This one is a more of a general rule but has big impact. The link between your body and your mind is stronger than most people give it credit for. The fact of the matter is, if you body is weak you mind will be too. There is a reason athlete do better in school than non-athletes. The athlete’s body is more taken care of.
I have studied many top students and people went on to be wildly successful in all fields. Do you know the one thing they all have in common? They take care of themselves. They make sure they are OK before taking care of others. Just like they say in the airplane safety tutorial “ put on your mask first, then help your neighbor with theirs.”
Hell, this one goes back to biblical times. “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye,”- Mathew 7:5. Some people will argue with me on this but break it down to the root of the message. This is saying to take care of yourself and your problems before trying to fix others.
But even if you ignore all of this and just look at logic it holds up. Think about the last time you were sick. How did you feel? Were you bright and alert? Kind of out of it and sleepy? Super focused or very distracted? In what state do you think you will earn better, sick or well?
That’s what I thought.
So, does this mean you need to go to the gym, take steroids and get swoll as F$@&!!!! Wow their buddy let’s hold up a bit. I’m talking about general health. Steroids are for those trying to get super human bodies. They have health problems too. I’m talking about working out and dieting a little. You don’t need to become Mr. Olympia.
So, let’s talk about this for a second. For some people just getting up and walking will be plenty of exercise. I tell people to get to the point, if you aren’t already there, of walking an hour a day. This is pretty light exercise and your brain will become more plastic, meaning easier to learn, with more rigors exercise, but this will work for most people.
Personally, I use weight lifting going for more of what body builders do. For those who really want to kill it this is a better option. If you can try studying or learning right after your workouts. It creates an ideal window for roughly 2 hours.
Now on to dieting. The main point of this is not to lose weight. A diet is just what you eat. When I started testing this all I did was cut out junk food and limit processed food. That works great. Having said that I do recommend doing more because the benefits seem to keep getting better the better you do.
I highly recommend doing some research on this and look for sustainable diets. You don’t want a lose 20 lbs in 2-week diet. You want something that you can stay with for the rest of your life. And don’t worry about getting it perfect the first time. Your diet will change as you get better at this.
I have refrained form posting my diet on here because I don’t want to sound like I am giving medical advice. Some people have medical problems that require different diets and others just have personal taste issues. I will not say just do what works best for you. I will say to follow the research and talk to a nutritionist if you have any questions.
And most importantly, keep learning.