Imagine if you could train your brain in the same way that you can train your body, just like you can make your muscles bigger. Imagine if you could improve how well you can thinkand what a difference this would make to your life. Well, it turns out that this idea isn’t as far-fetched as you might think. In fact, there’s an entire industry of apps around it.
In this guide, we look at some of the cognitive challenges that can make you smarter. These will tap your mind in significant ways, but the final result is often worth it.
Acquire a complex skill like coding
Another thing you can do to improve your cognition is to learn a complex skill like coding. When you do something as demanding as coding, it forces your brain to form new neural pathways because the existing ones simply aren’t good enough. It also boosts things like problem-solving and logical thinking, which may remain underdeveloped in many people.
Once you develop these skills, you become much more valuable in every area of life but particularly in your career. If you can do things that other people can’t, you become irreplaceable.
Learn to dance
People who can dance really well also improve their cognitive abilities. Dancing is highly effective at improving the way your brain functions because it combines things like memory, rhythm, movement, and social interaction into a single process.
The best way to learn dance is to go to a dance class with other people. Here you’ll need to coordinate with them and move beyond static exercises, which is what most people do. Dancing is a very natural human activity, and that’s also one of the reasons why it’s so stimulating for the brain. It’s almost as if humans have been dancing for millennia.
Many people tell themselves that they can’t dance or they can’t move their hips in the right way. But after a few months, you will definitely get the hang of it. It’s just a question of persisting and continuing through time.
Play more strategy games
When it comes to long-term thinking and strategy, strategy games are a great option. These force you to be adaptable while using foresight. Most strategy games primarily engage the prefrontal cortex, the executive part of the brain. When you play strategy games regularly, like chess, it actually increases the amount of connectivity in this area which may have transferrable effects in other areas of life. For example, you often find chess players are also people who like to play the markets. They really enjoy getting down into the nitty-gritty and finding out what’s going to work and in what sequence. Strategy games like poker are also very popular among people who like taking risks. This can improve your ability to conduct yourself in business situations, for example.
Play more vocabulary games
If you want to improve your verbal IQ, it is also worthwhile playing more vocabulary games. These force you to think outside of the box and often involve cryptic clues, as is the case with crossword puzzles.
Once your vocabulary increases, it improves your communication but it also does something else. It makes you improve your ability to think because you have more words, you have more internal structure you can use to form your thoughts. You can also be more precise in your thinking, generating very specific ideas based on the language that you learn.
Solve logic games
On the same theme, you could also look into solving more logic games. These activate a slightly different area of the brain and train you to recognize patterns more broadly. Again, they’re very good for logical reasoning and problem-solving. As you get more into games like riddles or Sudoku, you’ll find that they build your mental ability and agility. You’re better able to respond to the situations you encounter in life because you’ve built the brain structures you need to function at a high level.
What’s nice about logic games is that you can continue to increase the challenge as you go along. This means that you can boost your cognitive sharpness consistently over time. There’s no telling how much you might improve.
Mindfulness or meditation
You might not think so, but mindfulness or meditation can also be a significant cognitive challenge. Meditation is all about concentration and observing one’s own thoughts. It’s tied to emotional regulation and attention, which means that it’s excellent for reducing stress.
It’s often found that people who meditate regularly have more delta brain wave activity. This is what is responsible for creativity and cognitive flexibility. People who meditate are more likely to be able to think outside of the box because they are more active and less stressed.
You don’t have to meditate in a structured setting. You can also meditate in other ways. For example, many people find that they benefit when they meditate while exercising or playing a musical instrument.
Learn music
Speaking of which, playing a musical instrument is a great cognitive challenge that can really boost your thinking. Musical instruments force your brain to coordinate in multiple ways, including:
- Rhythm
- Motor skills
- Working memory
You have to memorise music, follow the musical pattern, and use some part of your body to make the sound, either your hands, your mouth, or something else.
Interestingly, children who learn musical instruments tend to have better cognitive performance in school. They are more able to master the subject matter.
Learn a second language
Finally, learning a second language is often the ultimate way to make yourself smarter. It’s great for memory, executive control, and mastering many tasks at once. You need to be able to translate between your old language and your new one consistently before you can feel comfortable in the new one. Bilingualism has been shown to delay brain aging by increasing brain connectivity. Researchers think that more neural pathways increases people’s cognitive reserves.
So there you have it – some challenging activities that could literally make you smarter.