In order to be a more effective person and to achieve your goals more efficiently, it is critical that you keep your mind sharp by exercising your brain. Staying mentally engaged can also help to ward off the deleterious effects of old age. Check out these various brain exercises to keep your perception clear.

Reading & Audiobooks

One of the best things you can do is to turn off the television and to begin reading. While reading, you are forced to tap into your source of creative imagination and mental focus in order to comprehend the writings of the author. By doing this, you will be able to use this same skill to other aspects of your life.

Many successful people recommend reading great books multiple times so that you can truly visualize and internalize the knowledge—making it a part of your subconscious mind.

If you like to listen to head banger rap or rock music, you may want to turn that off in favor of audiobooks as these are proven to be just as effective as reading. Reading can also potentially help to head off the impacts of Alzheimer’s and other disorders. Though if you notice any symptoms of Alzheimer’s, be sure to get professional advice from Billings Clinic or a similar organization.

Yoga & Meditation

Yoga and meditation go hand in hand. Both of these activities center around achieving inner peace and reducing your inner turmoil. The reason why many people do not reach their goals is due to the build-up of stress – you can think of Yoga and Meditation as a form of “emptying the cache” of the brain.

This will help to keep your mind focused in the “now”, as opposed to being depressed about the past, or anxious about the future!

Visualization

Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of the book “Psycho-Cybernetics”, which has sold over 30 million copies worldwide—emphasizes daily visualizations. The only way to see success is by experiencing success.

By creating “mental movies” of yourself achieving your goals and simulating the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and feeling of achieving your goal, you will direct your subconscious mind towards achieving the goals you set for it effortlessly.

Classical Music

Have you ever heard of the Mozart effect? A study conducted by Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky investigated the effects of listening to Mozart and found that it increased spatial reasoning by several IQ points for a span of 15 minutes.

Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation Exercises

Brain injuries can lead to physical (headaches, affected senses), cognitive (forgetfulness, slower thinking processes), and behavioral effects (uncontrolled emotions).

Great mental exercises to help people suffering from traumatic brain injuries include: maze solving and memory games. Even popular smartphone games such as Bejeweled and Angry Birds help stimulate attention and reasoning brain functions.