One useful strategy that can be used to get over failure and control our thoughts is the art or act of tuning our brain for success. Here are some practical things we can do:
Eat brain food: Fresh fish helps stimulate the brain for academic and emotional pursuits. There are a variety of other foods and fruits like berries that contain antitoxins, particularly Vitamins A and C which are important components that help us fight malfunctions in the brain. Bananas are a great choice of fruit for this function. The maxim: an apple a day keeps the doctor away comes into play here. Apples are rich in antioxidants and friendly cholesterol. In today’s society, the world seems to be on somewhat of a health consciousness pursuit. Scientists and doctors all around are discovering that people are engaging in new habits in an effort to remain healthy and are exploring what they need to do to ensure their health lasts a life time. People are starting to realise that treating our bodies with healthy foods and diets can benefit us on the long run.
Positive self-talk and avoiding negativity as well as tuning our imagination to the healthy things of life can also help our brain. Don’t rehearse your fears! Research suggests people with positive self-talk may have mental skills that allow them to solve problems, think differently, and be more efficient at coping with hardships, reducing the harmful effects of stress and anxiety.
Positive self-talk and avoiding negativity as well as tuning our imagination to the healthy things of life can also help our brain.
Furthermore, positive self-talk and a more optimistic outlook can have other health benefits, including: increased vitality, greater life satisfaction, improved immune function, reduced pain, better cardiovascular health, better physical well-being as well as reduced risk of death, less stress and distress.
Here are some steps you may want to take: Make sure those in your life are positive and supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase your stress level and make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways.
Practice positive self-talk. Never start the day by listening to the morning news. After saying good morning, they are bound to tell you why the morning is not good. It’s more ideal to start the day listening to your favorite motivational speaker, reading books or scriptures that inspire you or listening to something positive.
Exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function. Exercise has also been found to alleviate symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal. Exercise is not just about aerobic capacity and muscle size. Sure, exercise can improve your physical health and your physique, trim your waistline, improve your sex life and even add years to your life. But that’s not what motivates most people to stay active.
People who exercise regularly tend to do so because it gives them an enormous sense of well-being. They feel more energetic throughout the day, sleep better at night, have sharper memories, and feel more relaxed and positive about themselves and their lives. And it’s also a powerful medicine for many common mental health challenges.
You already know that exercise is good for your body. But did you know it can also boost your mood, improve your sleep, and help you deal with depression, anxiety, stress, and more? Improving the tempo of our movement will send our blood pumping and make sure the body, including the brain, gets the right supply of oxygen. Deep breathing exercises are known to clear the head and therefore sharpen the mind of the person who does them. We should therefore breathe from the low part of our abdomen, the part scientists call the diaphragm.
All these nutrients are important to the brain:
Zinc: This element is crucial for nerve signaling
Magnesium: Magnesium is essential for learning and memory.
Copper: Your brain uses copper to help control nerve signals.
Iron: Iron deficiency is often characterized by brain fog and impaired brain function. So this takes us back to what we said about our diet. Green vegetables have a great content of iron that are necessary for the brains proper function.
Positive peer groups in our social arena help stimulate areas of the brain associated with reward. We are more active when we are with peers that give us a lot of positive feedback! Being observed or interacting with other people who give us positive feedback helps strengthen our reasoning capability. Active groups like the military and paramilitary organisations are living witness to this.
For the same reason, individuals who need social and emotional awareness need to function more in groups and teams. They will also learn more quickly in the presence of their peers and garner a sense of belonging and support which will lead to increased self-confidence. Such a bonding activity is a great way to introducing positive hobbies and interests as well as reinforce positive habits and attitudes. That is why new skills are better learnt in groups where healthy competition can be introduced.
A clean environment helps put our minds at ease. Military operatives are taught to keep their barracks spick and span, put their rooms in order and make their beds as soon as the get up from sleep. This indicates that the physical activity of cleaning, coupled with the end result of a cleaner home helps reduce stress, feelings of anxiety, and depressive symptoms.
Cleaning can also reduce fatigue and improve concentration. There is an overwhelming effect of going to work and coming back home to a clean room with your bed already made. If all else fails, neat and tidy room will help stabilize our thinking and focus our thoughts when we come back home. On the other side, an untidy room or house that has not been cleaned can add to our anxiety and depression.
Generally, it is important that we learn the rudiments of Stress Management. Everyone needs to know how to relieve themselves of stress by engaging in physical and mental activity that stimulates us to be more active, creative and happy.
Sleep is important to a number of brain functions, including how nerve cells (neurons) communicate with each other. In fact, your brain and body stay remarkably active while you sleep. Recent findings suggest that sleep plays a housekeeping role that removes toxins in your brain that build up while you are awake. Every human being requires at least six hours of sleep. If we can do eight hours that is great too. Often, we find pressure and headaches can reduce drastically if we can lie on a couch or bed, close our eyes and just drift off into dream land.
New learning and novelty is food for the brain. Brain research has shown that a rush of dopamine accompanies fresh experiences of any kind. This attraction to novelty motivates us to explore and learn about new environments, and our adventurousness is rewarded with a dose of dopamine along with greater chances of survival. People who go through life with fresh challenges and great new experiences often have remarkable minds and capacities to recollect details and information.
Court judges, doctors, lawyers and other professionals who commit to a life long process of continuous learning often show abilities that indicate massive development in the brain function and the mind to accomplish extraordinary tasks.
Generally, it is important that we learn the rudiments of Stress Management. Everyone needs to know how to relieve themselves of stress by engaging in physical and mental activity that stimulates us to be more active, creative and happy. But let us ensure that such activity does not involve taking drugs recreationally or engaging in extreme activity that can damage our brains or our bodies.
*Ogundadegbe is a renowned management consultant. He trains managers and executives in the arts of Customer Service, Human Resources Management and Management strategy ([email protected]).
