Synopsis
about the “Change You Brain Everyday” Blog
Brain reserve is how much brainpower you have on standby ready to be used in an a traumatic situation. The best analogy I can think of right now is driving your car at 65 mph. Your car has a max speed of 120 mph. If you drive it a 65 mph you have 55 mph on reserve to if it is needed. If the max speed of your car is actually only 80 mph, you only have 15 mph in reserve. With only 15 mph you are terribly close to redlining. If a situation arrives that you need to go 85 mph your car is going to break down.
The higher the brain reserve the more you can hold it together under stress and trauma. We are all born with a certain level of brain reserve. The level is not static. If we take in chemical and emotional toxins our brain reserve will decrease. By following the guidance of this book we can all increase our brain reserve.
Exercise: List 3 things that steal your brain’s reserve and 3 thing you do to build your reserve.
Brain Reserve Stealing Activities
The 3 things I do that hurt my brain reserve the most are sleep, sugar, and doing too much.
Sleep
I don’t get consistent sleep. A sleep routine and wind down period would be beneficial. I usually just pass out instead of putting myself to sleep. I need give importance to my sleep routine the way I give importance to my exercise routine.
Sugar
Most days I do a good job limiting my sugar. With that said when I eat sugar I go hard. Usually I’ll eat multiple cookies and have way too much sweetened coffee. Its really the coffee that is the problem. I need the sugar to enjoy it. I’ve been playing with a few sugar substitutes and agave has been the best so far. The problem with agave half the people I trust say its a good substitute and half say its bad.
Doing too much
I’m not sure if doing too much lowers brain reserve or puts it to test. Either way I know putting too much on my plate is not good for my brain. When I plan my day I always assume everything is going to go to plan. It never does. What I’ve done to try to combat this stupid assumption is reminding myself that things ALWAYS take longer than I expect them to. I try to put only 2-3 things on a to-do list at a time. My instinct is to put 8 things on the list. When I catch myself doing this I prioritize and cut the list to 3.
Brain Reserve Promoting Activities
Endurance sports, meditation, and nutrition is how I build my brain reserve.
Endurance Sports and Explosive Exercise
By far the biggest thing I do to promote brain reserve is endurance sports. Trail running, triathlons, HIIT, TABATA, and speed & agility drills. To the uninitiated this doesn’t make a lot of sense. Isn’t this purely a physical pursuit. Aren’t you doing that to lose weight an be skinny. NO! THAT’S NOT WHY I DO IT. Endurance sports are a a mental test, not a physical one. David Goggins has his 40% rule. Your brain tells you to stop at 40% of what you are capable. If you gas out after running 2 miles, you could really run a five miles, your just not testing your reserve. When you push past this physical reserve you increase your mental reserve. When you prove the impossible possible, it changes your mental outlook on all life’s challenges.
Meditation / Prayer
This is a huge boost to my brain reserve. I don’t do it as much as I should but every time I do a few days in a row I feel the difference. It helps remind me that being busy is really just a distraction. Its an illusion we create for ourselves to make us feel important. I’m not saying that no one is ever busy. What I am saying is I think 9 times out of 10 we wouldn’t feel so busy if we really examined what on our to-do list MUST get done today. Almost everything can wait until tomorrow if it is coming at the cost of your mental health. I’m not suggesting procrastination either, but that is a topic for another time. If you are “too busy” for a 10 minute meditation you are not prioritizing correctly. Its that important.
Nutrition and Supplementation
This is my second pass through this book. The first go around convinced my on the importance of buying organic and supplementation. What I have noticed is that I end up eating less to fuel myself. My brain works better on less calories. This is because I’m getting more nutrition out of less food through buying nutrient dense foods and taking supplements. Some supplements I take specifically for my brain are fish oil, ashwagandha, and ginkgo biloba.
Author – Coach Brian