Most people in life never actively and deliberately use their brains. Sounds a strange statement to make but its true!

Have you ever found an instruction book for something you have owned for a long time and reading through the advice find that there are some really useful features that you didn’t even know existed? Once you start to use the new information you realise you can get a lot more out of the item than you ever imagined. The brain really is amazing when you start to understand how it works and the great news is that you can make some radical changes in your life simply by deciding to get more out of something you already have.

Some Technical Specifications

Your brain is made up one million, million brain cells (1,000,000,000,000).
A thought is the passage of chemical messages from one brain cell to another. Every time you have the same thought the speed of movement down the brain cells increases. In other words the more times a thought is experienced the more likely it is to happen again.
90% of the thoughts we are having today are the same as the ones we had yesterday. Each brain cell has a possibility of connections of one with twenty-eight noughts after it.
If the total number of possible new connections in the brain were written out we would have one followed by 10.5 million kilometres of noughts! Whilst it is true that we start to lose brain cells as we age the number of possible connections remains way beyond the amount we will ever use.

Benefits

Understanding the way your brain works will help you maximise its use.
You can grow your own brainpower quite literally by creating more connections.
The power of your brain does not relate to the number of brain cells you have but the use you make of them and the way this stimulates new connections.
You can maintain your mental health right through old age by constantly creating new connections.

It is often believed that as we age our mental capacity decreases considerably and we are more prone to forget. Research now shows quite clearly that it is the lack of brain stimulation as we grow older that causes the perception of memory loss.

MAXIMISING THE POWER WITHIN

Improving Your Memory Skills

Memory isn’t about the volume of information stored. Believe me, the amount of information your brain is capable of storing and recovering is far more than you will ever need. More importantly is the process through which you use to recall memory. You can start to improve your memory immediately by changing any limiting beliefs you may have on the subject. There is no such thing as a ‘poor’ memory; instead it is an ineffective method of recalling information. The brain finds it easier to recall the following

Primacy and Immediacy

Firsts and lasts. Most people find it easy to remember their first day at school/work than they do their second. If you are introduced to a number of people you are more likely to remember the name of the first person you were introduced to and the last person.

Associated

The brain is always searching for links with new information, to information already stored. Have you ever met somebody new and had the experience of familiarity with somebody you already know or a celebrity? Linking the unfamiliar to the familiar can really help recall, I use this technique effectively when it is important for me to remember names. If for example I meet someone called Darren, I have a friend called Darren who plays golf. As I am talking to the new Darren, I will picture him with a golf jumper on or with a club in his hand. When I meet Darren again, the picture comes back into my mind and I am know his name straight away.

Unique and Unusual Information

Any information that is emphasised as being in some way outstanding or unique Any information that appeals to any of the five senses

Repetitive information

Improving your memory involves two processes. Firstly making sure that the information you want to remember is encoded in a way that it will be easy to draw back, and then effective ways to retrieve it. Like anything in life improving your memory takes time and effort. The brain is just like a muscle; the more you work it the more it will work for you.

HOW TO BE MORE CREATIVE

Like memory, many people think creativity is a gift for which they are not blessed! Again, like memory creativity is a process and a belief. We can all be creative; it is simply about making new connections in the brain that will allow us to think in a different way;

Make sure the environment is right – play music or ask for silence. Discover the right environment for your own thinking process.
Daydream – As a child many of us were told it was bad to daydream. Recapture those special dreams that give our brain permission to think radical thoughts.
Question The Obvious – What If? What else? and How Else? are all great questions to challenge you to come up with new ideas and better ways of doing something.
Dissociate Yourself – Take a subject and imagine how different people you know would tackle the subject.
20 Solutions – Take a piece of paper and write down the subject on which you would love some creative ideas. Down the side of the paper list the numbers 1 –20. Now quickly fill in each number with the first idea that comes into your head. Because you have 20 listed your brain will keep working on it until every single one is filled in.

Improving your memory and becoming more creative are just two ways that you can start to give your brain the workout it needs to maximise its power. Working on improving the power that is sitting latent in your brain can be one of the best steps you take to developing yourself personally.

No human yet exists who is using all the potential of his or her brain. As far as we are concerned the possibilities are unlimited.

Until next, time have fun working with your brain.

Helen Stockill