As seen in H-edition Magazine

Take Action!

  Your brain is lazy!

 Yes, that's right. If you're brain had a choice, it would be to lie on the couch all day in effortless inactivity.

 Of course I'm not talking about your brain in particular, as a matter of fact, all brains are lazy. This goes way back to good old evolution and survival. Your brain wants to minimize its energy consumption. The less energy it needs, the less food you need to hunt and gather, and the higher your likelihood of survival.

  So what does your brain's inherent tendency to procrastinate mean to Brain Health? A lot in turns out. In fact, too much inactivity is one of the biggest threats to Brain Health.

 Your brain builds and strengthens its neural connections when it's active. But it also allows them to wither away if you don't use them for longer periods. Using your brain actively is like watering a plant. If you become too inactive it's as if you are no longer watering the plant and it will wither and eventually die.

 In the context of brain health, you can think of unhealthy inactivity, as avoiding effort. This is when you choose the easy way out, the familiar way, the path of least resistance. When you do something easy, instead of doing something that requires effort. For example, to just do a usual routine instead of spending some time to engage in a conversation with your partner. Sounds familiar? Or, when you choose to stay within the comfort of you home, instead of going for a walk or a run. Maybe you content yourself with staying in the same job, although it has become routine for you. Maybe you can do your job blindfolded with one hand tied behind your back. Maybe you choose not to learn a new language, because it seems like too much work, and besides, you're getting to old to learn a new language, right?

You get the picture. But let me give you some evidence of the consequences of choosing the path of least resistance.

 Inactivity changes your brain, and not for the better. An inactive lifestyle reduces grey matter in the brain and can cause instabilities in the regulation of the nervous system. Numerous studies have found correlations between activity levels and brain health. The studies find that higher levels of activity improve learning and memory, promotes growth of new neurons, and prevents and decreases likelihood of brain disease. Even if you are nowhere near retiring from the job market, you should know that every day you have a choice to strengthen your brain's health and performance, or let it just follow a regular path of slow ageing decline.

If you are now thinking, hey, I'm not lazy, I'm making an effort, I'm working hard... then I congratulate you. You're not letting the couch control your life, but I also challenge you to keep listening, because hard work alone is not enough, it's also about the type of activity you do, more on this in the next SmartSession. Now let's learn the technique of this session.

  Technique

 The technique of today is called ‘Take Action’.

 The goal of this technique is to make you take action that requires effort and do that more frequently, because it will strengthen your brain, increase your willpower, and boost your brain health.

The technique targets all those moments in life when you have to make a choice between inactivity and action, a choice between effortless and demanding, or a choice between known and unknown.

 These moments of choice happen many times during a day. They happen right when you have finished some activity, or when you stop for a brief moment during an activity. It's those moments when you can ask yourself, should I do this, or should I do that?

 The first step is to get off autopilot!

Start to pay attention to your thoughts and your emotional process right before you choose. Start noticing your inner dialogue.

 When you find yourself in a moment like this, ask yourself:

• What are my options right now?
• Why do I feel attracted to doing this rather than that?
• Is it because it's comfortable or easy?
• Or is it because it requires less effort, is less challenging, or less intimidating?
• Would I accomplish more if I chose the more demanding activity?
• Would I feel better afterwards?

 The next step is to apply your willpower and inner motivation to choose the more demanding Action, instead of the easy and effortless one. You'll often feel resistance. Try to overcome it and take the first step. Once the first step is taken, the rest comes more easily.

 Play with this technique. You'll find that it will be easy to Take Action in some situations and very hard in others. The most important thing I hope you learn from this technique is to simply begin to pay attention to what happens in those moments of choice. As you become more aware of how you choose your activities, you'll have more freedom to choose those Actions that benefit you the most.

 Usually the most beneficial Actions are the ones that require effort, but they're also the ones that build your brain's strength and health. Remember, you don't have to take action 100% of the time. Rest and downtime are important and necessary too. But that being said, I'm sure that if you take a look in the mirror, you have many opportunities to Take Action more often in your life!

  Exercise:

  Let's put the Take Action technique into a structured real life practice that will also build your willpower to new levels.

 This exercise is called: ‘Project Complete’

 Take out a pen and a piece of paper. Now make a list of projects in your life that you still haven't finished or even started. Maybe you need to book the flight for your next holiday, arrange a dinner for your partner, read a specific book or clean out your cupboards.

 Now choose the project on the list you would most like to complete. If some of them are smaller and more manageable, it can be a good idea to start there. Now take action to get the task done as soon as it makes sense, even if that means sacrificing something that seems easier and more pleasurable in the short term.

 Each time you complete a task, cross it off your list. And notice the sensation of accomplishment and pleasure that naturally follows completing a task or project. This is your brain rewarding you for completion. You'll also feel more mental space freeing up as the task is cleared from your mind.

 One of my favorite effects of this exercise is that it builds willpower. Each time you complete a project, you build a bit more willpower. Next time you face a decision point it becomes that much easier to take action. It's a win-win-win. You complete activities that benefit your life, you train your willpower, and you improve your brain health. This is one of the practices you may want to hold on to for the rest of your life.

Nicely done! You made it through the first Brain Health SmartSession. If you have to take away just one thing, remember that staying active is the key to a long healthy life for you and your brain. So go and take some action until we meet again.

Kim Baden-Kristensen, CEO and Founder of Brain+ 

Kim founded the Danish brain training company, Brain+, with the vision of creating the most effective and engaging brain training tools from cutting edge neuroscientific insights.

The content in this article is part of the extensive BrainCoach feature in the app, Brain+ Brain Training for iPad and iPhone.

Follow Kim on Twitter - @KimBadenK | www.brain-plus.com