How To Upgrade Your Brain

So how (exactly) can you transition from the Standard brain (the one you were born with) to the Upgraded brain (the one that makes you Unstoppable)?

So you can experience all the benefits (focus, clarity, energy, etc) that go with it and tap into “Genius Mode”?

Good question my friend. Good question.

And as we’ve discussed there are things you can do to rapidly, dramatically, and sustainably improve your cognitive performance.

Things that activate and enhance both neuroplasticity AND neurogenesis.

Do any ONE of these things and experience incremental positive results.

But do them ALL, and do them strategically and sequentially and the results are EXPONENTIAL.

Taking your brain’s ability to think, process, and remember to an entirely different level.

And just like the compounding returns you get when investing, your brain pays you back many times over whatever investment you make into it.

It’s a self-perpetuating cycle of awesomeness.

When you prioritize building a better brain, and your brain rewards you with more focus, which in turn allows you to build an even better brain, which in turn gives you more clarity, which in turn allows you to build an even BETTER brain, which in turn rewards you with more energy…

And on, and on, and on it goes.

So the key then is to just get started.

So let’s dive in then to the 5 phases you want to focus on that will have the greatest impact on your brain.

Phase 1: Environment

The very first step in upgrading your brain is to first take stock of your environment.

I’m talking about your home, your office, your car, your favorite restaurant… anywhere you spend a significant amount of your time.

If it’s anything like most people’s than the odds are good you’re living, working, and even playing in a mental minefield.

Mental Minefield: An area overloaded with distractions, noises, light, smells, or other overpowering stimuli.

And just like we discussed here (link to article 1) when you’re constantly being bombarded with distractions and intrusions your brain has no other choice than to hijack your attention, focus, and mental performance just in case.

• Just in case that text message that just came through signifies a threat.
• And just in case that email that just popped up presents a hidden risk.
• And just in case that phone call you just saw could be someone warning you of danger.
• And just in case that knock on your door is an intruder.

Your brain doesn’t know. And doesn’t care. It just wants to keep you ALIVE.

Not focused. Not productive. Not even happy. Just alive.

It’s A Noisy World Out There

But your brain’s job is made even more difficult thanks to the world it now has to operate in.

Because not only is the Standard brain constantly scanning for threats, danger, and those pesky saber-toothed tigers…

…It has to do this all while simultaneously filtering, processing, and being drained from the barrage of “junk” coming in.

• Some of this “junk” arrives in the form of energy draining lighting (fluorescent lights are terrible for this)
• Some of this “junk” arrives in the form of bad food (more on this in the next phase)
• And some of this “junk” is just part of our everyday realities now (ie traffic, air quality, niose, etc)

This is why one of the most important aspects of upgrading your brain is optimizing your environment for success.

Phase 2: Nutrition

Of all the things you can do to upgrade your brain nothing is more important than food and nutrition.

Nothing.

You could optimize your environment, do all the right exercises, sleep well, build a strong social circle, and take the right supplements…

But if you fail to eat the right kinds of foods in the right amounts your brain is doomed to remain Standard.

But this shouldn’t be a surprise or that hard to appreciate.

After all, our bodies are made up of the food we eat. It’s where that age-old saying “you are what you eat” comes from.

Eat good food = build good brain

Eat bad food = build bad brain

Without getting too nerdy (you had to deal with enough of that in the last section 😉 food is a signal.

And it tells your brain a TON of information.

Coffee is a good example here.

If you’ve ever woken up tired…

…slammed a cup of coffee (or sipped it nicely… I’m not judging)…

…and felt the benefits of the caffeine and other phytonutrients flood your system…

Then you’ve experienced the power of nutrition on your brain.

And it works the same in the opposite direction too.

If you’ve ever eaten too much, drank too much, or just eaten a really bad unhealthy meal (ie a full extra large pizza with extra cheese…some root beer… and maybe cake… because “hey it’s a party right?”)

Well then you’ve likely also experienced the brain fog, fatigue, and maybe even nausea afterward.

All proof your brain is highly responsive to the food you eat.

And all the more reason to ensure your brain upgrade involves a strategic nutrition plan designed to fuel your brain for optimal performance.

Phase 3: Training

Seeing as one of the ways to upgrade your brain involves neuroplasticity (ie reorganizing itself to form better and more efficient pathways) then it only makes sense to tell your brain WHAT pathways you want it to build.

In our case, we want to build the pathways that will lead to better, faster, and more sustainable:

Focus
Attention
Concentration
Creativity
emotional resilience
Drive
Willpower
Energy
Confidence
Happiness

And these pathways can be (safely and naturally) carved into our brains through a few strategic rewiring protocols (ie exercises).

4, in particular, have shown the greatest (and most sustainable) results.

Exercise

One of the biggest names in the game of upgrading your brain (whoa, try saying that 5 times fast) is BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor)

If you want to learn more about BDNF you can click here (but it’s a medical article so it is boooooring!):

Basically, BDNF is like Miracle-Gro for the brain. So you want more of it.

This next point should come as no surprise then.

Exercise increases BDNF. Exercise makes you smarter. It makes you faster. And it makes you more optimistic, resilient, and strong (all good things).

We could get into the specifics of this exercise over that one, or weight training vs cardio, or the importance of flexibility but the reality is that if you can just find a way to get some in, you’ll do good things for your brain.

We can optimize it later.

Meditation

Ahhhhh meditation. Or should I say Ohhmm meditation (sorry… meditation joke).

Meditation is a polarizing subject for most people.

They either love it. Or they hate it.

Camp A says they love it, it changed their lives and their ability to focus, gain more clarity, increase their ability to respond rather than react, and improve their overall sense of wellbeing.

Camp B says they hate it, it’s the biggest waste of time ever, is annoying, frustrating, and stupid… and they end up leaving the session worse off than when they started.

I used to be in Camp B. Now I’m in Camp A.

But the transition took two things.

1. I needed to fully understand the value of meditation on upgrading my brain (check!)
2. And I needed to learn that the value of meditation wasn’t in achieving a silent mind (good luck there) but rather on the process of continually re-focusing the mind on something like the breath.

Meditation isn’t hard WHEN you do it the right way. And there are a number of great tools, training, and apps that can help.

Breathing

If you’re reading this now, then you can breathe. Congrats, your 90% of the way there on this one.

No joke.

Breathing is simple BUT it’s also incredibly powerful.

When we’re tense, excited, or stressed, our breathing tends to be shallow, fast, and erratic.

When we’re calm, focused, and controlled, our breathing is deeper, slower, and more consistent.

Knowing this, you can change your state simply by changing your breathing.

And when you train your brain to change your state on command you form new neural pathways (there’s that neuroplasticity thing again) that change your state from fight or flight to focus.

Controlled breathing allows you to move from a REACTIVE state (bad for business) to a RESPONSIVE state (good for business)

There are ways to do this better, and faster, but even taking a few deep breaths, holding them for a few seconds, and then breathing out slowly can have an immediate and profound effect on how you fell.

Gratitude

Gratitude is magic. And just like with breathing, this one is easy.

But please don’t mistake easy for ineffective.

Because gratitude is powerful stuff..

It has a ton of benefits (improves relationships, improves self-esteem, reduces aggression, helps you sleep better, and more) but the biggest benefit in regards to upgrading your brain are these two things here:

Gratitude improves psychological health. Gratitude reduces a multitude of toxic emotions, from envy and resentment to frustration and regret. Robert Emmons, a leading gratitude researcher, has conducted multiple studies on the link between gratitude and well-being. His research confirms that gratitude effectively increases happiness and reduces depression.

And…

Gratitude increases mental strength. For years, research has shown gratitude not only reduces stress, but it may also play a major role in overcoming trauma. A 2006 study published in Behavior Research and Therapy found that Vietnam War veterans with higher levels of gratitude experienced lower rates of post-traumatic stress disorder. A 2003 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that gratitude was a major contributor to resilience following the terrorist attacks on September 11. Recognizing all that you have to be thankful for —even during the worst times—fosters resilience. (Both quotes from Psychology Today)

Basically, gratitude is a powerhouse emotion you want to feel as often as possible. Make sure your brain upgrade strategy includes it.

Phase 4: Recovery

This is the fun part.

Because this is where you get to sleep more, do more cool fun stuff, and hang out with friends more.

Yup. All three things that directly relate to increases in cognitive performance.

1. Sleep
2. Fun
3. Friends

(Combine all 3 for a brain-boosting slumber party… or not)

Let’s start with sleep as this is the biggie.

Just like the “drink a cup of coffee” or “eat too much/drink too much” example I gave in the nutrition section, the effects of inadequate sleep are easy to appreciate.

Poor sleep = poor brain performance

And studies show (not surprisingly) poor sleep quality leading to poor job performance.

People said they needed an average of 7 hours 18 minutes of sleep per night to be at their best the next workday, they reported an average of 6 hours and 40 minutes. – Sleep Foundation

Even if you’re getting enough sleep at night, you also still need to be aware that the longer you’re awake during the day the more questionable your cognitive performance is…

…with your performance starting to take a cliff dive after about 17 hours awake.

17 hours awake is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of 0.05. If your sleepless hours add to 21, your blood alcohol content can reach 0.08. – Ausenco

All things to keep in mind when prioritizing sleep.

Next, let’s talk fun.

This parts all about our good buddy dopamine. The neurotransmitter responsible for the reward part of our brain.

Fun = Dopamine

And…

Dopamine increases motivation, memory, learning, focus, attention, and creativity.

If you’re interested in learning more this article has compiled a number of studies on the subject: Why Increasing Dopamine Can Make You More Succesful

Or… you could just take this an excuse to go do something fun… do it for your brain.

Time for friends

Social activity is important. Both for fun (which we’ve already established as being a brain booster) but also for the other cognitive benefits it delivers (ability to suppress distractions, increases in memory, better decision making, and the list goes on…)

I could say more but the articles below (even just skimming their titles) make the point.

• What Are The Health Benefits Of Being Social: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321019.php
• Social Interaction Is Critical For Mental And Physical Health: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/well/live/having-friends-is-good-for-you.html
• The Health Benefits Of Socializing: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/living-mild-cognitive-impairment/201606/the-health-benefits-socializing
• Research Suggests A Positive Correlation Between Social Interaction And Health: https://www.nia.nih.gov/about/living-long-well-21st-century-strategic-directions-research-aging/research-suggests-positive
• Does Socializing Make Us Smarter: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080215135707.htm

Or my personal favorite title…

• Friends With Cognitive Benefits: Mental Function Improves After Socializing:
  http://ur.umich.edu/1011/Nov01_10/1725-friends-with-cognitive

Phase 5: Enhancement

And finally the icing on the brain cake (which sounds gross when you say it out loud)

This is the step that most people start with.

And that’s a mistake.

Like building a house on a shaky foundation… any work you do here without first going through the preceding 4 phases (environment, nutrition, training, recovery) is likely to result in little to no improvements.

That’s why these steps are sequential.

Because WHEN you go through them from 1-5, in the right order, they build on each other so when you do get to Phase 5: Enhancement that’s exactly what it will do… enhance.

They make a good brain better, but they won’t make a bad brain good.

That said, there is still a place for them for the person committed to building the best, healthiest, and highest performing brain possible.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but I thought I’d give you 5 of my top picks to get you started.

#1: Coffee – This one should be an easy sell (tea works too if you don’t like coffee). Coffee is loaded with phytonutrients and caffeine is a proven performance enhancing drug. Don’t take too much, and don’t take it near bed. (If you don’t mind sacrificing taste, Four Sigma Mushroom Coffee is a great performance booster)

#2: Beginner Vitamin Stack – Multivitamin, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Krill Oil, Vitamin K2, N-acetylcysteine (NAC)

If you’re just getting into boosting your brain then you really can’t go wrong with this vitamin stack; all designed to have a positive effect on brain health and mental performance.

The multivitamin ensures your bases are covered, and the Vitamin D is especially crucial for those in northern climates where sun exposure is hard to come by during winter months.

#3: Qualia – This is my “Secret Mental Weapon”

I copied this from their website:

Qualia is a premium supplement that helps support mental performance and brain health. Specifically designed to promote focus, support energy, mental clarity, mood, memory, and creativity. Discover a whole cognitive upgrade with Qualia Mind.

I take it. I love it. And so do many of my friends and clients.

I notice a distinct difference on the days I take Qualia opposed to the days I don’t. Better Focus. More clarity. And more sustained energy.

I highly recommend giving it a try. Here’s a link if you want to check it out: http://bit.ly/2RDpZMP (use coupon code AE on checkout you get an additional 15% off)

#4: Oura Ring – The Oura ring is a piece of wearable tech that monitors your sleep, temperature, heart rate, and overall “well being”. It’s useful to figure out what you’re doing that’s working, and what’s not, so you can tweak and optimize it.

I prefer using a Garmin Forerunner 935 watch however, it has a few less sleep tracking features BUT a whole lot more fitness tracking features and a silent vibrating alarm which allows me to wake up at the crack of dawn without disturbing my family.

#5: Neurofeedback – I saved neurofeedback for last as it’s a powerful tool but should ideally be done at a neurofeedback center by a trained technician. If you’ve never heard of neurofeedback before, it’s basically a way to restore your brainwave patterns to a more optimal range of functioning.

It’s also non-invasive and relatively enjoyable. Just strap a headband on, watch some TV, and enjoy some flashing lights and beeping sounds. That’s it.

Standard vs Upgraded

Some of the items we covered probably sounded pretty easy (who wouldn’t want to have more fun and hang out with friends?!?!)

While others may have seemed a little more challenging (ie exercise or optimizing your environment) or maybe even extreme (nutrition and meditation).

But here are the facts;

A high performing brain is NOT normal.

If it were then we wouldn’t constantly be hearing about the mental symptoms plaguing our society today (brain fog, inability to focus, fatigue, etc)

So achieving a peak performing brain is going to require at least a bit of effort and a strategy to get you there.

Simply put, peak performance (at work, at home, and at play) requires a plan.

Are you ready for a peak performing brain?

If so, then follow the suggestions I’ve listed out here and check out the link I’ve placed a link to my mental optimizer of choice, Qualia, below now. It has a 100 Day, 100% guarantee, as well as a system to track how well it’s working for you.

Check Out Qualia Now >>