How to upgrade your mindset – Part 2

Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting a “series” type blog post that focuses on mindset and some easy exercise we can all do in order to upgrade your mindset so to speak. As I post these topics, I’ll have them all categorized and numbered for easy access if you happen to find a blog post halfway through the series. This topic is one of my favorites and is easily the most important subject when it comes to growth in your life.

Exercise your mind and body equally.

We all know it's important to exercise our body, but you may not know that it's equally important to exercise your mind. You've probably heard the old saying "use it or lose it." Over the last few years many researchers do believe that this may actually be true when it comes to your brain health.

Brain training is all the rage these days, often touted as a way to sharpen your mind and even boost intelligence. While many cognitive scientists suggest that the claims surrounding brain training are both exaggerated and misleading, there is an abundance of research suggesting that certain types of activities can be beneficial for your brain's health.

Though you can’t expect to get all of the following benefits from any one activity, brain exercise is reported to help in these ways:

• less stress

• better memory

• more positive mood

• increased focus and concentration

• boost in motivation and productivity

• enhanced fluid intelligence, creativity, and mental flexibility

• faster thinking and reaction time

• greater self-confidence

• sharper vision and hearing

What is a mental stretching exercise?

A mental stretching exercise is something you do to shake up your energy. This could be trying something new, choosing to say yes when you would normally say no, or reading a book that is out of your favorite genre.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. The human mind is an amazing thing. The brains plasticity allows it to adapt and change, even as you grow older. As you learn new things, you can create and strengthen neural pathways and networks. This helps make your brain stronger, but it can also help make it more flexible and adaptable to change.

Now that we’ve taken a quick look at some of the benefits of mental stretching exercises, let's look at some brain exercises that you can do at home. While these brain games are not designed to make you more intelligent, you might find that you feel mentally sharper and cognitively stronger if you practice them regularly.

Draw a map of your town from memory.

We’d all like to think that we can walk through our neighborhood or town with our eyes closed, but the reality may be much less true than that. To be honest, if I closed my eyes, I probably couldn’t walk from my back door through my driveway and down to the sidewalk without walking in to one of the cars. While you might feel like you can navigate the streets of your neighborhood with your eyes closed, try challenging your brain by actually drawing a map of your town or neighborhood from memory. No cheating! Try to include major streets, major side streets, and local landmarks.

Once you are done, compare your memory map to a real map of the area. How did you do? Are you surprised by some of the things that you missed? Was this too easy for you? Try drawing a less familiar area from memory, such as a map of the entire United States or Europe, and try to label every state or country.

While we’re out driving it almost seems like we’re on autopilot and we can mindlessly get to a local store without a second thought. However, forcing yourself to remember the layout of your neighborhood as well as draw and label it helps activate a variety of areas of your brain.

Try using your non-dominant hand.

Neurobiologist Lawrence Katz recommends in his book Keep Your Brain Alive: 83 Neurobic Exercises to Help Prevent Memory Loss and Increase Mental Fitness that using your non-dominant hand to strengthen your mind may be a great way to increase brain activity.



Try switching hand while you are eating dinner or when you are trying to write something down. It will be difficult, but that is exactly the point. Along this same train of thought, try to draw a circle in the opposite direction than you normally would. You might be surprised by this as well.

Do chores with your eyes closed.

When taking a shower, washing your hair, or sorting laundry, try doing it with your eyes closed.

This will force your brain to use new neural pathways.

Obviously, don’t do anything with your eyes closed that could put you or others in danger.

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The above is just a very small example of all of the mental stretching exercises that can be done. Don’t neglect the importance of this exercise. If you found any of the info above useful please let me know.

If you have any mental stretching exercises that you do, and have found success with please let me know or leave a comment for others to read so that they can try your ideas as well!