How We Can Optimize Our Minds As An "Average Joe"

10/20/2019

No big science terms, or crazy diets or strategies to get your brain working better. Just simple things that we all can do for free everyday and that really work...

If you are like me, you stumbled upon a few articles at whatever point in time, discussing optimizing your brain and how doing so was going to improve so many areas of your life.

How your relationships would improve, how you would find more happiness, how you would have more confidence, how you would remember more, and how you would be able to problem solve better.

While all these things are true, and much more, the articles were just kind of bland and boring because they were filled with a ton of science.

Sure, science is good to understand why something works but it gets to a point where there are just too many terms I don't know, and have to look up, that it feels like I'm doing a research paper, not actually learning what I want to learn.

I just wanted to know what worked so that I could try it out for myself, and I wanted a solid place to start that didn't involve going to buy 100 different vitamins or some fancy equipment.

This is going to be where you can start, no crazy science terms, no crazy strategies, just simple and effective ways to start changing the way you think.

I almost forgot! If you are new to the blog, thanks for stopping by! With MMNTM (mo-men-tum) my goal is to help you level up your mind and mindset with effective "workouts." Much like you would train your body, this is the gym for your mindset, everything from your happiness and mental clarity to mental discipline and productivity. These are the things that have helped me the most and I love sharing them with you daily on yourmmntm.com/blog so be sure to stop out daily!

Now let's get back to what you started reading for.

Here Is What You Are About to Learn

Why Many People Get "Scared Away" From Optimizing Their Brain
What Optimizing Your Brain Can Do For Your Life
Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life
Easy Habits That Really Work Is The Place to Start
5 Things You Can Actually Start Adding to Your Day

Why Many People Get "Scared Away" From Optimizing
Their Brain

For lack of a better term...

They read a handful of articles and then come to the conclusion that they are "not smart enough" to do this and never take that first step.

This is because a lot of articles throw science terms at us like we have been studying it for the past three years and with a lot of people, this is their first time learning about the subject as the industry is relatively new in terms of social acceptance.

What worse way to introduce someone to the industry of brain optimization and mental growth than to throw a ton of science at them and make them feel stupid.

There is a gap here that needs to be bridged, because when we do this, there is no way anyone goes onto take their first steps towards better thinking as they are simply just too overwhelmed.

Instead, we need to have those simple and effective first steps so you can see that these things actually do work and you actually can improve your mood and thinking, it doesn't have to be like "how it always has been."

What Optimizing Your Brain Can Do For Your Life

It will literally help every aspect of your life.

Maybe your lack of confidence has been holding you back from speaking to that person you are attracted to, so you never get the opportunity to get to know them

Maybe you have been exposed to a lot of negativity in your day to day life through social media, so you have a negative lens on the world and never see the opportunities in front of you.

Maybe this negativity holds you back from taking action on what you care about because you think that you'll never be able to make a difference.

Maybe you have the subconscious belief that you are not enough and this holds you back from taking any sort of action in life.

Maybe you have horrible brain fog and can't seem to stay focused on the task at hand for more than a minute or two. Maybe this leads to a poor memory and your grades at school and learning overall just suffers.

Whatever the case may be, with your mind being the foundation to all of your life, you are able to flip the script in these situations when you start to optimize your thinking.

Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life

Optimizing your brain will do wonders for your mindset.

Your mindset is the foundation to every aspect of your life, just think about it, your thoughts are controlling the actions you take and how you look at each situation in life. If you just change the way you think you can change how you see and act in life and that can be a total game changer.

When you start to build a better foundation in your life, you have a better footing to build off of (not surprisingly) and now you can start actually making real change.

You can start seeing the world from a different perspective and clear up your mind a little bit to actually see the opportunities that lie right in front of you.

Even if you don't change your life much, other than your mindset, you will start to see things from a new light that can compel you to make real change in your life, start taking action and change your outcomes.

Image: Tim and Julie Harris

Easy Habits That Really Work Is The Place to Start

Then you can explore what you want to learn more about as you start immersing yourself more.

Diving head first into a ton of crazy habits like a total diet revamp or blood work or just all the stuff you can hear about when it comes to "biohacking," as brain optimization is commonly called, is not the answer.

It just overwhelms us and then with so many options that make it seem like there is a high barrier to entry or that it will be expensive (such as some $80 a month pills and supplements), we end up taking no action.

Instead, I thought that maybe if I gave some great tips that are essentially free and easy to do, yet are still effective, then maybe you could see that this really does work.

Then from there, dive more into slowly adding other habits or doing other things that can optimize your brain.

You just need a place to start and a place that shows you this isn't some "hippie sh*t" that this actually works and you need to get on board if you want, what I like to call, an "unfair advantage" in life.

MMNTM Can Help You Simplify Mindset Training

For normal people looking for more than normal results in their life.

You Have To Start With Your Brain.

That Changes Your Mindset, Your Mindset Changes Your Actions and Your Actions Change Your Results.

Yes, it can work in any area of your life... you name it and this will help. From quality of work to family life to better relationships and even better grades in school.

My goal with MMNTM is to give you this place to start that I have been talking about, with low barriers to entry and actions that are simple to start implementing, so that you can see that this stuff really works.

And what better way to do so that than through education and then what I consider to be "mental workouts," which are going to be workout programs for your mind, much like taking your mind to the gym, that are easy to do and don't take up too much of your day.

Training your mind has one of the best ROIs in terms of your time investment as you will start to think and feel 10x better.

All I ask is for you to bring one friend to the blog tomorrow (yourmmntm.com/blog) if you are finding this valuable.

And now let's get to the good stuff.

Take A Simple Walk

The amount of mental clarity, ideas and just happiness that I have gotten from just taking a simple walk everyday is insane.

Try listening to a podcast such as the Tim Ferriss Show, Show Story Long or The School of Greatness and you can learn at the same time as you are walking, it's a win-win.

When. you get outside and increase the UV rays you are getting, combined with movement and just fresh air, your mind is going to start freeing up all those thoughts you have been hoarding and just start living in the moment.

This is going to be especially effective if you are trapped in an office all day and never really get outside as you go from your car to the office, back to your car and then into your house.

This is a real game changer if you are really just looking to add one thing to your day.

Try a 45 minute walk, ideally in the morning or at sunset so that you aren't taking up important hours during the middle of the day. I like to walk in the morning as it sets the tone for the rest of my day.

Drink More Water

Your brain is made up of almost 75% water, so how do you expect it to function properly if you are just drinking coffee and flavored drinks all day?

Try adding a simple gallon of water to your day, it seems too simple so a lot of you are going to skip it, don't be that guy.

Clean Up Your Diet

There is no way you can avoid brain fog when all you are feeding yourself is sugar, carbs and then drinking a ton on the weekend (as many of us that are still in college do).

And you may get to the point where you don't realize that you are not thinking properly because you are just so used to feeling and thinking how you currently are.

That is the problem with "brain fog," many people don't even realize they have it because "this is how it always has been."

Cut as much sugar and unneeded fast acting carbs, that spike your blood sugar levels, out of your diet as much as you can and focus on protein and slow burning carbs. Also try to cut alcohol out completely because it just isn't worth the days of slowed thinking after just one night out.

Journal Twice Per Day

Once in the morning, once at night.

Just get all your thoughts and ideas out so that you don't have them taking up space in your mind when you don't need them to be.

Also focus on writing down what you are grateful for everyday, and why, and then at night write about what you are glad you experienced that day.

This will start to get rid of negative thinking in your life and just make you feel better overall throughout the day and with whatever you end up experiencing.

Meditate (No It Isn't Hippie Sh*t)

Long gone are the days where meditation is just for some hippies who want to go sit on a rock or by the oceans going "ummmmmmmmmm, ummmmmmmmmm."

Meditation has become almost mainstream now as many of the top CEOs and people across all walks of life are doing it.

For the simple fact that it actually works to help you live more in the present and clear your mind.

Maybe you have tried meditation before and just couldn't get yourself to focus, and that was the case for myself as well. I found that a simple guided meditation (which are free on YouTube) are a great place to start as they guide you through your thinking rather than just leaving you to your own thoughts.

Try a 10-15 minutes meditation in the morning and then at night as well!

BONUS: A Few Other Things You Should Try

Take a cold shower, it is free and one of the most mentally challenging things you will do each day. You focus on nothing but the cold water and it really helps clear your mind and get you more comfortable doing uncomfortable things.

Just add a few minutes of cold water at the end of your warm shower to start!

Next, get rid of negative influences in your life, you might even free up some more time for yourself as well.

Whether we realize it or not, a lot of the content we are consuming on a daily basis, especially the news, is full of negativity because that is what people react to and when people react, they can get more views for their ads.

Especially on social media, it is usually a ton of people just complaining or even just you looking at other people's lives and comparing it to your own and then feeling bad about yourself.

Reduce these negative influences in your day to day and start switching them out with some podcasts in topics that you are interested in.

This is a huge game changer as it can really change the way you look at the world. It can help remove that negative lens you are possibly looking through at the moment.

Wow, just like that another day on the blog is in the books! Thanks for all the support and if you enjoyed this or learned anything I just ask one thing: bring a friend back tomorrow! Time to make personal development more "normal" because it is at the foundation of every area of our lives. Stop back with a friend tomorrow-- yourmmntm.com/blog

Now be sure to actually put what you learned to use, don't just read about it and make yourself feel like you are taking action, actually take action!

-Taylor

MMNTM Blog