maximum, anger and hatred. Yes, it is unpleasant, sometimes it hurts, sometimes it’s scary, sometimes it makes a person furious, but this is the path to changes that will make you better, smarter. The same mistakes are needed in order to learn from them, we all know this, but we do not always follow this rule. So sometimes you have to choose between the opportunity to become smarter and the desire to be in a comfortable psychological atmosphere. The opposite of comfort is stress. Changing yourself is always stressful, in some cases moderate, in others exhausting. And in order to consciously expose yourself to it, you need to have good motivation.

It is thanks to good motivation that you will be able to follow all the advice I gave you in this article. It is motivation that will help you take and do what we have discussed here, without any delay, but right here and now, using all the resources you have, especially temporary ones. And as I wrote at the very beginning of the article, if you want to become smarter, you must understand why you need it. I will only tell you that thanks to your mind you can solve any problems and tasks, you know, any. All your fears, all your pain, all your desires depend on your mind. The smarter you are, the less fear, pain, suffering there will be in your life, and the more joy, happiness and all kinds of benefits there will be. You can be sure of this.