15 Hacks to Rapidly Increase Your Intelligence and Develop a Lightning Fast Brain
1. Exercise
I’m surprised this one hasn’t been mentioned more!
Studies have shown time and time again that physical exercise is necessary for cognitive health.
Regular exercise can increase brain function, improve memory, speed up cognitive processes, and fight off diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Luckily, you don’t need to spend too much time in the gym to accomplish your goal of a better brain.
Experts suggest that 15 minutes of moderate to intense exercise is all that is necessary to optimize cognitive health.
I recommend that all of my clients complete some form of resistance training 3X a week for about 45 minutes and then walk, bike, or hike outside for 60 minutes a day for the rest of the week.
2. Get Out in the Sunlight
Ever since the skin cancer scare (which was based on exceptionally bad science) people have been avoiding the sun and covering their skin with chemicals.
Not only has this made us all look like vampires but it’s created some very real health problems.
Most notably of which is vitamin D deficiency.
Recent studies have shown a definitive link between vitamin D deficiency and impaired cognitive health.
When you don’t get sufficient amounts of sunlight, you can expect to suffer from mood swings, depression, anxiety, and a whole slew of other negative effects.
Do your brain a favor and get at least 20 minutes of direct sunlight every day.
If you live in a cold climate supplement with 5,000–10,000 IU of a high-quality D3 supplement every day. (I prefer Jarrow’s Brand)
3. Get 8–9 Hours of High-Quality Sleep
We all know that sleep deprivation can kill you.
But did you know that it can literally make you dumber too?
People who regularly get 6 or fewer hours of sleep a night are shown to have severe cognitive impairment that they AREN’T EVEN AWARE OF!
Their performance is slower, their intelligence scores are lower, and their general productive output is only a fraction of what it could be.
If you get only 6 hours of sleep a night and you think you’re fine… You aren’t.
Get 7–9 hours of sleep a night and you can literally make yourself smarter.
In order to get the best sleep possible, I recommend that everyone reading this (even you) does the following:
Invest in an insanely comfortable mattress
Buy blackout shades or tape black trash bags over your windows
Set the thermostat to 67F or cooler and sleep naked (seriously, it’s healthier for you)
Remove ALL electronics from your room and cover any light-emitting fixtures (like smoke detectors)
Take 1,000 mg of Magnesium, 50 mg of Zinc, krill oil, and l-theanine 45 minutes before bed.
Turn off all electronics 60 minutes before you go to sleep.
Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
Consume a high fat snack 3 hours before bed and quit consuming alcohol 4 hours before sleep
There are a plethora of hacks that you can use to improve the quality of your sleep but this should be more than enough to get you started.
If you do NOTHING else except improving your sleep (and get more of it), I promise you that your brain will be faster and sharper than ever before.
4. Drink Coffee and Supplement With Creatine (Separately)
The research is in.
Coffee literally makes you smarter.
In addition to staving off depression, dementia, and Alzheimer’s, coffee has been shown to increase cognitive output and speed up cognitive processes.
Similarly, a daily 5-gram dose of creatine has been shown to have significant cognitive benefits with almost no appreciable side effects.
Just be sure to take these 4–6 hours apart since creatine and caffeine have been shown in a handful of studies to have negative chemical interactions.
5. Meditate for 10–30 Minutes a Day
Meditation has been shown to help rebuild grey matter in the brain and increase cognitive performance significantly.
Simply sitting down and following a guided meditation for 10 minutes a day can have HUGE benefits for your brain in the long run.
Put down the TV remote and pick up your headspace app.
You won’t regret it.
6. Play a Variety of Different Games
Although there are definite drawbacks to playing copious amounts of video games, things aren’t all bad.
Many studies have shown that specific games ranging from Call of Duty to Sudoku can have positive cognitive benefits when practiced in moderate doses.
While the correlation is still under investigation, there is enough evidence present that I recommend everyone plays some sort of game for 15–30 minutes a day.
Whether it’s online chess, Fortnite, or just a normal crossword puzzle, stimulating your brain in new ways has been shown to dramatically increase cognitive capacity.
7. Pick up a Musical Instrument
Countless studies have illustrated a fact that we all intuitively know.
Music makes you smarter.
Being classically trained in a musical instrument has a number of benefits, not just for your brain but also for your social life and sexual desirability.
If you don’t know how to play an instrument now, I recommend that you either hire a teacher or use an app like Yousician to develop your skills.
Not only is music an amazing hobby that will do wonders for your social life, but it will literally rewire your brain and make you a faster and better learner.
8. Volunteer
Although volunteering might not directly increase your intelligence it has a number of psychological benefits that serve as “Neuro protectants”.
Studies have shown that people who regularly volunteer are at a decreased risk of depression.
They’ve also shown that people who volunteer are more likely to have heightened levels of happiness and fulfillment which play a significant role in keeping your brain healthy.
9. Eat a Diet High In Healthy Fats and Low in Processed Sugars
Many studies have shown that your diet has a HUGE effect on your cognitive performance.
Although we have barely cracked the surface in most of our research there seems to be a direct correlation between the foods that you consume and your cognitive health.
Specifically, studies have shown that eating 100g+ of healthy dietary fats (like fish, olive oil, and avocados) has a positive impact on cognition, and eating processed foods has the inverse effect.
So eat a healthy diet with plenty of vegetables and healthy fats and always think about your brain before swinging by the donut shop.
10. Supplement and Use Nootropics
This last tip is entirely up to your discretion. I am not a doctor and don’t claim to have the legal authority to give medical advice.
I’ve simply interviewed dozens of high level “biohackers” and health experts who have all stated that nootropics are an incredibly effective way to increase intelligence.
This can range from the relatively mundane coffee and l-theanine to the pharmaceutical Modafinil (or “God Pill”).
Do your own research and look into different supplement stacks to help boost your brain.
You might find the unfair advantage you’ve been looking for.
5 Habits You Must Avoid
1. Drugs and Alcohol
Look, I like Bourbon as much as the next man.
I partied my face off back in the day and I’m no stranger to mood-altering substances.
But that being said NONE of them are good for your brain.
Alcohol makes you dumber and impairs decision making.
Marijuana, although beneficial in MANY other regards, has been shown to slightly lessen grey matter (although not in significant amounts)
And cocaine… Well, you might as well just poke a hole in your head and call it a day.
Drugs and alcohol are fun. No doubt.
But they kill your brain and make you dumber than a box of rocks.
I won’t tell you what to do.
But if you want to improve your brain as much as possible, you should avoid the majority of illegal and legal drugs that are on the market.
2. Mindless TV
I love a good show like Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad.
However, the crap that people can spin-off as “Television” these days amazes me.
Avoid stupid TV at all costs.
It doesn’t add anything to your life and literally makes you dumber.
Yeah… Watching the Jersey Shore can actually make you as dumb as the people who act in it.
3. Eating Sugar
I’ve already mentioned this but it’s worth repeating.
Studies have clearly shown that sugar makes you dumber.
It slows cognitive processes, ages your cells, and makes you fat.
Cut it out of your life and you will be much better for it.
4. Stressing Out
Studies have shown that stress has significant negative effects on your cognitive health.
Being stressed literally makes you dumber and increases your chances of early death.
So chill out and maybe reconsider taking that promotion at work that will double your weekly workload.
5. Operating from a Fixed Mindset
Ok, so this isn’t exactly research-based. Just anecdotal evidence from my own life.
I’ve interviewed more than 400 high achievers.
Some of them had ridiculously high IQ levels. Some of them didn’t.
All of them were smart and all of them operated from a growth mindset.
This means that they all believed that they could improve.
I’ve noticed that the dumbest and least successful people all believe that “This is just how it is”
The smartest and most successful people believe “This is how it is BUT I can change it”.
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