13 Everyday Habits That Make You Smarter

BRAINY DOSE

10 Sept 202208:15

Summary

TLDRThis video script outlines 13 everyday habits that can enhance intelligence beyond academic achievements. It emphasizes critical thinking, reading diverse materials, diversifying daily routines, and exposing oneself to new perspectives. The habits include learning something new daily, applying knowledge, engaging in brain-stimulating games, challenging mental limits, pursuing hobbies, associating with smarter individuals, exercising, and setting aside quiet time for reflection. The message is clear: intelligence is a journey of continuous learning and self-improvement.

Takeaways

🧐 Always question and verify information rather than assuming it's true, to avoid bad decision-making.
📚 Expand your knowledge and challenge your perspective by reading material that differs from your usual interests.
🌟 Diversify your routine to keep your brain active and foster creativity by trying new experiences.
🌐 Expose yourself to different worldviews to broaden your understanding and stimulate your mind.
📈 Make a daily habit of learning something new, no matter how small, to continuously feed your brain with new information.
🚀 Apply new knowledge to improve your life, ensuring that learning is not just for the sake of acquiring information.
🛠 Look for new ways to perform everyday tasks to keep your brain sharp and enhance efficiency.
🎲 Engage in games and puzzles that require strategic thinking to improve memory and cognitive function.
🏋️‍♂️ Challenge yourself mentally by learning new skills or subjects, which helps in building neural pathways and increasing learning capacity.
🎨 Pursue productive hobbies to keep your brain engaged, improve cognitive function, and enhance your overall well-being.
🤓 Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you to gain new insights, perspectives, and to be inspired.
🏃‍♂️ Incorporate physical exercise into your routine to improve brain health, memory, and overall cognitive abilities.
🤫 Set aside quiet time for reflection to learn from your experiences, become more self-aware, and develop better habits.

Q & A

What is the main idea of the video '13 Everyday Habits That Make You Smarter'?
-The video emphasizes that being smart is not just about academic achievements but also involves critical thinking and making beneficial decisions. It suggests that anyone can become smarter by adopting certain everyday habits.
Why is it important to question things instead of just assuming they are true?
-Questioning prevents one from accepting information at face value, which can lead to bad decision-making. It encourages looking at all sides of an issue before making up one's mind, thus promoting better choices.
What is the benefit of reading something that you normally wouldn't?
-Reading outside of one's usual preferences can broaden one's perspective, challenge existing ideas, and potentially provide an eye-opening experience by considering different viewpoints.
How can diversifying your day help in becoming smarter?
-Diversifying daily activities by introducing novelty keeps the brain active, promotes creativity, and helps in making smarter and more creative decisions.
What role does curiosity play in smart people's lives?
-Smart people are curious and expose themselves to different cultures, places, and perspectives, which helps in broadening their understanding of the world and getting their minds working.
Why is it recommended to learn something new every day?
-Daily learning, no matter how small, impacts the brain positively, potentially improving memory and cognitive function. It can be achieved through various means like educational shows, audiobooks, podcasts, or learning new words.
What is the significance of applying new knowledge in one's life?
-Applying new knowledge ensures that learning is not wasted and contributes to personal growth. It helps in bettering life in some way, whether it's through understanding nutrition or technology.
How can finding new ways to do old things challenge the brain?
-Thinking of new methods to perform routine tasks can fend off boredom, keep the brain sharp and focused, and make life more interesting and efficient.
What are the benefits of playing games that make you think?
-Games that require thinking, such as board games, puzzles, and strategy-based video games, can improve memory function and the ability to deal with different everyday scenarios by practicing on-the-spot thinking.
Why is increasing mental intensity important for becoming smarter?
-Challenging oneself beyond perceived limits, such as learning new skills or studying unfamiliar subjects, helps build neural pathways in the brain, ultimately increasing one's capacity for learning.
What is the impact of taking up a productive hobby on cognitive function?
-Productive hobbies engage the brain creatively, potentially improving cognitive function. They also serve as outlets for mental health and can contribute to learning skills that make one well-rounded.
How does hanging out with people who are smarter than you contribute to personal growth?
-Surrounding oneself with smarter individuals challenges and inspires, leading to critical thinking about one's own beliefs and actions, which can enhance effectiveness.
What is the connection between physical exercise and brain health?
-Exercise improves overall health and well-being, boosts blood flow to the brain, and produces BDNF, which aids memory, learning, focus, concentration, and comprehension. It also promotes better sleep.
Why is setting aside quiet time important for becoming smarter?
-Quiet time allows for reflection on daily experiences, which helps in learning from mistakes and recognizing patterns that contribute to habits or behaviors, thus fostering self-awareness and mindfulness.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Cultivating Critical Thinking Habits

This paragraph emphasizes the importance of questioning assumptions and not taking information at face value. It encourages individuals to critically assess all sides of an issue before forming an opinion. The habit of questioning is applicable to various life aspects, including information intake and interpersonal relationships. The paragraph warns against the pitfalls of assuming facts presented by trusted sources without verification, which can lead to poor decision-making.

05:01

📚 Expanding Horizons Through Diverse Reading

The second paragraph focuses on the benefits of reading as a means to broaden one's knowledge and vocabulary. It suggests that reading materials that challenge one's own perspective can lead to an eye-opening experience, fostering a more open and expansive mind. The paragraph also touches on the idea of diversifying daily routines to keep the brain active and creative, recommending trying new things and avoiding autopilot in daily life.

🌏 Embracing Different Worldviews for Enhanced Learning

This paragraph highlights the significance of curiosity and the exposure to diverse cultures, places, and perspectives. It advocates for an open-minded approach to new information, even if it contradicts one's own views, as a way to broaden one's understanding of the world. The paragraph also stresses the importance of learning something new every day, suggesting various methods such as watching educational shows, listening to audiobooks or podcasts, and using word-of-the-day apps.

💡 Applying Knowledge and Challenging the Brain

The fourth paragraph discusses the importance of applying newly acquired knowledge to improve one's life. It suggests that learning should not be an end in itself but should be utilized to enhance one's existence. The paragraph also encourages finding new ways to perform routine tasks as a means to challenge the brain, prevent boredom, and increase efficiency. Additionally, it promotes playing games that require strategic thinking to improve memory function and deal with everyday scenarios.

🚀 Increasing Mental Intensity and Building Neural Pathways

This paragraph emphasizes the value of challenging oneself to surpass perceived limits as a way to become smarter. It recommends picking up new skills or studying unfamiliar subjects for at least 30 minutes a day to build neural pathways in the brain. The paragraph also suggests engaging with self-help books and personal development podcasts to foster different thought patterns and continue enhancing learning capacity.

🎨 Pursuing Productive Hobbies for Cognitive Enhancement

The sixth paragraph discusses the importance of having productive hobbies outside of work to keep the brain engaged and improve cognitive function. It lists various hobbies such as writing, playing musical instruments, painting, knitting, woodworking, and gardening, and notes their benefits for mental health and personal development. The paragraph also mentions the social aspect of hobbies in meeting people with similar interests.

🧐 Learning from Smarter Company for Brain Evolution

This paragraph underscores the importance of surrounding oneself with people who are smarter to stimulate brain evolution and gain new perspectives. It warns against the comfort of associating only with those who agree with one's views or match one's intelligence level. The paragraph suggests that being with smarter individuals can inspire and challenge one's beliefs and actions, leading to more effective thinking.

🏃‍♂️ The Cognitive Benefits of Physical Exercise

The seventh paragraph highlights the cognitive benefits of physical exercise, which include improved blood flow to the brain and the production of BDNF, a factor that aids memory, learning, focus, concentration, and comprehension. It emphasizes the importance of making physical activity a habit for overall health and well-being, as well as its additional benefit of promoting better sleep.

🤔 The Importance of Quiet Reflection for Smarter Living

The final paragraph stresses the importance of setting aside quiet time for reflection to learn from experiences and identify patterns that contribute to unhealthy habits or behaviors. It suggests that reflection can enhance self-awareness and mindfulness, which are crucial for smarter living. The paragraph concludes with an encouragement to keep learning and moving forward, and a call to action for viewers to engage with the content by liking, sharing, and subscribing.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information and make reasoned judgments. In the context of the video, it's about not just accepting information at face value but questioning and evaluating it from various perspectives. This is crucial for making informed decisions and is exemplified in the script's advice to 'Question, Don't Just Assume'.

💡Diversify

To diversify means to include a variety of elements. The video encourages diversifying one's day to keep the brain active and to avoid getting stuck in a routine. This can be seen in the script's suggestion to 'Diversify Your Day' by trying new things and avoiding autopilot.

💡World Views

World views refer to the perspectives and beliefs that individuals hold about the world. The script emphasizes the importance of being exposed to different world views to broaden one's understanding and to stimulate the mind, as mentioned in 'Expose Yourself to Different World Views'.

💡Learning

Learning is the process of acquiring new knowledge, skills, or understanding. The video stresses the importance of making learning a daily habit, as highlighted in 'Make A Point of Learning Something New Each Day', which can be achieved through various mediums like educational shows or word-of-the-day apps.

💡Application

Application refers to the act of using knowledge or skills in practical situations. The script advises not just to learn for the sake of learning, but to 'Apply New Knowledge' to better one's life, such as applying new insights about nutrition or technology.

💡Innovation

Innovation is the process of introducing new methods or ideas. The video encourages thinking of new ways to do old things as a form of innovation, which can make life more interesting and efficient, as suggested in 'Think of New Ways to Do Old Things'.

💡Games

Games, particularly those that require strategic thinking, are highlighted in the video as a means to keep the brain sharp and improve memory function. The script mentions 'Play Games That Make You Think', such as board games, puzzles, and strategy-based video games.

💡Mental Intensity

Mental intensity refers to the level of challenge or effort one puts into mental activities. The video suggests increasing mental intensity by pushing beyond perceived limits and engaging in activities that build neural pathways, as in 'Increase Mental Intensity'.

💡Hobbies

Hobbies are activities done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure. The script promotes taking up productive hobbies for their benefits to mental health and cognitive function, as stated in 'Take Up A Productive Hobby'.

💡Social Interaction

Social interaction involves communication and activities with others. The video recommends hanging out with people who are smarter than oneself to gain new perspectives and ideas, as mentioned in 'Hang Out with People Who Are Smarter Than You'.

💡Exercise

Exercise is physical activity that helps improve health and well-being. The script emphasizes the benefits of exercise for the brain, including improved blood flow and the production of BDNF, as discussed in 'Get Some Physical Exercise'.

💡Reflection

Reflection is the process of thinking deeply about one's experiences. The video suggests setting aside quiet time for reflection to learn from experiences and identify patterns, as highlighted in 'Set Aside Some Quiet Time'.

Highlights

Being smart is about critical thinking and beneficial decision-making, not just memorizing information.

You can become smarter at any age or education level by adopting simple habits.

Question everything and don't just assume; clarify and consider all sides before making decisions.

Read beyond your usual interests to expand knowledge and challenge perspectives.

Diversify your routine to keep your brain active and foster creativity.

Expose yourself to different worldviews to broaden your understanding of the world.

Make a daily habit of learning something new, no matter how small.

Apply new knowledge to better your life and not just for the sake of learning.

Innovate by finding new ways to do everyday tasks to keep your brain sharp.

Play games that require thinking to improve memory and cognitive function.

Push beyond your limits to increase mental intensity and build neural pathways.

Take up a productive hobby to engage your brain and improve cognitive function.

Surround yourself with smarter people to evolve your thinking and learn new perspectives.

Exercise regularly to improve blood flow to the brain and enhance cognitive abilities.

Set aside quiet time for reflection to learn from experiences and develop self-awareness.

Making progress is more important than being perfect; keep learning and moving forward.