Activate your Brain with Author Scott Halford
What determines our capabilities originate from the brain. Millions are invested in programs to feel more confident, productive, or just more vitality.
Our brain as well as overall physiology responds well to these tactics. While most of us deduce that healthy lifestyle choices benefit the brain, few of us respond or are motivated by a blanket concept like perceiving we may need more sleep (necessary for memory function)or drink more water.
What differentiates neuro-scientist Scott G Halford’s book, Activate Your Brain, is he shares how our brains work or respond to a positive behavior or value.
The author describes personality traits into ego quadrants that influence brain chemistry that I interpret as values such as fairness and trust.
Halford describes why certain environmental conditions trigger positive brain activity and which chemical responses are responsible for our brain rewarding our physiology.
Few of us are motivated to exercise by a generalized notion based on “should”, however a generalized notion changes when a measurable and attainable by 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a few times a week (ideally 150 minutes) = a result of .05 yearly brain shrinkage every year after the age of 40 thanks to a Neuro-chemical called BDNF which literally helps our brain to grow.
Multiple examples throughout Activate Your Brain share:
1) What enhances your brain performance followed by
2) Why?
Activities that support my own optimal performance make more sense when I understand the reason backed by data. Drinking 8 glasses of water a day becomes more important when I understand our brain is 75% water and the impact dehydration has on focus.
Another significant detriment to focus is multi/tasking. Our brains reward completing tasks and distraction hinders productivity by a staggering 4 hours compared to 1 hour of focused attention.
Too busy for a mindfulness exercise like meditation? It was the single most endorsed benefit for our brain by the author. He cites three sources supporting that mindfulness can actually thicken brain grey matter which is critical for processing and cognition.
As a data-driven marketer, I enjoy understanding how things work with small, measurable steps to test it for myself which the author includes. One example explains why handwriting improves cognition and memory rather than typing.
Want to understand how to be more productive and confident? Understand your brain.
