9 Easy Ways to Stay Mentally Sharp

1. Avoid sugar.
While short-term increases in sugar can temporarily improve brain function, chronically
elevated sugar levels will impede your memory. In one study, people had their sugar levels
tested and were asked to memorize 15 words and then repeat them 30 minutes later. Those
with higher blood sugar levels remembered, on average, two fewer words.

2. Get fishy.
Eat 18 ounces of salmon or another fatty fish each week or take DHA omega-3
supplements every day. A study showed that when individuals 55 and older who were
starting to lose their memory ingested 900 mg of DHA omega-3 each day, their brains were
about three years younger.

3. Manage stress.
Stress is one of the greatest causes of memory loss—brain inflammation caused by stress
weakens old memories and makes new connections for establishing memories more
difficult.

4. Have buddies.
Data shows friends do more than help you cope with your problems. They can also keep
you motivated and hold you accountable for activities such as exercising or learning new
skills together.

5. Work it out.
You should engage in physical activity for 45 minutes three times a week. New data
suggests intense exercise for 20 seconds three times in a 10-minute period may be even
better.

6. Don’t shortchange sleep.

When you’re busy, it’s easy to sacrifice ZZZs. But you need sleep because it primes your
brain for optimal learning, problem-solving and memory retention.
7. Learn something new.
Although diet and exercise changes are important, learning a new skill, taking up a new
hobby, playing video games or even trying to find a new route (without a GPS) to a place
you regularly visit can also help minimize your risk for memory loss.

8. Get those vitamins.

Take in enough magnesium, folate and Vitamins B-12, B-6 and D-3. Magnesium ensures
strong links between your brain cells, which can help you solve problems. Try eating brown
rice, almonds, hazelnuts, spinach, shredded wheat, lima beans and bananas. Vitamin D-3 is
also important—aim for 1,000 IU daily from a supplement until you have your number
measured.

9. Avoid toxins.
These include tobacco, mercury and excessive alcohol, among others. Tobacco and other
toxins such as mercury from swordfish and tuna can cause inflammation, which can impair
your mood, memory and cognition.

5 Habits for a Healthier Brain (and Life)

I started having seizures when I was around 5—the kind of seizures you see in the movies:
fall-flat-on-the-ground-shaking-like-you’re-electrocuted-eyes-rolling-to-the-top-of-your-head
seizures. These kind of seizures are now called tonic-clonic seizures, but when I was a little
girl, they were called “grand mal” seizures, which means “the big bad.” Perhaps they
changed the name because calling something “the big bad” isn’t very hopeful for patients.
No one is really sure why I started to have them, but it made me curious at an early age to
figure out how this mushy mass inside our skull works.

So I started to study neuroscience after I had an EEG (electroencephalogram) at age 11.

They stuck hundreds of little wires with glue-like substance onto my scalp. I looked like an
alien child from the sci-fi novel Dune—but it led me to wonder: What are they measuring?
Why? and How can I control these things called brain waves and electrical pulses? As you
can imagine, it’s scary to have one of those deathlike seizures and think you have no
control over them. That’s when science became my savior. I later discovered that these
seizures could possibly be controlled without mind-numbing-zombie-behavior-inducing
medication. At age 15, without my doctor’s or parents’ knowledge, I stopped taking that
medication and haven’t been on it since.
Along the way to earning my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, participating in neuroscientific
studies and working at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, I learned how we can all
expand the capacity of our brain, not only to self-heal, but also to grow in ways we never
imagined were possible.

So I’ve gathered my five top habits for neurological growth. These habits have eliminated
those kinds of seizures for me. I still need to be careful—breaking my good habits will
indeed have consequences. But in the last 25 years, I’ve only had two tonic-clonic seizures.

For you, these habits will reduce your stress significantly, increase your brain’s gray matter,
tap into your subconscious mind for problem solving and reveal incredible potential.

Here are five daily habits that you can incorporate into your routine, starting today:

1. Sleep to reduce stress.

Ever wonder what happens to all of the stress we accumulate during the day? That car that
almost hit you? Your child screaming at you? Even the unconscious stress of self-
judgment? Where does it go?

Your beautiful brain collects it and saves it for when you dream to process away. Let me
repeat: When you sleep, you process stress and trauma. So, one of the simplest and most
effective things you can do is to get your full seven to nine hours of shut-eye each and
everyday.

2. Rise with the sun.

Your brain uses a cluster of nerve cells called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, located in your
hypothalamus to regulate something called “circadian rhythm.” Circadian rhythm is the
“master clock” in your brain that syncs all your body’s clocks. Abnormal circadian rhythm is
associated with obesity, diabetes, depression, sleep disorders, hormone dysregulation,
bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder.

In other words, wake up when the sun does—no more sleeping in! If you are a parent, this
habit will come naturally as most kids naturally wake with the sun and are happy to be your
alarm clock.
3. Take fish oil.
Fish oil has positive benefits on brain health. My kids go for the hard-core fermented cod
liver stuff, and somehow we’ve apparently cemented this into them so well over the years
that they ask for it daily although it tastes awful. They take it by the spoonful, but you can
also get it in capsule form, which has a pleasant lemon aftertaste.

4. Be mindful and meditate.

Meditation taps into your subconscious mind (just below consciousness) and has
innumerable neurological benefits. Not sure how to be mindful on an everyday basis and
want an easy way to meditate? I like Headspace—it’s like a “gym membership” for your
mind. With its meditation and mindfulness techniques, you can train your mind for a happier,
healthier, more enjoyable life.

5. Make yourself uncomfortable.

Your brain needs novelty to grow. How do you know when you’re doing something that’s
“new enough”? When it feels uncomfortable, awkward, weird, strange or it scares you. By
doing things daily that are out of your comfort zone, you allow your brain to develop new
branches on its neuron tree (also called dendritic pathways) instead of shriveling up into a
sad dried out tree stump.

Truth be told, I could write a book on this, and I live my entire life around this premise. And
although there are many more habits I’d like to see you develop, start with these. After all,
can you imagine how incredible it would be if we all lived to our potential?

9 Reasons Perfectionism Is a Bad Thing

What’s wrong with wanting something to be perfect? Nothing, unless it’s leading to your
failure. And that is exactly what can happen to perfectionists.

Perfectionism refers to an all-or-nothing mentality: Something is either perfect or a failure;

there is one right way and the rest are wrong.

Here are nine ways perfectionism may be leading to failure for you.
1. You are never done.
For perfectionists with such high standards, a project is never done because it doesn’t meet
the criteria for “perfect.” As a result, you keep working on a task but never complete it.
When I was writing my first book, A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness, it
took me more than two years to complete it because I was focused on making it perfect
before getting it published. Maybe for you it’s a new website, an email to a new client or an
article that would help market your business. All that avoidance of sharing your ideas,
products or services is delaying and even preventing you and your business from growing.

2. You are stressed and discontent.

Perfectionism is extremely stressful because you’re constantly worrying about making
everything perfect. Nothing is ever good enough, and that mindset robs you of ever feeling
satisfied and fulfilled from your work.

3. You don’t take risks.

Although ostensibly about wanting things to be perfect, perfectionism is actually fueled by
an intense fear of failure. As a result, you often adopt a mindset of, If I can’t do it perfectly,
then I won’t even try. So you don’t go for the new job, apply to give a TEDx Talk or pitch a
media outlet that could help market your business. In essence, your fear of failure actually
makes you fail.

4. Your creativity is suffocated.

If you are constantly stressed about doing something perfectly (and not failing), then your
imagination and creativity are squashed. And innovation, which is necessary for positive
change and success, is hindered for a perfectionist.

5. You strive to keep everyone happy.

As a perfectionist, you are often a people pleaser, wanting others to think highly of you.
With your all-or-nothing thinking, you see yourself as “good” if people like you and “bad” if
they don’t. And with people pleasing comes a lot of difficulty making decisions and avoiding
important conversations, for fear that you’ll upset someone else. As such, your work is often
crippled.
6. You’re highly critical of others.
Perfectionists are constantly judging themselves. And because what we say to ourselves is
often reflected in how we interact with other people, you’re probably judging other people,
too. You might overtly point out what other people do wrong or be more passive aggressive,
saying things like, “It must’ve been nice to be able to go home at 5 p.m. instead of finishing
your work.” Being highly critical of others reduces the productivity of your team, and that can
lead to your failure.

7. You can’t delegate.

Being a perfectionist often means you have a hard time delegating tasks to others. With an
all-or-nothing mentality, you most likely believe that there is a right way to do something and
that everything else is wrong. And because other people don’t always have the same
understanding, you might not approve of their way. So you think, It's just easier to do it
myself. But not delegating when you need to can cause all kinds of problems for your
business and stress on yourself.

8. You personalize everything.

A perfectionist has conditional self-worth, meaning you believe in yourself—if things go
perfectly, if people like you, if you do a good job. Hearing any kind of negative feedback is
pretty tough because you tend to personalize it, thinking something is either perfect or it’s a
failure. And then you take it a step further: If I failed, then I'm a failure. This personalizing
prevents you from getting the feedback you need to become better, which can ultimately
lead to real failure.

9. You never rest.

Perfectionists often have the belief that I will rest (or play) when the job is done. Of course,
the job is never done because it's never perfect enough. As such, you are at increased risk
for burnout, which is a surefire way to have your business or career fail.