120 Ways to Boost Your Brain Power

Here are 120 things you can do starting today to help you think faster, improve memory, comprehend information better and unleash your brain’s full potential.

1. Solve puzzles and brainteasers.

2. Cultivate ambidexterity. Use your non-dominant hand to brush your teeth, comb your hair or use the mouse. Write with both hands simultaneously. Switch hands for knife and fork.

3. Embrace ambiguity. Learn to enjoy things like paradoxes and optical illusions.

4. Learn mind mapping.

5. Block one or more senses. Eat blindfolded, wear earplugs, shower with your eyes closed.

6. Develop comparative tasting. Learn to properly taste wine, chocolate, beer, cheese or anything else.

7. Find intersections between seemingly unrelated topics.

8. Learn to use different keyboard layouts. Try Colemak or Dvorak for a full mind twist!

9. Find novel uses for common objects. How many different uses can you find for a nail? 10? 100?

10. Reverse your assumptions.

11. Learn creativity techniques.

12. Go beyond the first, ‘right’ answer.

13. Transpose reality. Ask “What if?” questions.

14. SCAMPER!

15. Turn pictures or the desktop wallpaper upside down.

16. Become a critical thinker. Learn to spot common fallacies.

17. Learn logic. Solve logic puzzles.

18. Get familiar with the scientific method.

19. Draw. Doodle. You don’t need to be an artist.

20. Think positive.

21. Engage in arts — sculpt, paint, play music — or any other artistic endeavor.

22. Learn to juggle.

23. Eat ‘brain foods’.

24. Be slightly hungry.

25. Exercise!

26. Sit up straight.

27. Drink lots of water.

28. Deep-breathe.

29. Laugh!

30. Vary activities. Get a hobby.

31. Sleep well.

32. Power nap.

33. Listen to music.

34. Conquer procrastination.

35. Go technology-less.

36. Look for brain resources in the web.

37. Change clothes. Go barefoot.

38. Master self-talk.

39. Simplify!

40. Play chess or other board games. Play via Internet (particularly interesting is to play an ongoing game by e-mail).

41. Play ‘brain’ games. Sudoku, crossword puzzles or countless others.

42. Be childish!

43. Play video games.

44. Be humorous! Write or create a joke.

45. Create a List of 100.

46. Have an Idea Quota.

47. Capture every idea. Keep an idea bank.

48. Incubate ideas. Let ideas percolate. Return to them at regular intervals.

49. Engage in ‘theme observation’. Try to spot the color red as many times as possible in a day. Find cars of a particular make. Invent a theme and focus on it.

50. Keep a journal.

51. Learn a foreign language.

52. Eat at different restaurants – ethnic restaurants specially.

53. Learn how to program a computer.

54. Spell long words backwards. !gnignellahC

55. Change your environment. Change the placement of objects or furniture — or go somewhere else.

56. Write! Write a story, poetry, start a blog.

57. Learn sign language.

58. Learn a musical instrument.

59. Visit a museum.

60. Study how the brain works.

61. Learn to speed-read.

62. Find out your learning style.

63. Dump the calendar!

64. Try to mentally estimate the passage of time.

65. “Guesstimate”. Are there more leaves in the Amazon rainforest or neuron connections in your brain? (answer).

66. Make friends with math. Fight ‘innumeracy’.

67. Build a Memory Palace.

68. Learn a peg system for memory.

69. Have sex! (sorry, no links for this one!

70. Memorize people’s names.

71. Meditate. Cultivate mindfulness and an empty mind.

72. Watch movies from different genres.

73. Turn off the TV.

74. Improve your concentration.

75. Get in touch with nature.

76. Do mental math.

77. Have a half-speed day.

78. Change the speed of certain activities. Go either super-slow or super-fast deliberately.

79. Do one thing at a time.

80. Be aware of cognitive biases.

81. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. How would different people think or solve your problems? How would a fool tackle it?

82. Adopt an attitude of contemplation.

83. Take time for solitude and relaxation.

84. Commit yourself to lifelong learning.

85. Travel abroad. Learn about different lifestyles.

86. Adopt a genius. (Leonardo is excellent company!)

87. Have a network of supportive friends.

88. Get competitive.

89. Don’t stick with only like-minded people. Have people around that disagree with you.

90. Brainstorm!

91. Change your perspective. Short/long-term, individual/collective.

92. Go to the root of the problems.

93. Collect quotes.

94. Change the media you’re working on. Use paper instead of the computer; voice recording instead of writing.

95. Read the classics.

96. Develop your reading skill. Reading effectively is a skill. Master it.

97. Summarize books.

98. Develop self-awareness.

99. Say your problems out loud.

100. Describe one experience in painstaking detail.

101. Learn Braille. You can start learning the floor numbers while going up or down the elevator.

102. Buy a piece of art that disturbs you. Stimulate your senses in thought-provoking ways.

103. Try different perfumes and scents.

104. Mix your senses. How much does the color pink weigh? How does lavender scent sound?

105. Debate! Defend an argument. Try taking the opposite side, too.

106. Use time boxing.

107. Allocate time for brain development.

108. Have your own mental sanctuary.

109. Be curious!

110. Challenge yourself.

111. Develop your visualization skills. Use it at least 5 minutes a day.

112. Take notes of your dreams. Keep a notebook by your bedside and record your dreams first thing in the morning or as you wake up from them.

113. Learn to lucid dream.

114. Keep a lexicon of interesting words. Invent your own words.

115. Find metaphors. Connect abstract and specific concepts.

116. Manage stress.

117. Get random input. Write about a random word in a magazine. Read random sites using StumbleUpon or Wikipedia.

118. Take different routes each day. Change the streets you follow to work, jog or go back home.

119. Install a different operating system on your computer.

120. Improve your vocabulary.

121. Deliver more than what’s expected.

The Best Quotes

1. We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.

2. "The spaces between your fingers were created so that another's could fill them in."

3. Have you ever wondered which hurts the most: saying something and wishing you had not, or saying nothing, and wishing you had?

4. 10th grade

As I sat there in English class, I stared at the girl next to me. She was my so called "best friend". I stared at her long, silky hair, and wished she was mine. But she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. After class, she walked up to me and asked me for the notes she had missed the day before and handed them to her. She said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

11th grade
The phone rang. On the other end, it was her. She was in tears, mumbling on and on about how her love had broke her heart. She asked me to come over because she didn't want to be alone, so I did. As I sat next to her on the sofa, I stared at her soft eyes, wishing she was mine. After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie, and three bags of chips, she decided to go to sleep. She looked at me, said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Senior year
The day before prom she walked to my locker. My date is sick" she said; he's not going to go well, I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade, we made a promise that if neither of us had dates, we would go together just as "best friends". So we did. Prom night, after everything was over, I was standing at her front door step. I stared at her as she smiled at me and stared at me with her crystal eyes. I want her to be mine, but she isn't think of me like that, and I know it. Then she said "I had the best time, thanks!" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Graduation Day
A day passed, then a week, then a month. Before I could blink, it was graduation day. I watched as her perfect body floated like an angel up on stage to get her diploma. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. Before everyone went home, she came to me in her smock and hat, and cried as I hugged her. Then she lifted her head from my shoulder and said, "you're my best friend, thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

A Few Years Later
Now I sit in the pews of the church. That girl is getting married now. I watched her say "I do" and drive off to her new life, married to another man. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't see me like that, and I knew it. But before she drove away, she came to me and said "you came!". She said "thanks" and kissed me on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why.

Funeral
Years passed, I looked down at the coffin of a girl who used to be my "best friend". At the service, they read a diary entry she had wrote in her high school years. This is what it read: I stare at him wishing he was mine, but he doesn't notice me like that, and I know it. I want to tell him, I want him to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love him but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. I wish he would tell me he loved me! `I wish I did too...` I thought to my self, and I cried.

5. Someday your prince charming will come. Mine just took a wrong turn, got lost, and is too stubborn to ask for directions.

6. Annoying Things To Do On An Elevator

1) CRACK open your briefcase or handbag, peer Inside and ask "Got enough air in there?"
2) STAND silent and motionless in the corner facing the wall without getting off.
3) WHEN arriving at your floor, grunt and strain to yank the doors open, then act as if you're embarrassed when they open themselves.
4) GREET everyone with a warm handshake and ask him or her to call you Admiral.
5) MEOW occasionally.
6) STARE At another passenger for a while. Then announce in horror: "You're one of THEM" - and back away slowly
7) SAY -DING at each floor.
8) SAY "I wonder what all these do?" And push all the red buttons.
9) MAKE explosion noises when anyone presses a button.
10) STARE, grinning at another passenger for a while, then announce: "I have new socks on."
11) WHEN the elevator is silent, look around and ask: "Is that your beeper?"
12) TRY to make personal calls on the emergency phone.
13) DRAW a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers: "This is my personal space."
14) WHEN there's only one other person in the elevator, tap them on the shoulder, then pretend it wasn't you.
15) PUSH the buttons and pretend they give you a shock. Smile, and go back for more.
16) ASK if you can push the button for other people but push the wrong ones.
17) HOLD the doors open and say you're waiting for your friend. After a while, let the doors close and say "Hi Greg, How's your day been?"
18) DROP a pen and wail until someone reaches to help pick it up, then scream: "That's mine!"
19) BRING a camera and take pictures of everyone in the lift.
20) PRETEND you're a flight attendant and review emergency procedures and exits with the Passengers.
21) SWAT at flies that don't exist.
22) CALL out "Group hug" then enforce it.

7. 9 Things I Hate About Everyone

1. People who point at their wrist asking for the time... I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?

2. People who are willing to get off their a** to search the entire room for the TV remote because they refuse to walk to the TV and change the channel manually.

3. When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". Damn Right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?

4. When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they?

5. When people say while watching a film, "did ya see that?" No Loser, I paid $12 to come to the cinema and stare at the damn floor!

6. People who ask "Can I ask you a question?"... Didn't give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?

7. When something is 'new and improved'. Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, couldn't be new.

8. When people say "life is short". What the hell??? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever does!!! What can you do thats longer?

9. When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks "Has the bus come yet?" If the bus came, would I be standing here???

8. In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away

9. "Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you' re just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky he is to have YOU... The one who turns to his friends and says, "thats her"....

10. It's better to keep your mouth shut and give the impression that you're stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.

Beneficial things in daily life..

Ants Problem:
Keep the skin of cucumbers near the place or ant hole

To get pure and clean ice:
Boil water first before freezing.

To make the mirror shine:
Clean with spirit


To remove chewing gum from clothes:
Keep the cloth in the freezer for an hour.


To whiten white clothes
Soak white clothes in hot water with a slice of lemon for 10 minutes 10.


To give a shine to hair:
Add one teaspoon of vinegar to hair, then wash hair.


To get maximum juice out of lemons:
Soak lemons in hot water for one hour, and then juice them.


To avoid smell of cabbage while cooking:
Keep a piece of bread on the cabbage in the vessel while cooking.


To rid the smell of fish from your hands:
Wash your hands with a little apple vinegar.


To avoid tears while cutting onions:
Chew gum.


To boil potatoes quickly:
Skin one potato from one side only before boiling.


To boil eggs quickly:
Add salt to the water and boil.


To check freshness of fish:
Put it in a bowl of cold water. If the fish floats, it’s fresh.


To check freshness of eggs:
Put the egg in water. If it becomes horizontal, it’s fresh. If it becomes slanting, its 3-4 days old. If it becomes vertical, its 10 days old. If it floats, it’s stale.


To remove ink from clothes:
Put toothpaste on the ink spots generously and let it dry completely, then wash.


To skin sweet potatoes quickly:
Soak in cold water immediately after boiling.


To get rid of mice or rats:
Sprinkle black pepper in places where you find mice or rats. They will run away.


To get rid of mosquitoes at night:
Keep leaves of mint near your bed or pillows and in around the room.

Just another brick in the wall.....

Once upon a time, there was a bright young, handsome boy, let’s call him Sunshine. Sunshine was hard working, dedicated and determined to “become” something in life. He managed to get a well paying IT job after graduation. After some time, he “settled down” i.e. got married to the woman he didn’t love and had kids after few years.

8 years passed after he started working and now Sunshine is not as bright as Sunset also! He has bald spots and a paunch, is miserable, and works long hours to avoid his nagging wife. He still struggles to fix the codes for clients and every night sleeps with a dream of probable promotion in his eyes.

On one such night, he slept and never woke up again. Sunshine died! Sunshine was very disappointed with God for ending his life so soon and decided to seek answer to God.

He met God and said, “Oh God, why did you take away my life so soon? What went wrong?”

God: “If I had allowed you to continue with your life, what would you have done?”

Sunshine: “I’d have achieved a promotion, would have gained growth and power and a better life for me and my family.”

God: “Dear, I had gifted you the uniqueness, I had given you intelligence, hobbies, creative talents, good looks, and what were you doing with all that? I wanted you to make a difference but What the hell were you doing typing those strange characters and wrecking your brain over some goddamn piece of code for someone sitting zillions of mile away? Which will eventually land up on a dusty server rack in an oblivious back office of some damn company? A bunch of aliens will use it and will crib about it every second week to make your boss call you up in the middle of the night for an urgent fix of the 'severity 1 production issue'! And all this for a job which has eaten you up like termite, but still has kept you in hunt for the promotion, and a corner cabin and control over the lives [appraisals] of some 100 odd people!”

Sunshine was shocked. He said, “But God, I was just doing my job!”

God: You are just another brick in the wall, essential but easily replaceable, just like wheels in the functioning vehicle. That’s because, you are trained to fit into the existing system and work for the system’s sake and not for our own sake. This training begins right from school days and extends further in high school, college and then the formal corporate world. Your education system is a factory to diminish your uniqueness and produce resources for the corporate world!! It just creates herd and not individuals.”

Sunshine: “That’s the path society showed us, everyone lives their life as per the social norms!! It’s not my fault!”

God: “That’s funny; you all follow the standard flowchart of life.

Get a popular degree
Get a Mundane Job
Get Married
Produce Kids
Raise Kids
Retirement
Repent phase (of not being able to achieve which you always wanted to achieve, of not being able to get that happiness and satisfaction in life which you always wanted, of not being able to do anything different from others )
Quiet Death

That’s It!

God Continued, “These are the fixed steps of life which everyone is expected to follow. It’s so deep rooted in your mentality that just the thought of trying something different generates a lot of anxiety and insecurities. The culprit is Social Conditioning, it can defy my wishes also and can make you humans believe anything, almost ANYTHING.

You don’t deserve this precious life gifted by me. If I allow you to live further, you’ll waste it in a rut and that would be a big insult for my gifts and me.”

Sunshine was in tears.

Sunshine: “Then what should I do with my life?”

God: “Identify your talents, gifts that you have received from me, just do what you enjoy doing and you will never work a day in your life! Choose a vocation that encourages your interests and you’d obviously excel in it. Life will be effortless for you then.”

Morning Alarm cries out loudly and Sunshine wakes up, it was a dream, he’s relieved. He gets ready for office and while commuting, listens to radio. Radio started playing the Pink Floyd Song,

We don't need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall

Take Some Time To Read These Quotes..........