5 Ways Truly Intelligent People Protect Their Brainpower
Brainpower is an essential quality that should be protected at all costs.
Ground Picture / Shutterstock Brainpower is an incredibly rare resource. And the thing about rare resources is that they risk being stolen. So, their protection is of the utmost importance.
To shield their brainpower, smart people swear by a few key principles.
Here are 5 ways the most intelligent people protect their brainpower
1. They do their most cognitively challenging work in the morning
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Many truly smart and creative people prefer doing their most important work in the mornings. And the reason isn't always apparent. It's simply because it's in the mornings that their brains are able to work at their full capacity.
They know that as the day progresses, the demands of life will start pressing on and their cognitive energy will start draining. They'll start to lose control over their actions as more urgent tasks reveal themselves. The actualities of life will start chipping away at their drive.
But at dawn (granted, it's followed by a well-rested night), everything is abundant. There's plenty of drive within, they have complete control of their time, and their cognitive battery is 100% charged.
Smart people prefer doing their most cognitively challenging tasks by attacking the dawn. This way, they're able to give their all to the project at hand.
2. They solve difficult problems
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Brainpower is similar to muscle power. Use it or lose it.
Most people aren't using their brainpower enough. They're not seeking good problems to solve. And if life presents them with problems, they pass them on.
For example, if they encounter a problem while working in their office, they run to their boss for the solution. They don't try to figure it out themselves. So, they lose it, similar to the way a muscle atrophies in a patient unable to walk.
Truly intelligent people, on the other hand, thrive on problems. They don't pass on the problems they face; rather, they seek them out. They know how to spot hidden problems, and then they think of solutions.
For example, it's fascinating what Satoshi Nakamoto tried to achieve when he created Bitcoin. He believed that centralized currency systems had problems, so came up with a super-complex solution: a decentralized digital currency like Bitcoin.
Now, people may shower their opinions that Bitcoin is not effective or that it's dying; however, they're missing the point. Bitcoin is a pivot in our understanding of money. At worst, it's a stepping stone to an even better digital currency. And at best, it's a successful project in its incubation.
Either way, no one can say that Satoshi Nakamoto is stupid. It's apparent that he's intelligent. And it's because he has lifted the heaviest of cognitive weights.
To protect and stimulate your brainpower to grow: solve problems. The bigger they are, the better.
3. They own less material items
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Everything you own takes up space in your cognitive mind. So, there's one thing to consider.
Let's say you buy lots of expensive clothes and it costs money. You also have to maintain what you bought. You have to store these clothes properly. You have to get them cleaned and washed after use. You have to get them ironed so they can be worn again. And then, you have to decide every day what you're going to wear.
Yes, you can automate some of these activities. But they still take up space in your conscious mind, even if it's small. And it's not just clothes. It's everything! Everything that you buy needs to be maintained. And the number of cognitive resources "stuff" starts to demand from you increases so much that not much energy is left for crucial thinking.
That's why the smartest people are minimalists — like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, who wear the same clothes every day. Steve Jobs was also known for having almost no furniture in his home.
What do smart people fill their life with, you might be wondering? And the answer is ideas.
They read a lot. They learn about the world a lot. And here's the wonderful thing about ideas: They don't take up space in your conscious mind. When you consume an idea, it sinks into your subconscious, incubates, and reveals itself only when it's needed.
So, to protect your brainpower, stop buying more things. Instead, learn. Fill your mind, not your house.
4. They avoid eating food that causes brain fog
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Have you ever felt extremely drowsy and troubled with heavy eyes after a disgustingly delicious fatty meal? Who hasn't?
Truly intelligent people are aware of how cognitively amped up they are at all times. They notice that after consuming certain foods and beverages, they feel poorly.
But it's not in their heads — multiple studies have found a link between certain foods and memory impairment and cognitive function. This includes meals with a lot of vegetable oils, red meat, heavily processed foods, foods with artificial preservatives, alcohol, and beverages with too much sugar.
Since intelligent people care more about their cognitive bandwidth than delicious food, they avoid these meals as much as possible. Instead, they eat complex carbs, like plants, good fats, and so on.
So, if you want to protect your brainpower, you have to watch what you eat. That means subbing food that's bad for you with brain-nourishing meals.
5. They don't drain their dopamine
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Dopamine is an incredibly powerful hormone.
It's said to be the hormone responsible for your drive. It's the hormone that makes you seek anything. If you have good dopamine release and reserves, you'll be driven. If not, you'll lack the drive to do anything worthwhile.
The latter is the case for the majority of these days. And the culprit is our electronic devices.
There are many ways your phone and other devices drain your dopamine, including receiving social media notifications, scrolling through reels on Instagram or YouTube, doomscrolling, and even the vivid colors on your displays.
These actions release dopamine in your brain and, collectively and chronically, deplete your reserves, consequently killing your drive.
Truly intelligent people with brainpower people avoid this. They have turned off most notifications. They avoid watching reels. They don't doomscroll on social media. Some have even quit social media altogether for their mental health!
Protect your brainpower, protect your dopamine. It's as simple as that.
Akshad Singi, M.D. is a writer whose work has been published in Better Humans, Mind Cafe, Medium, and more.