There is a general perception that
we can’t do much to enhance our intelligence, we are already jam pack with our
daily schedule that we hardly have any time to take up new things in Life. It’s
almost always believed that whether you’re smart or not is determined right at
birth and you can’t do anything about it.
However, these are all misconceptions. While some people have
conditions that prevent them from being able to increase their intelligence
level, for most people, there are plenty of things that can be done to make
them smarter.
Hobbies are integral parts of our lives, and once developed, we
find ourselves immersed in them on a regular basis. Hobbies are fun and
invigorating- and they can also have a great influence on our intelligence.
Below are 10 hobbies that will help to make you smarter- all
backed up by scientific studies and experiments:
1. Play a musical
instrument.
Music has the power to invoke complex emotions and
psychological states. Various researchers have shown that both listening to music and
playing a musical instrument increases memory capacity.
Playing a musical instrument also teaches you patience and
perseverance for it takes time and effort to learn to play a musical
instrument. It also sharpens your concentration. Sometime it may help you in
getting new relationship or sometime a companion to move on from breakup.
2. Read voraciously.
Books are men best friend is just a saying now.
Reading goes a long way towards
increasing your intelligence level- this is further the case if you read
voraciously across many different topics, from fiction and biographies, to
anthologies.
Reading spiritual books like Bhagwat
Geeta, or books by Vivekananda and Gautam Budhha acts like a daily booster.
Reading reduces stress, helps you to experience multiple
emotions, and teaches you a lot about many subjects. All these factors help you
to feel better about yourself; being at peace with
yourself is one of the most important foundations for positive wellbeing.
Reading is very important for enhancing your knowledge on a
subject, preparing for all sorts of situations and being more productive in how
you go about achieving your goals.
3. Meditate regularly.
The foremost benefit of meditation is to help you focus on
yourself and to get you to know your true self. Being engrossed in meditation
helps individuals transcend to a higher state of being.
Meditation helps to reduce stress levels and gets rid of all sorts of worries.
With a calm and composed state of mind obtained through meditation, you can
learn, think and plan things in a much more effective way.
Regular meditation helps you to have full control over yourself.
Being aware of distractions and effective methods of self-control are of the
utmost significance when working to improve your intelligence.
4. Work out your brain.
Just as you need to work out regularly to keep your body fit,
you also need to work out your brain to keep it in good shape. Regularly
challenging the brain to do new things enhances its abilities and helps to keep
you sharp.
You can work out your brain in plenty of ways such as through:
sudoku, puzzles, board games, and riddles not candy crush or Temple run.
All these activities help the brain to continue forming new connections.
Through such activities you also learn to respond to situations in
creative ways, develop the ability to see things from a lot of different
perspectives and become
significantly more productive.
5. Exercise often.
A healthy body helps to ensure that you have a healthy
brain. After all, your brain is like another muscle in your body. Exercising regularly keeps your
brain and body functioning as they are supposed to. It reduces tension and
helps you to sleep better.
Doctors agree that better
blood circulation to the brain means increased brain function. Various studies
on mice and humans have shown that cardiovascular exercise can create new brain cells, and thus improve overall
brain performance.
6. Learn a new language.
Learning a new language may not always be an easy task but it
definitely has numerous advantages-making you smarter, being one of them.
The process of learning a new language involves tasks such as
analyzing grammatical structures and learning new words, which enhances
your intelligence and brain health.
It has also been proven through various experiments that
people with high levels of verbal-linguistic
intelligence are great
at planning, decision-making and problem-solving.
7. Write your feelings
down.
There are tons of benefits that you can receive from writing,
including increasing your overall level of intelligence.
Writing improves your linguistic abilities, of course. But
it also helps you to develop such skills as focus, creativity, imagination, and
comprehension.
Writers are often considered as having very high levels of
intelligence. You can write in different ways. You can write things with
your hand or you can create your
own blog. Whatever you do, you are giving words to the images in your mind;
learning to express yourself clearly is a great way to boost your intelligence.
8. Travel to new places.
Travelling is not just a way to kill your boredom- there’s lot
more to it than that. Travelling can really boost your intelligence.
The physical and mental workouts involved with travelling,
rid your mind of stress. As you become stress-free, you are more able to focus
on tasks, observations, and deepening your understanding of subjects.
Every new place you travel to offers new things to
learn. You encounter diverse people, food, culture, lifestyle and society
while travelling, which puts you in touch with ideas you might never have
thought of previously.
9. Cook different kinds of
meals.
Many of us feel that cooking is a mere waste of time and
it’s something we very much want to avoid.
But instead of whining, you should feel happy when you have the
opportunity to cook. Regular cooks, particularly the ones who try out a variety
of meals, have high levels of creativity. They are committed to quality, aren’t
afraid to try things out and they pay great attention to details.
Whenever you cook something, you are learning to multitask, measure with
precision and make quick decisions. With all of these skills you’re acquiring,
you’re becoming smarter too.
10. Participate in sports
actively.
Participating regularly in sports activities doesn’t only
exercise the muscles but also does the same for the brain. Playing sports regularly makes the brain more flexible and
improves overall brain health.
Sports have added benefits too. Watching sports has been linked with increased brain
function, and through exercising you work out your muscles. Involvement in
sport also enhances responsiveness, coordination, capabilities, and confidence.
Top athletes are known for their special form of intelligence. It
doesn’t matter whether you play football, basketball or cricket. Consider
being regularly involved in some form of sport to boost your brain’s
performance.