Food For Thought (Nourishing The Neurons)

'Food for thought' is a term that we are familiar with, in essence it means that something makes us think, ponder, ruminate and ultimately, learn.

Back in the 'Good Ole Days' at school, just after the desks with inkwells were phased out, I had to give a talk, you know, in front of people. It was only my peers but I'd managed to avoid doing for weeks. Avoidance tactics only work for so long and the day came to dazzle my audience with witty banter. I think everyone was expecting something a bit 'Off piste'. Well they got that, a twenty-minute spiel about Psychology. I have no idea why I chose that, possibly because the only book I could lay my hands on to have a quick flick through was about psychology, who knows. Maybe it was to 'Stick it' to Mr.Meryck, or was it 'Merrick?' who was relishing the idea that I would buckle under the pressure. We used to call him 'Flipper' because he walked round with his hands rammed into his coat pockets and pushed out in front, so they looked like a pair of flippers. Young minds. One of my other teachers nicknames' was 'Newt' and to this day, I have no idea why.

The part I remember about the talk, was me trying to describe the three parts of the human mind. Conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious. I have no idea if I was accurate in my description, limited as my knowledge was. It went along the lines of this. Conscious is basically everything that;s going on around you right now, that you're aware of. Sub-conscious is anything that you can 'recall' at will. Unconscious is all the stuff that sits in the background that you don't have easy access to. As you can see, it wasn't dissertation material, I was about thirteen after all.

So we're carrying on with a theme of sorts. It's interesting that we generally forget about our

brains. They're just there, happily ticking along. We just assume they are what they are. It was what we were born with. Hard wired with a sticker on the back that says " No user serviceable parts contained within" Did you know your brain runs solely on Glucose. Does that mean if you eat loads of sweets then you have a well oiled, sleek, alert, computational CPU inside your cranium ? I think not.

The saying that gets thrown around is something like 'The brain is like a muscle, you have to exercise it regularly' That's true but it's not like a muscle, it doesn't get bigger but it can get better at what it does.'

'Exercise' for our brains means we have to use them. That can come in many forms and what works for you will depend on what you find easiest to concentrate on. In the UK, we used to have a test called the 'Eleven Plus' You'd take it in your last year of junior school prior to moving up into the big leagues, or high school. Aptitude ? I have no idea, I just know I was pretty abysmal at the questions. You know the type. 'Mary had three brothers and one sister, she was the third oldest, here brother was younger but older than two of his sisters, what was the name of Charlies cat ?' You get the idea.

Back to the brain. Omega 3, general consensus is that it's good for 'brainpower'. Hydration and rest will help. Puzzles will help. Reading will help. Training will help. That's right, training. When you learn, you create new pathways within the brain, you also stimulate old ones, if they are relevant to what is in front of you. I loved Biology when I was at school, especially genetics, dominant and recessive genes, yummy. Even now I can remember the glycosidic bonds and they're make-up, DNA and Transfer DNA. Then there's meiosis, mitosis, osmosis, lymphatic, sympathetic nervous system and the list goes on.

Why do I remember all of these things and more ? That would be because I loved the subject matter, it intrigued me, it had a 'wow' factor. All this stuff was going on inside me.

I enjoyed, so I learned, learned hard enough that it is still with me today.

In this world of affiliate and internet marketing, there is a huge amount of information that we

should at least familiarise ourselves with. If it's boring, mundane and sends you to sleep, you won't learn. We need to find ways to make it exciting and interesting. That also applies to our sites and the content we provide.

It's all very well someone telling you to keep going, you need to see this, read this or learn this but if you're hating every moment then it will be a waste of your time. Find another source. How long does your average search take ? Click on a few, the chances are, if you read a paragraph and want to read more then that's the one that will benefit you the most

The posts we read, the books we read, the video's we watch, if they entertain us then we will retain the message that is being given.

Find the one that you enjoy engaging with. Whether that's here at WA or elsewhere on the internet. There will be someone out there that resonates with you. Watch and read as much as you can, saturate yourself with them, immerse yourself.

See who others are mentioning in their posts and take some time out to have a look at some of their work. I have found vast amounts of amazing material just by following up on a name I saw in a post. I am always looking for new sources of knowledge.

Obviously, the training and resources here at WA are outstanding, that's a given but we have a World Wide Web of information out there to dip into to. Leaders, influencers, marketeers, guru's, if you like. All able to add to our 'Mind Portfolio'

Who else have you found to be the best 'teacher' or the best resource for learning ?