Mind training exercises. How to learn to think better. How to create a personal gym

Mind training

Acknowledgments

First of all, I want to express my gratitude to Doubleday Publishing House, which was enthusiastic about the project of creating this book. I would also like to thank everyone who helped me with this book: Peter Taylor, my agent, who saw the potential in it; Charlie Menendeza - for inspiring conversations in the morning hours; Brant Covey for ideas for the design of the book; Maggie Reeves - for constant control over the progress of the case; Pippa Campsey for her advice and for organizing the lunches; Danuta Shubak - not only for creative ideas, but also for her invaluable support; Peter Tourney, who never tired of stimulating my brain; Barney Gilmore for inspiration; Chris Sasaki for his insight and intuition; Ken Deaton - for organizing a real brainstorming session; Wayne and Pam Weaver from the Center for Computer Graphics and Patrick Lee from Interaxis - for demonstrating the sorcery of technology; Larry and Ellen Oberlander for showing me what a mental gym could be; and I.J., who taught me how to solve problems.

But most of all I am grateful to my wife, Susan, for the fact that during the long months of writing the book, she bore her cross without complaint. I can't find the right words to express all my gratitude for her patience, love and support.

Mac's smart training room

IT SEEMED that he had not a brain in his head, but some kind of semolina porridge. He spent the whole day talking with various people and now, at the end of work, he felt dull and squeezed like a lemon. However, such a state has recently become familiar to him. It seemed to him that his memory was getting worse and worse, and his level of intelligence was slowly but surely creeping down. No fresh ideas, no non-standard solutions, nothing new.

Walking the familiar path home from work, Tom saw a sign that had not been there before:

Oh, this is something interesting. Without a moment's hesitation, Tom pushed the door open and entered.

Climbing the stairs, he immediately ran into Mack, a cheerful guy with sparkles in his eyes, who was both the owner of this establishment and an instructor. Tom hastened to explain his appearance:

It seems to me that I have lost my flexibility and sharpness of thinking.

Mac thought for a moment, then began asking Tom questions:

Tell me when you're in last time forced your mind to work really hard?

“I don’t remember,” Tom answered.

How often do you allow yourself to relax and do nothing?

Well, sometimes I watch TV. It helps me take my mind off things.

Are you learning anything new?

You see, I don't have time for this.

But do you still give some food to your mind?

I read newspapers regularly.

The conversation continued in the same vein. Mac asked Tom about simple everyday things, how he chooses to solve problems, how he takes advantage of new opportunities, what strategic goals sets goals for himself and engages in learning for the sake of learning.

When the questions ran out, Tom asked:

So how am I doing? Are they very bad?

“Oh, everything is clear with you,” Mack responded. - You have simply lost your intellectual form.

The fact is that our mind, in a certain sense, can be compared to our body. If we do not train the body, the muscles gradually lose flexibility and weaken. And in the same way, if we do not force our brain to work hard, the “muscles” of the mind become slow and lazy. Lack of exercise can lead to inability to concentrate, fewer ideas, overexertion, boredom and, worst of all, mental stagnation.

How did I get to this life? - Tom exclaimed upset.

Mac explained:

People lose their intellectual fitness when they stop giving their minds extra exercise. And this, in turn, happens when we are overcome by complacency, when we consciously stop looking for new solutions, preferring to use templates that have been developed over the years, which does not require much work. This also happens when we narrow our interests. For example, some people have brilliant analytical skills, easily find connections between different facts and make successful business decisions, but they may be completely helpless when it comes to coming up with creative ideas, or organizing their own time, or being able to carry on a casual conversation, time to joke and relax. That is, while using their brain perfectly in a certain direction, they forget about its other capabilities.

When people stop enjoying exploring new ideas, when they stop experimenting and playing with new possibilities, their thinking becomes ossified, inflexible. They forget that the world they live in is largely created in their own minds. They become too externally focused and their mind, heart and soul suffer as a result. For such people, everyday problems, worries, and responsibilities come to the fore, and they forget to take a break at least for a moment - in order to realize “how they think.” Our mind is capable of finding hundreds of ways problem solving, but in order to always be in good shape, we must constantly make our mental muscles work. And only well-thought-out training can give us this.

Tom was stunned. Mac's words had such deep meaning, and at the same time everything was so elementarily simple. He said:

I realized that I was allowing my mind to become lazy. I hardly trained him or did it carelessly. Tell me, is it still too late to correct the situation? Do I have a chance to get back into shape?

It’s never too late to start training,” Mack reassured Tom. - Even ordinary everyday situations give us the opportunity to strain our thinking abilities - without exception. But if you have allowed yourself to get bogged down in a routine, if you are used to being lazy or do not know how to competently use your intellectual potential, then you need to visit the Intellectual Training Hall as often as possible.

Following Mac, Tom crossed the threshold and found himself in a huge, brightly lit room: this was the Hall of Intellectual Trainers. Posters depicting various “muscles of the mind” were hung on the walls: muscles of thinking, muscles concentration, muscles of imagination. Descriptions were located nearby techniques workout. About a dozen exercise machines were placed around the room - each for a specific muscle group. People in the hall were talking, drawing, writing, laughing, trying to concentrate. Tom realized that they were moving from one simulator to another and taking turns training different “departments” of their minds.

Mack continued:

You need to be prepared for the fact that training will require not only time and attention, but you will also have to decisively discard old habits and replace them with new ones. But all this will pay off handsomely: the energy you expended on improving your thinking abilities will return to you in the form of effective, original solutions. In addition, you will learn how your mind works (or doesn’t work), and, believe me, you will get great pleasure from the process of training itself.

Tom felt like a brave explorer setting off on a long, exciting journey full of adventure. He saw with what pleasure those present in the hall performed the exercises: running “intellectually jogging,” lifting “mental weights” or doing “mental stretching.” He no longer doubted that he had found exactly what he needed - a place where (it was not yet entirely clear how) he could sharpen his mind, regain freshness and clarity of thought. Tom turned to Mac, smiled and asked:

So when can we start?

And Mac answered as he always answered in such cases:

Of course, right now

How to learn to think better

Mental strength comes from exercise, not from rest.

Alexander Pop, poet

EXERCISE

How do you rate your intelligence level?

HIGH: I have exceptional mental abilities. Just call me Leonardo.

AVERAGE: I come up with new ideas from time to time, and sometimes even solve extremely difficult problems.

LOW: my head is some kind of pot of semolina porridge. I really need some training.

It doesn't matter which category you put yourself in. Remember that the level of intelligence - that is, the ability to concentrate, to reason logically, to create visual images, your imagination, the ability to make decisions, and finally, the ability to think clearly and creatively - largely depends on how often and intensively you train your mind. If you feel out of shape, don't be discouraged: you can improve the situation if you exercise your mental muscles. If you feel that your intelligence is in excellent condition, do not forget to maintain this level with constant exercise. Even Olympic champions need training.

“Temperament and character” - Would you always pay for luggage transportation in transport if you were not afraid of being checked? 37. Now that you have answered the questions, let's process the results. Have you ever been late for class or a date? 43. In vain. Are you more silent when you are around other people? 30. Instructions Answer 57 questions about the characteristics of your behavior and your feelings.

“Emergency situations of a man-made nature” - 1. Basic concepts and definitions. Accidents involving the release of chemically hazardous substances. Significant material losses. Emergency situations of man-made nature. Fires and explosions. Transport accidents. Man-made emergencies are divided into: Major accident. 4. List of man-made emergencies.

“Character in Psychology” - Temperament Character. Works of Charles Darwin from the 30s to the 60s. Hippocrates (born about 460 century BC) - the doctrine of four types of temperament. That is, it indicates the unification of a given person with the human species. Observation Experiment Conversation Tests and questionnaires. Origins of differential psychology. Temperament "proper proportion of parts."

"Tolstoy's Russian Character" - Narration? Physical exercise. 1. Determine the topic. His child is hunchbacked... yes, cute. not nice. Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. 5. Self-esteem parameters. Russian. Description? Brief retelling: 1us23y 4a5a6t78. 3. Determine the author. Reasoning? Description of the characters: 7. Results. Choose the genre of the work. Speech warm-up.

“Man-made accidents” - Classification of emergencies by scale of distribution. Man-made hazardous situation - an unfavorable situation of man-made origin, leading to failure, damage or destruction of technical devices, Vehicle, buildings, structures. The main causes of man-made hazards.

“Natural emergencies” - Student projects. Natural. Hazardous factors: flooding of lowlands, lower floors of buildings, destruction of structures. Emergency Project. By the scale of the consequences. Hazardous factors: destruction of buildings, structures, river floods, etc. Fire. Make a list of possible natural emergencies in the territory of Suzun. Natural disaster due to explosions and fire.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all, I want to express my gratitude to the publishing house Doubleday, which was enthusiastic about the project of creating this book. I would also like to thank everyone who helped me with this book: Peter Taylor, my agent, who saw the potential in it; Charlie Menendeza - for inspiring conversations in the morning hours; Brant Covey for ideas for the design of the book; Maggie Reeves - for constant control over the progress of the case; Pippa Campsey for her advice and for organizing the lunches; Danuta Shubak - not only for creative ideas, but also for her invaluable support; Peter Tourney, who never tired of stimulating my brain; Barney Gilmore for inspiration; Chris Sasaki for his insight and intuition; Ken Deaton - for organizing a real brainstorming session; Wayne and Pam Weaver from the Center for Computer Graphics and Patrick Lee from Interaxis for demonstrating the sorcery of technology; Larry and Ellen Oberlander for showing me what a mental gym could be; and I.J., who taught me how to solve problems.

But most of all I am grateful to my wife, Susan, for the fact that during the long months of writing the book, she bore her cross without complaint. I cannot find the right words to express my gratitude for her patience, love and support.

Tom Wujek
Toronto, Canada

Mac's smart training room

IT SEEMED that he had not a brain in his head, but some kind of semolina porridge. He spent the whole day talking with various people and now, at the end of work, he felt dull and squeezed like a lemon. However, such a state has recently become familiar to him. It seemed to him that his memory was getting worse and worse, and his level of intelligence was slowly but surely creeping down. No fresh ideas, no non-standard solutions, nothing new.

Walking the familiar path home from work, Tom saw a sign that had not been there before: Oh, this is something interesting. Without a moment's hesitation, Tom pushed the door open and entered.

Climbing the stairs, he immediately ran into Mack, a cheerful guy with sparkles in his eyes, who was both the owner of this establishment and an instructor. Tom hastened to explain his appearance:

It seems to me that I have lost my flexibility and sharpness of thinking.

Mac thought for a moment, then began asking Tom questions:

Tell me, when was the last time you forced your mind to work really hard?
“I don’t remember,” Tom answered.
- How often do you allow yourself to relax and do nothing?
- Well, sometimes I watch TV. It helps me take my mind off things.
-Are you learning anything new?
- You see, I don’t have time for this.
- But do you still give some food to your mind?
- I read newspapers regularly.

The conversation continued in the same vein. Mac asked Tom about simple everyday things, how he chooses to solve problems, how he takes advantage of new opportunities, what strategic goals he sets for himself, and whether he engages in learning for the sake of learning.

When the questions ran out, Tom asked:

So how am I doing? Are they very bad?
“Oh, everything is clear with you,” Mack responded. - You have simply lost your intellectual form.

The fact is that our mind, in a certain sense, can be compared to our body. If we do not train the body, the muscles gradually lose flexibility and weaken. And in the same way, if we do not force our brain to work hard, the “muscles” of the mind become slow and lazy. Lack of exercise can lead to inability to concentrate, fewer ideas, overexertion, boredom and, worst of all, mental stagnation.

How did I get to this life? - Tom exclaimed upset.

Mac explained:

People lose their intellectual fitness when they stop giving their minds extra exercise. And this, in turn, happens when we are overcome by complacency, when we consciously stop looking for new solutions, preferring to use templates that have been developed over the years, which does not require much work. This also happens when we narrow our interests. For example, some people have brilliant analytical skills, easily find connections between different facts and make successful business decisions, but they may be completely helpless when it comes to coming up with creative ideas, or organizing their own time, or being able to carry on a casual conversation, time to joke and relax. That is, while using their brain perfectly in a certain direction, they forget about its other capabilities.

When people stop enjoying exploring new ideas, when they stop experimenting and playing with new possibilities, their thinking becomes ossified, inflexible. They forget that the world they live in is largely created in their own minds. They become too externally focused and their mind, heart and soul suffer as a result. For such people, everyday problems, worries, and responsibilities come to the fore, and they forget to take a break at least for a moment - in order to realize “how they think.” Our mind is capable of finding hundreds of ways to solve a problem, but in order to always be in good shape, we must constantly force our mental muscles to work. And only well-thought-out training can give us this.

Tom was stunned. Mac's words had such deep meaning, and at the same time everything was so elementarily simple. He said:

I realized that I was allowing my mind to become lazy. I hardly trained him or did it carelessly. Tell me, is it still too late to correct the situation? Do I have a chance to get back into shape?
“It’s never too late to start training,” Mac reassured Tom. - Even ordinary everyday situations give us the opportunity to strain our thinking abilities - without exception. But if you have allowed yourself to get bogged down in a routine, if you are used to being lazy or do not know how to competently use your intellectual potential, then you need to visit the Intellectual Training Hall as often as possible.

Following Mac, Tom crossed the threshold and found himself in a huge, brightly lit room: this was the Hall of Intellectual Trainers. Posters were hung on the walls depicting various “muscles of the mind”: muscles of thinking, muscles of concentration, muscles of imagination. Next to it were descriptions of training techniques. About a dozen exercise machines were placed around the room - each for a specific muscle group. People in the hall were talking, drawing, writing, laughing, trying to concentrate. Tom realized that they were moving from one simulator to another and taking turns training different “departments” of their minds.

Mack continued:

You need to be prepared for the fact that training will require not only time and attention, but you will also have to decisively discard old habits and replace them with new ones. But all this will pay off handsomely: the energy you expended on improving your thinking abilities will return to you in the form of effective, original solutions. In addition, you will learn how your mind works (or doesn’t work), and, believe me, you will get great pleasure from the process of training itself.

Tom felt like a brave explorer setting off on a long, exciting journey full of adventure. He saw with what pleasure those present in the hall performed the exercises: running “intellectually jogging,” lifting “mental weights” or doing “mental stretching.” He no longer doubted that he had found exactly what he needed - a place where (it was not yet entirely clear how) he could sharpen his mind, regain freshness and clarity of thought. Tom turned to Mac, smiled and asked:

So when can we start?

And Mac answered as he always answered in such cases:

Of course, right now.

Anatomy of Mind Training

Mental strength comes from exercise, not from rest.
Alexander Pop, poet

EXERCISE
How do you rate your intelligence level?

• HIGH: I have exceptional mental abilities. Just call me Leonardo.
• AVERAGE: I come up with new ideas from time to time, and sometimes even solve extremely difficult problems.
• LOW: my head is some kind of pot of semolina porridge. I really need some training.

So, if you want to strengthen your mental muscles, the first question to ask yourself is: “How can I improve the performance of my brain?”

First, let's get acquainted with the different types of thinking muscles. To do this, let's do next exercise.

"Jogging" for the mind

Like most people, you will probably soon notice that the more you think about an orange, the more ideas, associations and connections appear in your mind.

You may wonder about the physical properties of oranges. You can move on to discussions about orange history and economics. It is possible that you will begin to speculate about the origin of the name of this fruit and how it is called in other languages. Finally, you can try to find as many rhymes as possible for the word "orange" (kerosene, harpsichord). And as you move further along the path of associations, look into your memory bank, build a chain of logical conclusions, you move from one way of thinking to another, thus training various muscles of the mind.

Each type of thinking has its own, well-defined “muscles”. Logical, analytical, metaphorical, critical, verbal, visual thinking - in each of these cases we use only one type of thinking muscle, which gives us the opportunity to stir up our inner world.

The need to cope with the variety of everyday problems requires us to be flexible in our thinking. Either you work hard in the field of critical thinking, using cold, hard logic, then you relax, throw everything out of your head and, playfully, explore new directions. You can work hard and move towards your goal slowly but surely, or you can, with a little juggling with the initial data, arrive at an elegant solution to the problem in the blink of an eye. Just as the various muscles of the body work together to ensure that the arms and legs work in a coordinated manner, the muscles of the mind need coordination to keep our thinking clear and focused.

It can be said that there are four basic characteristics level of training, preparedness of the mind for work:

Whenever a person undertakes a task that requires concentration, he applies mental power. It is this quality that you use when you sort through possible options searching for the optimal solution, when solving a difficult math problem, when balancing a checkbook, when concentrating on one subject or idea without being distracted by anything else. Mental strength is the ability to focus on what you need to focus on, as much as you need to.

If you need to create something new, if you need to be creative, then your thinking muscles must be flexible and flexible. Mental flexibility is the ability to switch from one train of thought to another. It's like a game: you play through different options, build unexpected combinations, look at the situation from all sides. You collide concepts, mix ideas, make wild guesses to explore more and more possibilities. Flexibility of mind is an artistic, synthetic approach. This is creativity, " brainstorm"and a little zen - all together.

If you want to bring your ideas to life, you will need mental stamina. Endurance is the ability to maintain for a long time high level activity without being distracted or losing courage. This is the ability to endure, to go the entire distance.

If you want to add subtlety and flair, then you will need coordination of the mind, that is, the synchronization of thought processes of all types, their balance and vivacity. Coordination of the mind is a masterly mastery of the technique of arranging thoughts, the ability to operate with several concepts simultaneously, maintaining balance under any circumstances, this is the desire to learn for the sake of obtaining new knowledge and the willingness to fight for high ideals.

It is these four qualities - strength, flexibility, endurance and coordination - that determine how ready our mind is to work. Only by regularly alternating tension and relaxation of various muscles, by engaging in intellectual shaping and mental athleticism, only by constantly “moving the convolutions of the brain,” can one remain in good shape for a long time.

As a diamond cuts a diamond, as one whetstone polishes another,
so different parts of the intellect sharpen each other.
Genius is the result of their mutual influence.
Cyrus Bartol, priest

How people lose their intellectual form

There are two main reasons for this: differences in the demands that certain circumstances place on us, and differences in habitual ways of thinking.

The mason does not need to go to gym to train your arms. By mixing the mortar and laying the bricks as he works, he strengthens his arm muscles naturally. Likewise, an accountant does not need to go to school to practice arithmetic. He already constantly works with numbers, his “mathematical muscles” are constantly being exercised.

If the circumstances of your life do not require continuous mental effort from you, then you simply do not have the incentive to keep yourself in shape. However, if life often presents you with problems that require immediate solutions, then your mental muscles become strong and fast. This idea is best captured by an old saying:

Use it or lose it!

ADVICE.
Ask yourself: "Which of my thinking muscles are not getting daily load?"

Habit is a way of doing something without thinking. Whether we like it or not, our entire lives, from how we brush our teeth to how we achieve our strategic goals, largely depend on our personal set of automatic skills. In principle, this is how it should be! Can you imagine what your life will become if you have to relearn how to brush your teeth every day?!

Your entire intellectual life - your observations, what holds your attention, how well you study, how you solve problems, what worries you, what you enjoy, what you think about throughout the day - is largely determined by your habits.

The key to achieving high brain performance is developing a specific set of healthy habits that help you achieve what you want. An intellectually developed person can control the work of his mind quite freely. He is interested in how the world works and why everything happens this way and not otherwise. He has a wide range of interests. He also knows how to change his habits through well-thought-out, conscious actions and develop very useful skills, for example, force himself to dream less and build castles in the air less often, make more informed decisions or take more risks. Collectively, these good habits enable the mind to become more receptive, respond appropriately to changing conditions, and ultimately develop the most important habit of all, the habit of acquiring good habits.

If you sow a thought, you will reap an action,
If you sow an action, you will reap a habit,
If you sow a habit, you will reap a character,
If you sow character, you will reap destiny.
Charles Reid, writer

ADVICE.
Ask yourself: “What habits are preventing me from thinking productively?”

Good exercises for intelligence

For the mind, movement is the flight of thought - from assumption to conclusion, from problem to solution, from question to answer and from answer to question, from one state of mind to another.

Whenever you begin to actively reflect, that is, consciously and purposefully manipulate intellectual resources, you immediately set the muscles of your mind in motion.

In a broad sense, the term “training” means activities aimed at developing skills, improving oneself, and developing one’s own abilities. Essentially, any activity that requires active attention - be it solving a puzzle, solving a production problem, or simply trying to collect your thoughts while sitting quietly in a chair - is mental training.

It is not only what you do that is important, but also how you do it - that is, it is important correct technique execution of the exercise. The gymnast repeats the movement over and over again, making small adjustments until the desired result is achieved. Thanks to training, the gymnast's muscles become more obedient.

To develop your mental muscles, train your thinking. Practice a specific task in your mind until your “muscles” learn to perform it as needed.

Good mental gymnastics is a meeting with yourself, an opportunity to concentrate on your own inner world and challenge your intellect. It is a way to transform mental energy into constructive thought.

It doesn't matter whether you want to work hard to achieve peak mental performance or just want to get some exercise to make your mind more flexible. In any case, good old mental gymnastics will increase your creativity, give you the joy of achieving your goal and contribute to the development of your intellect.

How to create a personal gym

• Exercise 1: Freeing your mind. Warm up.
• Trainer 2: Movement of the mind. Concentration of attention.
• Trainer 3: Mental tenacity. Increased endurance.
• Exercise 4: Mental gymnastics (I). Creative thinking.
• Trainer 5: Gymnastics for the mind (II). Verbal thinking.
• Exercise 6: Mental power. Problem solving.
• Trainer 7: Mind game. Let's fool around.
• Exercise 8: Looking into the past. Memory.
• Exercise 9: Mental flexibility. Analysis and synthesis.
• Trainer 10: Mental coordination. Making decisions.
• Trainer 11: Improvisation. Creation.
• Trainer 12: Highest performance. Learn to learn.

Here are some tips to consider before doing the exercises.

TIP 1.
Dress your thoughts in a “training suit.” Let all your problems and worries remain in your wardrobe along with street clothes. Create a work environment for training. Enjoy overcoming the challenges that you have chosen for yourself.

TIP 2.
Practice, don't analyze. The whole point of intellectual training is to consciously manipulate mental resources - so do the exercises. The results will be directly proportional to your desire to flex your mental muscles. Remember good workout- the key to success.

TIP 3.
Do not hurry. Take your time doing the exercises. It takes time to get to the deeper layers of thinking. Be patient. Give yourself time to explore the limits of your intelligence.

TIP 4.
Repeat the exercises. Most of the exercises in this book can be performed countless times at every opportunity. The development of your mental abilities is determined only by time and practice. Develop your own mental gymnastics routine. If you don't succeed in an exercise, take a break and come back to it later.

TIP 5.
Exercise as often as possible. The more load you give yourself, the easier subsequent workouts become. The easier your workouts become, the more you enjoy them. The more you like them, the more often you exercise your mind. The more often you exercise your mind, the more developed it becomes.

Exercise 1: Freeing your mind. Warm-up

Let's get started

Game of attention

A calm mind heals everything.
Robert Burton, philosopher

Imagine that your attention potential is 100 volts. Whenever you start thinking about something specific, you use a certain amount of mental energy. However, as soon as you get distracted or worry about something extraneous, some of your energy is immediately wasted. Let's say you are sitting at your desk and working on your next project. Imagine that while working you take an uncomfortable position and some muscles in your body tense. Whether you like it or not, when something like this happens, part of your attention simply drains away. You may not even feel your own physical tension, but nevertheless it will affect your intellectual potential. In the described case, you can lose up to 25 Volts - that is, a quarter of your potential.

Now imagine that at some point you are overcome by boredom. You begin to look at the project as a day job and feel a growing internal conflict: one part of you wants to continue working, and another resists it. Another 25 Volts have leaked out.

Now imagine that your thoughts are little by little moving away from work. You are now occupied not by the project, but by completely different things: the approaching vacation, debts, the movie you recently saw, the dishes that were not washed after dinner... Against the background of these thoughts, the project lying in front of you gradually begins to fade and fades into the background. You're losing another 25 volts. Thus, three quarters of your potential have already been wasted.

And to top it all off, from the kitchen you can hear the quiet, but persistently repeating sound of drops falling from the tap. If this continues, then there will be no trace of your attention left!

At times, our consciousness looks as if several independent personalities are sitting in our heads, each busy with their own things: one part of the consciousness thinks about the future, the second remembers the past, the third conducts a mental conversation with the fourth. Thinking is filled with chaotic streams of words and images. Our thoughts rush in unpredictable directions, bouncing like footballs. Part of the attention is wasted on extraneous worries that come from nowhere, or even just on trifles. As a result, we are not operating at maximum efficiency. Therefore, before you start training your mind, it would be a good idea to first prepare it accordingly.

Warm-up is an essential part of any workout; it prepares the muscles for hard work. Before you start a ten-kilometer race, you need to warm up. It is necessary to stretch your arms, legs, shoulders, back. This will increase blood circulation, make the muscles more flexible and less prone to “stiffness” after prolonged exercise. Likewise, if you give your thinking muscles a good workout, it will significantly improve your brain performance.

Undoubtedly, a good warm-up is an important step towards good mental shape. Warm-up gives you a feeling of comfort. If you have warmed up, then your muscles begin to work in harmony. As a result, movements become smoother and more natural. If you don't fight with yourself, you feel calm and relaxed.

How to warm up the mind, that is, get rid of all unnecessary thoughts? One way is to focus on the here and now. This can be achieved, firstly, if you stop fussing, relax, and allow all thoughts and worries to smoothly flow away from your consciousness. Another way to warm up is to focus all your attention on a specific task or object. Whatever approach you choose, the point of warming up is to achieve a state where all extraneous thoughts that clutter your mind go away. Do this and most of the 100 Volts will remain at your disposal.

So, let's start warming up. Starting position - the body is as relaxed as possible. By lowering your shoulders, breathing deeply and evenly, and relaxing every muscle around your mouth and eyes, you release physical tension. Relaxation of the body automatically leads to relaxation of the mind.

When you learn to relax your body, breath and mind,
the body will become healthy, consciousness will become clear, and perception will become harmonious.
Tarhang Tulku, Buddhist teacher

Big walk

Physical relaxation

When you sit quietly and your body is motionless, this is an opportunity to relax. At such moments, sensations become more intense, thoughts become less intrusive, and thinking acquires clarity and freshness. You feel light, enjoy the state when you are allowed to do nothing, not strive anywhere, not have any desires. Your consciousness is completely immersed in the present.

The key to relaxing the body is to fully focus on the physical sensations of the process. If you start monitoring the thoughts floating in your head, it will distract you. However, if you simply immerse yourself in your sensations, paying full attention only to what the body feels - both outside and deep inside - the train of thoughts will slow down.

A good way to fully engage in physical relaxation is to focus your attention on your breathing. There is a subtle connection between the rhythm of your breathing and your state of consciousness. When you are anxious, your breathing becomes shallow and irregular, and when you are calm and collected, it becomes deep and even. For example, if you want to concentrate before an important meeting or before an exam, relax and even out your breathing, forgetting about everything else and concentrating only on this goal for a while. Let your breathing become slow and rhythmic. Don't tense up. Let everything happen naturally.

Doctor Rolf Alexander proposed an interesting relaxation technique that can be used anywhere and at any time. Visualize clearly two crosses crossing your body. Mentally draw a vertical line along the spine - from the tailbone to the top of the head - and two perpendiculars to it: the first - from one shoulder to the other and the second - passing through the hips. Imagine that the cross is made of strong and flexible metal that bends according to the movements of your body. To relax, simply allow the cross to fall into its natural position. At the same time, the head and spine are straightened, the shoulders are at the same height, and the hips are aligned. If you learn to mentally create such a cross - as if fixed in the air above your head - then a very convenient technique for quick relaxation will appear in your arsenal. At the same time, the head is slightly pulled up, the shoulders are straightened, the arms hang freely, and the back muscles maintain a straight posture.

Inner liberation

Although the idea of ​​letting go of all thoughts is not very difficult in itself, putting it into practice is not so easy. Most likely, after making such an attempt, within a few minutes you will find that the previous turmoil returns to your thoughts. Your brain begins to plan, evaluate, solve all sorts of problems. You can become immersed in a flow of words and images. You can start to monitor how well your relaxation process is going. You can begin to coach yourself to achieve your desired mental and emotional state. These tendencies, although subtly, prevent complete internal relaxation.

Freeing consciousness does not mean stopping all thoughts completely. Trying to completely stop the flow of thoughts can be compared to trying to stop breathing - it is unlikely to be beneficial. Liberation consists of getting rid of the urgent need to follow any thought that arises in the mind. You allow thoughts to flow freely in your head, but at the same time you completely stop trying to influence them in any way.

How to get rid of the addictive quagmire of everyday thoughts? A very successful way is to count in your head. With each exhalation, mentally name the number. Slowly count from one to ten and then count backwards. As soon as some thought tries to wedge itself into the gap between the numbers, immediately switch your attention to the count. The rhythm of words, like the rhythm of the surf, has the ability to calm, preventing you from drowning during the ebb and flow of the flow of thoughts.

Here's another way to get everything out of your head: Imagine your mind is a huge blue sky and your thoughts are birds, suddenly appearing, flying overhead and disappearing again into the distance. When a thought appears on the horizon, leave it to itself - let it “think” at its own pace. Don't try to rush her. Let it fly over your head. If you look at the thoughts more closely, you will notice that each one has its own character. Some rush by instantly, others crawl like turtles. Some look to the future, others to the past. When learning the art of being alone with your thoughts, do not try to manipulate, analyze or sort them - and then you will be able to feel their tone and form.

The core of the landfill of thoughts

One way to free your mind is to understand what is occupying it. Write down on a piece of paper everything you are concerned about: far-reaching plans; immediate tasks; obsessive desires; thoughts you would like to think about; things that you should or would like to do; list of purchases; various ideas (for example, how to make your home more comfortable) and so on. As concisely as possible - in this case, the details do not matter - write down everything that you must do or consider necessary to decide. Then begin to shorten the wording, reducing it to a minimum of one or two words, and do this until you have nothing left to write down.

Making a list like this will save you from clutter in your head. When you can take in at one glance all the things that need to be dealt with, as well as the thoughts that unconsciously occupy you, then all you have to do is deal with them. If everything is in front of your eyes, you don’t have to worry about forgetting something. Now you are able to make decisions, set priorities, focus all your attention on the problem you need to solve in this moment. If it remains unresolved, you can reassure yourself by saying that you will definitely return to this issue later.

Magic massage

TIP 1.
Refresh your mind by relaxing your body. Take a comfortable position, relieve tension, even out your breathing, immerse yourself in your sensations.

TIP 3.
Bring your consciousness to the here and now. Improve your technique for perceiving your own sensations. Find the best way for you to focus your attention and direct it where you want, when you want.

An archwire that is often bent will soon break. But if you don't overexert her,
it will serve you as long as you need it. So let your mind rest a little
to return to the task at hand with sharpened attention.
Fedrus, poet

How do people lose their intellectual shape? Why is one person’s mind sharp, brilliant, full of creative ideas, while another’s is “barely breathing”?

There are two main reasons for this:

differences in the requirements imposed by certain circumstances,

difference in habitual ways of thinking.

Use it or lose it!

A bricklayer doesn't need to go to the gym to train his arms. By mixing the mortar and laying the bricks as he works, he strengthens his arm muscles naturally. Likewise, an accountant does not need to go to school to practice arithmetic. He already constantly works with numbers, his “mathematical muscles” are constantly being exercised.

If the circumstances of life do not require continuous mental effort from you, then you simply do not have an incentive to keep yourself in shape. However, if life suddenly presents you with problems that require immediate solutions, then the muscles of your mind become strong and fast. The essence of this idea is best captured by the old saying: “Use it or lose it!”

TIP: Ask yourself, “Which of my thinking muscles are not getting exercise every day?”

About the benefits of habit...

Habit is a way of doing something without thinking. Whether you like it or not, much of our lives, from how we brush our teeth to how we achieve our strategic goals, depend largely on our personal set of automatic skills. In principle, this is how it should be. Can you imagine what your life will become if you have to relearn how to brush your teeth every day?!

Your entire intellectual life - your observations, what holds your attention, how well you study, how you solve problems, what worries you, what you enjoy, what you think about during the day - is largely determined by your habits.

The key to achieving high brain performance is developing a specific set of healthy habits that help you achieve what you want. An intellectually developed person can control the work of his mind quite freely. He is interested in how the world works and why everything happens this way and not otherwise. He has a wide range of interests, he also knows how to change his habits through well-thought-out actions and develop very useful skills in himself: for example, force himself to dream less and build castles in the air less often, make more informed decisions or take more risks in return. Taken together, such useful habits allow the mind to become more receptive and respond adequately to changing conditions. Develop the most important habit - the habit of acquiring good habits.

It’s hard to say more precisely than Charles Reed:

If you sow a thought, you will reap an action.

If you sow an action, you will reap a habit.

If you sow a habit, you will reap a character.

If you sow character, you will reap destiny.

TIP: Ask yourself: “What habits are preventing me from thinking productively?”

Exercise...

Good exercise for intelligence:

solve the crossword

to prepare for an exam

take part in a television interview

improvise on stage

understand difficult text

cook a gourmet dinner

clearly imagine your friend's face

try to remember with all the details the last time you ate ice cream

name your first teachers by name

learn a new language

lie convincingly

write a program on a computer

understand how a toaster works

paint a realistic landscape

change a bad mood to a good one

think about infinity

write a "documentary" drama

remember in detail a conversation a month ago

talk to your boss about a salary increase

control yourself

design an improved mousetrap

refurbish bedroom

ask an influencer a question

write an essay on philosophy

explain to a four year old why the sky is blue

discuss the terms of the contract

bluff in poker

have fun with a computer game

to seek the truth…

Train...

How to achieve good intellectual shape? Training the mind, like training the body, involves movement. For the body, movement includes warming up, running, swimming, playing basketball, weightlifting - anything that causes the muscles to contract and stretch.

For the mind, movement is the flight of thought - from assumption to conclusion, from problem to solution, from question to answer and from answer to question, from one state of mind to another.

The gymnast repeats the movements over and over until he achieves the desired result. To develop your mental muscles, train your thinking. Practice a specific task in your mind until your “muscles” learn to perform it as needed.

Good gymnastics mind is a meeting with yourself, an opportunity to concentrate on your own inner world and challenge your intellect. It is a way to transform mental energy into constructive thought.

TIP: Train your mind - solve puzzles, solve production problems, just try to collect your thoughts while sitting calmly in a chair.

By developing your intellect, experience the joy of achieving your goal.

Mental strength comes from exercise, not from rest.

Alexander Pop, poet

EXERCISE

How do you rate your intelligence level?

HIGH: I have exceptional mental abilities. Just call me Leonardo.

AVERAGE: I come up with new ideas from time to time, and sometimes even solve extremely difficult problems.

LOW: my head is some kind of pot of semolina porridge. I really need some training.

It doesn't matter which category you put yourself in. Remember that the level of intelligence - that is, the ability to concentrate, to reason logically, to create visual images, your imagination, the ability to make decisions, and finally, the ability to think clearly and creatively - largely depends on how often and intensively you train your mind. If you feel out of shape, don't be discouraged: you can improve the situation if you exercise your mental muscles. If you feel that your intelligence is in excellent condition, do not forget to maintain this level with constant exercise. Even Olympic champions need training.

So, if you want to strengthen your mental muscles, the first question to ask yourself is: “How can I improve the performance of my brain?”

First, let's get acquainted with the different types of thinking muscles. To do this, let's do the following exercise.

Imagine that you are holding an orange in your hands.

Imagine what it feels like, what it looks like, what it smells like.

For a few moments, try to create as bright and clear an image as possible.

Now imagine how you peel it, divide it into slices, and bite off a piece.

After that, take a closer look at the slice.

Ask yourself what it would look like if you magnified it a thousand, a million times.

What would the cell look like then?

What would the molecule look like?

After a couple of minutes, try to realize everything you know and don't know about oranges.

Think about what makes an orange an orange, why it tastes the way it does, how many varieties of oranges there are, how oranges have changed through evolution, how and what they can be used for, and how to make delicious orange marmalade.

When thinking about an orange, pay close attention to the “quality” of your thoughts.

So, put down the book and start doing the exercise right now.

Like most people, you will probably soon notice that the more you think about an orange, the more ideas, associations and connections appear in your mind.

You may wonder about the physical properties of oranges. You can move on to discussions about orange history and economics. It is possible that you will begin to speculate about the origin of the name of this fruit and how it is called in other languages. Finally, you can try to find as many rhymes as possible for the word "orange" (kerosene, harpsichord). And as you move further along the path of associations, look into your memory bank, build a chain of logical conclusions, you move from one way of thinking to another, thus training various muscles of the mind.

Each type of thinking has its own, well-defined “muscles”. Logical, analytical, metaphorical, critical, verbal, visual thinking - in each of these cases we use only one type of thinking muscle, which gives us the opportunity to stir up our inner world.

The need to cope with the variety of everyday problems requires us to be flexible in our thinking. Either you work hard in the field of critical thinking, using cold, hard logic, then you relax, throw everything out of your head and, playfully, explore new directions. You can work hard and move towards your goal slowly but surely, or you can, with a little juggling with the initial data, arrive at an elegant solution to the problem in the blink of an eye. Just as the various muscles of the body work together to ensure that the arms and legs work in a coordinated manner, the muscles of the mind need coordination to keep our thinking clear and focused.

We can say that there are four basic characteristics of the level of training, the preparedness of the mind for work:

Whenever a person undertakes a task that requires concentration, he applies mental power. It is this quality that you use when you go through possible options in search of the optimal solution, when you solve a difficult math problem, when you balance a checkbook, when you concentrate your attention on one subject or idea without being distracted by anything else. Mental strength is the ability to focus on what you need to focus on, as much as you need to.

If you need to create something new, if you need to be creative, then your thinking muscles must be flexible and flexible. Mental flexibility is the ability to switch from one train of thought to another. It's like a game: you lose various options, build unexpected combinations, look at the situation from all sides. You collide concepts, mix ideas, make wild guesses to explore more and more possibilities. Flexibility of mind is an artistic, synthetic approach. This is creativity, brainstorming and a little zen - all together.

If you want to bring your ideas to life, you will need mental stamina. Endurance is the ability to maintain a high level of activity for a long time without being distracted or losing courage. This is the ability to endure, to go the entire distance.

If you want to add subtlety and flair, then you will need coordination of the mind, that is, the synchronization of thought processes of all types, their balance and vivacity. Coordination of the mind is a masterly mastery of the technique of arranging thoughts, the ability to operate with several concepts simultaneously, maintaining balance under any circumstances, this is the desire to learn for the sake of obtaining new knowledge and the willingness to fight for high ideals.

It is these four qualities - strength, flexibility, endurance and coordination - that determine how ready our mind is to work. Only by regularly alternating tension and relaxation of various muscles, by engaging in intellectual shaping and mental athleticism, only by constantly “moving the gyri of the brain,” can one for a long time stay in good shape.

As a diamond cuts a diamond, as one whetstone polishes another,

so different parts of the intellect sharpen each other.

Genius is the result of their mutual influence.

Cyrus Bartol, priest

Why is one person’s mind sharp, brilliant, full of creative ideas, while another’s is “barely breathing”?

There are two main reasons for this: differences in the demands that certain circumstances place on us, and differences in habitual ways of thinking.

A bricklayer doesn't need to go to the gym to train his arms. By mixing the mortar and laying the bricks as he works, he strengthens his arm muscles naturally. Likewise, an accountant does not need to go to school to practice arithmetic. He already constantly works with numbers, his “mathematical muscles” are constantly being exercised.

If the circumstances of your life do not require continuous mental effort from you, then you simply do not have the incentive to keep yourself in shape. However, if life often presents you with problems that require immediate solutions, then your mental muscles become strong and fast. This idea is best captured by an old saying:

Use it or lose it!

ADVICE.

Ask yourself: “Which of my thinking muscles are not getting exercise every day?”

Habit is a way of doing something without thinking. Whether we like it or not, our entire lives, from how we brush our teeth to how we achieve our strategic goals, largely depend on our personal set of automatic skills. In principle, this is how it should be! Can you imagine what your life will become if you have to relearn how to brush your teeth every day?!

Your entire intellectual life - your observations, what holds your attention, how well you study, how you solve problems, what worries you, what you enjoy, what you think about throughout the day - is largely determined by your habits.

The key to achieving high brain performance is developing a specific set of healthy habits that help you achieve what you want. An intellectually developed person can control the work of his mind quite freely. He is interested in how the world works and why everything happens this way and not otherwise. He has a wide range of interests. He also knows how to change his habits through well-thought-out, conscious actions and develop very useful skills, for example, force himself to dream less and build castles in the air less often, make more informed decisions or take more risks. Collectively, these good habits enable the mind to become more receptive, respond appropriately to changing conditions, and ultimately develop the most important habit of all, the habit of acquiring good habits.

If you sow a thought, you will reap an action,

If you sow an action, you will reap a habit,

If you sow a habit, you will reap a character,

If you sow character, you will reap destiny.

Charles Reid, writer

ADVICE.

Ask yourself: “What habits are preventing me from thinking productively?”

Solve the crossword puzzle.

To prepare for an exam.

Take part in a television interview.

Improvise on stage.

Parse difficult text.

Prepare a delicious dinner.

Visualize your friend's face clearly.

Try to remember in detail the last time you ate ice cream.

Name your first teachers.

Learn a new language.

Lie convincingly.

Write a program on a computer.

Understand how a toaster works.

Paint a realistic landscape.

Change a bad mood to a good one.

Think about infinity.

Write a docudrama.

Recall in detail an important conversation that took place a month ago.

Talk to your boss about a salary increase.

Keep yourself in control.

Design an improved mousetrap.

Remodel the bedroom.

Ask an influencer a question.

Write an essay on philosophy.

Explain to a four-year-old child why the sky is blue.

Discuss the terms of the contract.

Bluff in poker.

Have fun with a computer game.

To seek the truth...

How to achieve good intellectual shape? Training the mind, like training the body, involves movement. For the body, movement includes warming up, running, swimming, playing basketball, weightlifting - anything that causes the muscles to contract and stretch.

For the mind, movement is the flight of thought - from assumption to conclusion, from problem to solution, from question to answer and from answer to question, from one state of mind to another.

Whenever you begin to actively reflect, that is, consciously and purposefully manipulate intellectual resources, you immediately set the muscles of your mind in motion.

In a broad sense, the term “training” means activities aimed at developing skills, improving oneself, and developing one’s own abilities. Essentially, any activity that requires active attention - be it solving a puzzle, solving a production problem, or simply trying to collect your thoughts while sitting quietly in a chair - is mental training.

It is important not only what you do, but also how you do it - that is, the correct technique for performing the exercise is important. The gymnast repeats the movement over and over again, making small adjustments until the desired result is achieved. Thanks to training, the gymnast's muscles become more obedient.

To develop your mental muscles, train your thinking. Practice a specific task in your mind until your “muscles” learn to perform it as needed.

Good mental gymnastics is a meeting with yourself, an opportunity to concentrate on your own inner world and challenge your intellect. It is a way to transform mental energy into constructive thought.

It doesn't matter whether you want to work hard to achieve peak mental performance or just want to get some exercise to make your mind more flexible. In any case, good old mental gymnastics will increase your creativity, give you the joy of achieving your goal and contribute to the development of your intellect.

In the next twelve chapters, you will learn many ways to train your brain. Each chapter is a kind of simulator designed to develop a certain quality of your mind. On some simulators you will alternately make efforts and then relax, plunging into serene calm; on others you will have to train your mind “until a sweat”. Some exercises are designed to activate your left hemisphere - the analytical, logical part of the brain, others - for the right hemisphere, the intuitive part of the brain, also responsible for spatial perception. And all together the simulators will provide you with comprehensive intellectual training.

Exercise 1: Freeing your mind. Warm up.

Trainer 2: Movement of the mind. Concentration of attention.

Trainer 3: Mental tenacity. Increased endurance.

Exercise 4: Mental gymnastics (I). Creative thinking.

Trainer 5: Gymnastics for the mind (II). Verbal thinking.

Exercise 6: Mental power. Problem solving.

Trainer 7: Mind game. Let's fool around.

Exercise 8: Looking into the past. Memory.

Exercise 9: Mental flexibility. Analysis and synthesis.

Trainer 10: Mental coordination. Making decisions.

Trainer 11: Improvisation. Creation.

Trainer 12: Highest performance. Learn to learn.

Here are some tips to consider before doing the exercises.

TIP 1.

Dress your thoughts in a “training suit.” Let all your problems and worries remain in your wardrobe along with street clothes. Create a work environment for training. Enjoy overcoming the challenges that you have chosen for yourself.

TIP 2.

Practice, don't analyze. The whole point of intellectual training is to consciously manipulate mental resources - so do the exercises. The results will be directly proportional to your desire to flex your mental muscles. Remember, good training is the key to success.

TIP 3.

Do not hurry. Take your time doing the exercises. It takes time to get to the deeper layers of thinking. Be patient. Give yourself time to explore the limits of your intelligence.

TIP 4.

Repeat the exercises. Most of the exercises in this book can be performed countless times at every opportunity. The development of your mental abilities is determined only by time and practice. Develop your own mental gymnastics routine. If you don't succeed in an exercise, take a break and come back to it later.

TIP 5.

Exercise as often as possible. The more load you give yourself, the easier subsequent workouts become. The easier your workouts become, the more you enjoy them. The more you like them, the more often you exercise your mind. The more often you exercise your mind, the more developed it becomes.

Now you are ready - you can start