Raise your intelligence – in NO extra time

You can increase your intelligence, happiness and enjoyment of life. And it won’t cost you any extra time. All you need to do is make some little changes to your daily routine, as I describe below.

Scientific background

Your brain is made up of billions upon billions of neurons. These are interconnected in a web-like structure. It is the quantity and quality of the connections between neurons that determines your intelligence. Actively building new and stronger connections in your day to day life will make you smarter while costing you no extra time.

The exact opposite of what builds new connections is routine. In the movie “Stranger than Fiction”, the main character goes through the same routine every day for over 12 years – until he’s snapped out of it and starts living the life of his dreams. When we see his days being all the same right down to the number of strokes with which he brushes his teeth, it resonates with a deep part of us. Deep inside we all understand that he’s not really alive – endless routine kills people’s minds.

The less routine, the more life.
- A. B. Alcott

New experiences, on the other hand, create new connections in our brains. You become smarter by seeking new experiences. You can greatly magnify this effect by consciously introducing various new stimuli. But more on that later.

Scientists have traced the effect I describe to certain processes in our brains. Every time we do something new, our brain is much more active than when we do something routine. We even sometimes say we “switch off” when doing something routine (like driving a car). This refers to a very real measurable decrease in brain activity.

So how can you increase the number of connections in your brain? I thought you’d never ask…

Raising your intelligence

The goal is to break your daily routine. Depending on how much you break it, you will get a corresponding increase in brain activity, and therefore more connections in your brain. (There are also some cunning techniques that give your brain a LOT of new stimuli. I’ll introduce you to those in a moment).

But wait! That’s not all. Breaking your routine not only makes you smarter, it also releases chemicals in your brain that make you happier! Two for the price of one!

You can start breaking your routine in little ways, like:

• brush your teeth with the other hand than usual
• use the other hand to open doors, lock locks, eat, etc.
• take a different route to work
• shuffle around the order of your morning activities. You normally get showered and dressed before breakfast? Try it the other way around.

The techniques above are just the start. The really big effects come when you start breaking your routine in major ways. But I don’t mean major ways as far as the actions are concerned – I mean major ways as far as your brain is concerned.

We humans use sight as our primary sense. About 90% of the information comes through your eyes. Guess what happens when you rule out sight? A huge change as far as your brain is concerned. You will notice things you never noticed before. Here are some things for you to try:

• do your morning washing with your eyes closed. Get in the shower, set the right temperature of water, wash, comb your hair, shave. All of what you normally do, but with your eyes closed.
• prepare the clothes you want to put on the evening before. Then, in the morning, get dressed with your eyes closed. Alternately, you could try picking your clothes with your eyes closed, according to the material. The materials could be similar or contrasting, you choose.

Introducing other senses

You could also introduce new senses to your routine. Smell is an especially powerful one, as it has a direct connection with the part of your brain responsible for emotions.

Are you used to waking up with the smell of coffee? How about you try replacing it with something else, like the smell of vanilla?

Associating new smells with your experiences with greatly increase the number of connections created in your brain.

Another good thing is to associate unusual sense combinations together like associate a certain song with certain smell.

In summary, the whole point is to break your routine. Every time you do something in an unusual, non-routine way, you come a little bit more alive.