How Sharp is your mind..

I wrote about this a while back then felt maybe it is not for LinkedIn, but recently I changed my mind. No matter how old we are, we need our minds to be sharp. Lot of times, we see people get memory issues and other ailments that are related to memory. Then they are taught the same kind of tricks to remember and go on with life. Of course with gadgets and devices like ALEXA, we can do much more to these loved ones. But I wanted to share a brief exercise which will help from kids to any age.

My grandfather deserves the credit for this. In India, we had lot of power cuts when I was young. There were two main games we used to play to keep occupied while it was pitch dark.

One - Doing maths orally. It is fun how our brain works. The game goes like this, you can use addition or multiplication to start with. Let us take multiplication - start with number 2.

Orally, In mind, without any aid, you need to multiple 2x2 = 4, then 4x2 = 8, 8x2 = 16... and so on, the result of previous product - you just keep multiplying. You go on as far as you can. Two is just basic, you can use any number you want. This sharpens the mind and makes it really powerful. Same for addition as well.

If you get well versed, you can do puzzles in mind without aid of paper or pen. You can also do currency calculation like this to teach kids on how much to pay and how much change is expected. Kids become self-sufficient and sharp.

Second game is word building - One starts with a word, last letter is the first letter for next person. This games keeps brain sharp and vocabulary improves to a great extent. We used to fight for dictionary to prove our word does exists. You cannot repeat words.

Another great book you can read and learn from someone who know is Vedic Mathematics.This is an ancient gem and teaches techniques for you to tackle any kind of problems let it be physics or maths. You would find the book in Amazon.

Another game is to fit a zigzaw puzzle or draw something in dark using hands. You need to figure out the shape, and where it fits in. It improves creativity and sharpens other senses.

I used to play musical instrument in dark using the feel of fingers and trusting that they know their positioning. Surprisingly they do.

We should encourage our kids to reach good books, even we should reach good books like what is what, why etc., just as a lazy read in bath room or during sleep time. They are light in nature thus do not disrupt the sleep. It is important for kids to know what is fact and what is fiction. One of my niece asked me yesterday what is good in Harry Potter that I should even consider important enough to store? I frankly did not know exact answer. I told her, she would know herself, for example - flying on broom or poofing off a professor cannot be reality, so that could be fiction. But if there are some facts about how people used to live those days, what kind of food they ate, that is historical facts. I did tell her an example of how movies and movie gossips do not fit into the good category and what she should be aware and filter out.

Encourage kids to read such books - Kids Uncle John Bathroom Reader, Jumble words etc., It sharpens the brain, stores the information. It happens naturally. Frankly, some of the greatest facts I have were from Asterix and Obelix. Better than a history any day. Teach kids to observe when they read good books.

Being in good company and having good conversations also helps the mind. If I spend time with those who gossip or watch serials or operas and sagas, it is not going to help me. One doctor told me not to watch crime shows or read crime novels. I did stop most of it but can see what he meant. I can find the killer before the first scene which spoils the fun !! haha!!

I want to tell about an incident when I was young. I was watching a movie, just a boring mundane movie. My brother was watching too, Just after a particular scene where they were showing time moving forward, after a few seconds or a minute, he asked me did you notice anything wrong in that scene. I said yes, "Calendar was flapping wrong direction not the forward". He was really proud of me because I noticed that error. I always watch with a director eye than a viewer eye for most of the movies. That is me, you do not have to do that :) Enjoy the movie.

You can also do one more game.. you use an alphabet, build as many words as you can with it, or you can use a word, make words with those letters. All without paper and pens.

Please no IPAD or Phones. The whole purpose is lost.

I also told my niece - GIGO as a big mantra in life - Garbage In, Garbage Out - this applies in all parts of life - Your brain, Your body, Your mind and Your soul. If you feed it garbage, you end up with Garbage, if you feed it with good thoughts and facts and habits - you are getting good output.

Any time you feel stressed, doctor also suggests counting from 1 to 100 or 100 to 1. It is also one of the techniques.

Have a hobby which will sharpen all your senses and use one in absence of others. Mind is the most sharpest. It is like a knife, if you do not use it, it gets rusted and blunt. Thus read everyday, learn something everyday. Filter what is not required. You might find the word games silly but maths one helps at any age. Try doing grocery bill in mind than paper, create hobbies like chess or something which requires both sides of mind to work. It should not be mundane or habit.

Even our AI and Robots - if you feed it wrong , you get output as wrong - GIGO. That goes on to learn more garbage and does not know how to correct without human intervention.