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5 Ways To Alleviate Stress During The Holidays

Stress comes in all shapes and sizes, but for many of us, the holidays are a time of year when stress is at an all-time high. We know that chronic stress can be damaging to our body and mind, but even these temporary spikes can lead to short-term side effects. This can make coping with stress even more difficult, which then leads to more stress. The good news is that there are a ton of ways we can alleviate stress. Here are five of our favorite techniques, with a holiday twist.

1- Deck the halls

One way to manage stress is by surrounding ourselves with people that bring us joy. Studies show that spending time with friends and family has numerous benefits to our overall health and can greatly reduce our stress levels as well.

When we spend time with people we love, our brain releases oxytocin. This helps reduce the levels of the stress hormone cortisol, allowing other feel-good hormones to balance our mood. Studies also show that when we have a network we can rely on, we tend to develop healthier coping mechanisms, which then develops a stronger sense of purpose. Strong social networks also help lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health.

We can take these social connections even further by decorating our work areas and homes. Decorating with people, either in person or via video, creates memories, along with keeping us present and in the moment. And being surrounded by items with personal connections fosters a sense of comfort, which aids in feeling content and relaxed.

2- Jingle Bell Rock

Studies show that listening to music can lower our blood pressure, elevate our moods, and calm frantic thoughts. Upbeat music can make us happy and energetic, where slower tempos can slow our heart rates and relax our muscles.

Research has shown that music can change our brain functionality almost as much as medication can. In fact, music that plays around 60 beats per minute can actually change our brainwaves. This beat pattern synchronizes our alpha brainwaves, which are prominent when we’re conscious but in a relaxed state.

For as powerful as slow tempo music can be, forcing ourselves to listen to music we don’t enjoy can actually increase our stress. The most important thing about using music to reduce stress is to listen to music we enjoy. Whatever makes us happy is going to help us relax, regardless of what tempo it plays. 

3- Candy Cane Lane

The power of scent has been shown to not just trigger memories, which can be good for stress relief, but certain scents themselves are more calming than others. In fact, some scents can alter our brain waves just like music. Using essential oils or candles can help lower the release of cortisol, along with triggering our memory and the emotion center in our limbic system. And because scent is tied with memory, different scents will impact people differently.

Scents like lavender, rose, vetiver, frankincense, sandalwood, ylang-ylang, and orange blossom are particularly calming, where mint, rosemary, and cinnamon can energize us and uplift our mood. Candles can provide a calm atmosphere by letting us lower light levels or provide focal points for meditation. Essential oils in a diffuser can be great to make our own blends and spread the scents throughout a room.

4- Walking In A Winter Wonderland

We can’t write a list about stress relief without including exercise, as it’s one of the most effective ways to lower stress levels. When we engage in aerobic exercise, our brain releases endorphins while burning away cortisol and adrenaline, the two chemicals responsible for increasing our stress. Engaging in exercise such as yoga also has meditative effects, making them very effective in lowering and managing stress.

Exercise lowers our blood pressure, improves our circulation, and balances our moods by increasing the release of dopamine and serotonin. In addition, exercising outside has some particularly strong stress-busting benefits. Being in the sun helps balance our sleep-wake cycle, along with boosting our quality of sleep from being active. Activities such as ice skating, sledding, or even walking through the neighborhood to look at holiday lights are all great ways we can exercise and involve the whole family as well.

5- Make A List, Check It Twice

Journaling, making out holiday cards, or simply utilizing to-do lists can all help reduce our stress. Writing our thoughts down in a journal helps us process our thoughts and problems, allowing us to release these emotions instead of bottling them up. And writing down what we’re grateful for can boost our satisfaction and happiness.

Another way to harness gratitude is by making out holiday cards. Gratitude rewires our brain, creates new neurons, improves our cognitive processing, and releases happy hormones which then reduce the stress hormones. It also fosters a sense of connection.

Studies show that keeping to-do lists can greatly reduce stress by taking tasks out of our working memory and putting them on paper. When we don’t have to keep track of our tasks, our brain can rest and relax, devoting more energy to performing higher-level cognitive functionality. This means we can get more done, make decisions faster, and solve problems faster. It also helps break down larger goals and when we’re able to cross items off our list, we get validation in the reward center of our brain, making us want to do more.

Conclusion

Stress is a part of our modern lives that can be difficult to escape entirely, and the holidays can add even more. But there are a few ways we can work to reduce stress by utilizing various techniques incorporated with holiday fun.

If you want to learn more about how to manage with stress effectively, watch this video:

GRATITUDE: IT’S GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN

In the US, Thanksgiving marks the official start to the holiday season. The day itself is meant as a time to express gratitude. As you sit with friends and family, enjoying a delicious meal, it’s easier to take a moment to pause and give thanks. It might seem like an indulgent celebration, focusing on food, football, and shopping, but spending time with the people you love has a positive impact on your brain. Whether you travel to visit family, spend a fun night out with friends, or set out to make your own traditions, remember to take a moment and practice gratitude—it’s good for your brain.

Reduce symptoms of depression

The benefits of gratitude have long shown the same results: practicing gratitude in your daily life reduces the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Your brain is primarily a filtration device, and you direct where your attention and focus goes. When you focus on everything you don’t have, that’s what you notice all around you. But when you redirect your thoughts to focus on the positive aspects of your life through appreciation and gratitude, your brain will shift to notice more of those elements in your daily life.

Go into the holiday’s with a list of everything you’re grateful for and update it as you move through the season. Find something to be thankful for every day and notice how taking a moment to acknowledge that gratitude changes your mood and outlook. Wish people a happy holiday, hold doors open, smile at strangers, and take a moment to pay kindness forward by helping others in whatever small way you can.

Improve relationships

It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. Work demands take precedent, school projects and after-school activities eat up the evening hours, and weekends are spent catching up on everything you didn’t quite have time for during the week. The holiday’s are often the one time of year when visiting friends and family is finally a priority. While this can sometimes lead to increased stress, studies show being around people you love can actually improve how your brain functions.

When you express gratitude for the people in your life, you strengthen both the social and familial bonds. It redirects the focus away from negative irritations or past hurts, and helps you appreciate the positive aspects of how they impact your life. This helps reduce stress, can lower symptoms of depression, and leads to feeling more supported in your daily life.

Feel better

Multiple studies show the link between subjective well-being and gratitude. One of the primary reasons for this is when you focus your attention on positive emotions and events, you promote and encourage more positive emotions. Instead of feeling like things go wrong, you start to believe that things can go right. It builds your emotional resilience, which allows you to bounce back from unexpected obstacles and difficulties faster and with more confidence.

This becomes even more important during times of stress. And while the holiday’s can bring a lot of reasons for positive emotions, it can sometimes highlight negative ones, too. It’s important to continue building your positive frame of mind. Set healthy boundaries, make sure you have a plan to help mitigate stress, and don’t forget to do things that recharge your emotional spirit. When you embrace gratitude, you not only feel better about yourself, you increase your self-esteem, find your purpose, continue your personal growth, and gain clearer perspective about what’s most important to you and how you can hold onto it.

Lower stress

One of the most commonly touted benefits of gratitude is that it lowers stress. But it does more than that. When you practice gratitude, studies show you not only lower stress levels, but you actually decrease your overall stress response. That means you’re less likely to succumb to increased stress when faced with difficult or unforeseen problems in the future.

While being grateful during the holiday’s may come easier than other times of the year, taking the time to celebrate the wins and appreciate the small moments throughout the year is just as important. You can practice during the holiday season by focusing on the tiny moments or actions instead of the bigger, more obvious ones. By shifting your focus away from the main events, you train yourself to recognize the quiet space in between, and that’s much easier to carry throughout the year.

Get quality sleep

It should come as no surprise that practicing gratitude improves your sleep. With lower cortisol levels, your brain can produce more melatonin, promoting your body to adapt to your natural circadian rhythm. A study out of the University of Manchester found that this improved quality of sleep happened regardless of personality types or individual differences.

Quality sleep leads to better cognitive functionality, improved mood, and better health—many of the same benefits a daily gratitude practice provides. When you exercise gratitude daily, your physical and mental health both improve. This means you can be more present, show up more fully for the people in your life, and enjoy your time with them in a deeper, more meaningful way.

Conclusion

The holiday season is a mixture of both being thankful and celebrating. And both have a positive impact on your brain. As you move through this holiday season, take a moment to find reasons to be thankful. You’ll laugh more, sleep better, and feel happier. Remember, what you appreciate, appreciates. So, find reasons to embrace gratitude in your holiday celebrations in both big and small ways. Your brain—and your loved ones—will thank you.

If you want more Kwik Tips on how to make gratitude part of your daily routine, check out this video:

EMBRACE AI IN YOUR DAILY LIFE

Artificial Intelligence is one of the hottest topics on the Internet, right now. And it’s clear that this technology is going to fundamentally change the way we interact and engage with the digital world in the future. This might raise some concerns and fears that as it progresses and develops, AI will begin replacing human intelligence. But rather than seeing AI as competition, you can embrace AI as a companion.

AI is a powerful technology, capable of doing amazing things, but there are limits to what it can do. But your mind is limitless. When you leverage the power of AI as a tool to augment your human capabilities and enhance your skills, there’s no challenge you can’t conquer and no goal you can’t achieve. Here are some exciting insights into how you can incorporate AI in your daily life to optimize learning, supercharge your work performance, and master the art of time management.

Embrace a Growth Mindset

AI is evolving at a rapid pace, and it’s essential to stay curious and open-minded. Embrace a growth mindset that embraces new technologies and approaches with enthusiasm. Be willing to explore and experiment, knowing that failure is merely a stepping stone towards success.

You can use AI to embrace a growth mindset by turning it into a personal learning assistant. These programs can analyze your learning patterns, preferences, and areas of strength and weakness to curate personalized learning strategies aimed at boosting your retention, comprehension, and overall learning efficiency.

Stay Informed

We live in the age of information. Data is being produced at an exponential rate. That can make staying up-to-date and knowledgeable about almost anything an overwhelming endeavor. That’s where AI comes in. You use AI to curate content for you that is relevant and high-quality based on your interests and needs.

AI algorithms can sift through vast amounts of data, extract key insights, and present you with precisely what you need. From recommending tailored articles and videos to identifying the most valuable books and research papers, AI-powered content curation ensures you spend your time absorbing the most impactful and meaningful information.

Assess, Adapt, and Optimize

If you want to increase your work performance and productivity, you have to optimize your time management skills. And AI-powered productivity tools can be your secret weapon. These tools can automate routine tasks, assess your schedule, prioritize your to-do lists, and provide insights into your daily work patterns. They can also find tools and resources to optimize your entire day. AI can help you reclaim your time and focus on the tasks that matter the most.

As you integrate AI into your learning, work, and time management practices, regularly assess its impact. Is it truly enhancing your performance and learning experience? Are there any adjustments or fine-tuning needed? Don’t get complacent with the same tools and programs. The more you can learn how to assess and adapt, the faster you’ll continue to see optimal results.

Conclusion

AI is a transformative force that holds immense potential to enhance your learning, work performance, and time management. By embracing AI-powered tools and approaches, you can tap into the full capacity of your mind, expand your horizon, and achieve remarkable feats.

If you’re curious about how you can AI to unlock your limitless potential, check out this special podcast giving you a sneak peek into our brand-new Limitless Mind course. In it, I share how to use this incredible technology to enhance your current capabilities and take them to the next level:

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR WILLPOWER

Who doesn’t want stronger willpower? It can be instrumental in learning new skills, help you adapt to a different environment, create new habits, and help kick the old habits that aren’t working for you anymore. In short, it can help you build the necessary qualities to help you get ahead in life. That’s why learning how to increase your willpower is essential to reaching your goals.

But contrary to popular belief, willpower is more than simply forcing yourself to do something. In our last article, we talked about being aware of those marshmallow moments. The unexpected craving for a cupcake when you’re on a diet, or the urge to binge Netflix instead of studying or cleaning. These moments when left unaddressed can create anxiety, fear, and sense of failure if you’re not careful.

Even knowing what willpower is, the idea of it can still feel elusive. Often it’s mistaken for stubbornness or an innate resistance to temptation. But willpower is simple the ability to exert self-control in difficult situations. And that’s something you can build on and improve. When you’re faced with a marshmallow moment, those distractions usually offer you one of two things: avoiding stress or feeling good. Your brain wants it, and sometimes, it needs it. But you want to identify when you genuinely need a rest, and when you might simply be looking for the easy path.

One of the best ways to cultivate and grow your willpower is by making the hard thing an easy habit. When you change your behaviors and mindsets around what you believe you are capable of, it’s much easier to listen to your body and brain to maximize your productive output. Here are six ways you can increase your willpower.

Fix your routines

The first thing to look at is to make sure that you are giving your body and brain all the resources it needs to function properly. Studies show that when you don’t get enough sleep, you crave processed and sugar-laden foods. It’s a lot harder to eat the nutrient rich foods when you can’t stop thinking about a donut. Make sure you create a nighttime routine that helps facilitate healthy sleep. And if you know you’re starting your day off tired, make sure you take steps to make healthy eating easier. Pack a nutritious lunch, avoid walking by your favorite grab-and-go meals, and increase your protein to help keep you fuller, longer.

Another part of your routine is staying hydrated. Your cognitive capabilities decrease significantly when you’re as little as 2% dehydrated. It impacts your memory, your ability to reason, your decision-making skills, and more.

Choosing a healthy morning routine is just as important as your nighttime routine. You set the tone for the day and start with a focus on what’s important. This gives you clarity on what your goals are and helps prompt your brain to stay focused on those outcomes. Take five minutes and assess your state, and then create a plan to help you stay on track. You’ll find that this goes miles in reducing the moments of indecision and will help you gain momentum that carries through your day.

Don’t follow good milestones with bad rewards

Who hasn’t celebrated sticking to their diet by indulging in a cheeseburger? While one meal won’t derail a diet, it’s a mindset you want to be aware of. If you’ve struggled with staying away and have thought of nothing but that cheeseburger, you’re actually rewarding the unhealthy thought patterns, and not the healthy new behavior.

This phenomenon is called moral licensing, in which we give ourselves permission to do something “bad” since we have done something “good”. But before long, the temptation to do the bad thing becomes the driving force, pushing the focus away from your goal, or the good. Doing the good thing becomes a way to achieve the bad thing, and before long you stop doing the good thing and go straight to the bad. It can also make it easier to give in to these thoughts in more private moments.

Instead, make sure that you are aware of the desire to give in to these moments. Try to find healthy alternatives to support your new habits, goals, and mindset. When you find yourself thinking about the cheeseburger, remind yourself of why you don’t want to eat it and what you do that will satisfy the craving right now. Replace the cheeseburger with an equally satisfying alternative. Eventually, you’ll think about the cheeseburger less and find the healthy habits come more naturally.

Practice mindfulness

Meditation and mindfulness training are great exercises to strengthen your willpower. These practices gently train your mind to establish control over itself in a safe and relaxed way. But practicing mindfulness is possible outside of meditation exercises, in your everyday life. You can practice deep breathing exercises at traffic lights or subway stops. Choose the longest line at the grocery store or park as far as you can and walk. Being present and in the moment will help control your impatience and build the self-control muscle that makes doing the hard thing easier over time.

These practices also help reduce stress. Stress often pushes people back into old habits. Part of the reason is how habits are coded in the brain. Once the behavior is a habit, it stops producing the dopamine reward. But if you start the behavioral pattern after ending the habit, the reward is reactivated. Depending on how much stress you’re under, it can be very tempting to go after that dopamine burst. Which is why managing your stress is so important when trying to stay away from old bad habits.

Mindfulness allows the areas of your brain relating to attention and emotional regulation to function more efficiently. This is crucial when it comes to willpower. When your stress levels rise, these areas shut down. It’s harder to focus, which can derail you in terms of reaching your goals. And your emotions might take over, making that donut sound way better than it actually is.

Break down your goals

It can be easy to lose steam when working towards a goal. Particularly one on a long timeframe. Your brain wasn’t designed to power through obstacles with no rewards for long periods of time. Which is why breaking your goal down into small, simple steps is so vital in building your willpower.

Instead of only counting a diet as a success when you lose twenty pounds, celebrate every pound. Even better, add inches, muscle tone, exercise stamina, and healthy meals choices into the mix. Every milestone or win you celebrate, activates your reward center and gives you a new goal to anticipate. This builds momentum, which helps get you to the next step, and the next, and the next. Before you know it, you’ll reach your goal—maybe even surpass it.

And don’t forget to reframe your rewards in ways that further your goals. If you want to diet, buy new clothes when you reach a milestone. If you’re working towards a degree, perhaps ordering business cards or investing in supplies you’ll need for a new job can help keep you focused. Come up with rewards that promote your new habits and behaviors to help keep your brain engaged and entirely focused on your goals.

Don’t say “I won’t”, say “I will”

The language you use while thinking has a huge effect on your actions. Research suggests that positive reinforcement serves better in achieving goals than negative ones. One famous experiment highlights this. It’s known as the White Bear Analogy. Essentially, if someone tells you not to think about a white bear, you won’t be able to stop thinking about a white bear.

In terms of your life, instead of telling yourself what to not think about, create a list of new thoughts. When you think about the white bear, don’t force the thought away, simply think about a black bear instead. If French fries or cheeseburgers are your white bear, think about a new healthy snack you’ve been excited to try or the new outfit you want to buy.

You can’t force yourself not to think about things. But you can replace those thoughts with new ones. And by finding replacements for those thoughts, you will activate other areas of your brain and stimulate the reward centers at the same time. It can become a game and give you new experiences to look forward to. And that’s the best way to stay engaged and motivated.

Avoid decision-fatigue

A little bit of decision making every day is good exercise, but when it becomes your whole day it can deplete your cognitive resources. Decisions require willpower, but they also require attention, focus, and problem-solving. If you do this too much, it can tire your brain out.

This is known as decision fatigue. It’s essentially the term that encapsulates a few things we’ve talked about before. When you’re tired, hungry, stressed, and overwhelmed, decisions are harder. Eating the healthy foods, going for a run, not staying up late to watch a movie, all become harder.

You can offset this fatigue by making as many decisions as you can when you’re in a clear, focused state of mind. Meal prep on a day when you can come up with that week’s menu, buy the groceries, and prepare the ingredients for easy cooking. It’s much easier to go home and cook when you know everything is ready and waiting for you. Schedule your workouts and have your gym bag ready. Set your clothes out either the night before, or even the entire week in advance. Pre-plan your workouts or run routes.

The more you do to help make these smaller decisions easy, the more energy your brain will have to focus on the harder, more complicated tasks.

Conclusion

Willpower is not something you have, it’s something you build. It all comes down to habit. Instead of blaming yourself for failing, you can reframe your mindset, break down your goals, and change your language to ensure better outcomes. Before you know it, you’ll be smashing down goals and your willpower will become stronger with every milestone you reach.

THE SCIENCE OF WILLPOWER

People are successful for different reasons. But there is one trait that runs through all high achievers: willpower. The simple definition of willpower is “the ability to control one’s own actions, emotions, or urges” and “strong determination that allows one to do something difficult”.

No matter what your goal is, how hard you train, how detailed your plans, they will all hit roadblocks and obstacles. You’ll have days that feel overwhelming. Your emotions get the better of you. A you’ll frequently question if success is even possible. But if you want to achieve your goals, no matter how hard, audacious, and ambitious they may be, you have to develop the ability to persevere and overcome these difficulties. That’s where willpower comes in.

Decades of research on the science of willpower have created some interesting insights. And understanding them will help you learn how to increase willpower in your daily life. We’re going to explore the fascinating science of willpower. Once you understand the mechanisms behind willpower, you can learn to build your resistance and unlock your limitless goals.

Small instances of exercising willpower can help build perseverance for bigger ones

Walter Mitchel’s famous “Stanford Marshmallow Test” had children choose between eating some marshmallows now, or waiting 15 minutes and having a double-helping. He then tracked those children till they were roughly 32 years old. The children who were able to delay gratification for 15 minutes were more successful in their adult life. They achieved more and were able to reach their self-imposed goals more frequently than the children who ate the marshmallows first. The ability to delay gratification of a simple thing like a marshmallow prepared them for resisting bigger vulnerabilities and distractions later in life.

This can be exercised in your daily life. There’s always a marshmallow, so to speak. Instead of watching that Netflix show, spend thirty minutes cleaning, organizing, exercising, or reading before you allow yourself to sit down and zone out. You can work towards intermittent fasting, take more control of where you’re spending your time and focus, and so much more. Start noticing the marshmallow moments in your life and work towards delaying that instant gratification.

Willpower is a muscle

We all get muscle fatigue sometimes, right? Well, willpower gets fatigued too. And it can be just as debilitating. A study by scientist Roy Baumeister found that willpower acts just like your muscles. It tends to get fatigued when a lot of your tasks require self-control. If your willpower is exhausted, your performance will actually decrease when it comes to those specific tasks, which can lead to trying to exert more control and staying in that cycle.

This study led to two principles, that can help in training your mind to increase willpower:

  • To strengthen muscles, you need to exercise. That means you need to exercise your willpower frequently. As we mentioned above, find your marshmallow moments and practice delaying gratification.
  • But too much exercise leads to muscle fatigue. You need rest. Every moment of your day can’t be a battle of the internal wills, otherwise you deplete your ability to effectively delay gratification. In other words, sometimes it’s a good idea to put off Netflix, and sometimes you need to let yourself relax.

Make sure you find the balance between exercising and resting your self-control.

To increase willpower, you first have to believe that it is possible to change

2010 study by Veronica Job found that your beliefs about willpower can affect how much willpower you display while pursuing your real-life goals. The Stanford University team ran a series of experiments looking at individual beliefs when it comes to willpower. They found that if an individual believes that they a limited amount of willpower that decreases every time they use it, those same individuals displayed lower levels of willpower in their daily lives.

On the other hand, the people who believed willpower is not fixed and cannot be depleted, had much greater control over their selves. They displayed more willpower and were able to push through distractions and difficulties in order to achieve their goals.

Why willpower is crucial for learning

One thing will always encounter when learning something new is an obstacle. Usually, more than one. For every step forward, it’s common to experience one, two, sometimes five steps back. And that’s where building your willpower comes in. It doesn’t matter if you want to break a habit, build a new habit, learn a new skill, or manage your time more efficiently. There will always be a marshmallow waiting to derail you.

The one thing you need is strong willpower. It’s an essential quality to move forward in life. Learning a new skill or building a new habit requires the ability to know when to push forward, when to take a break, and how to analyze obstacles from different perspectives. Training your willpower will help you understand how to do exactly that.

Habits take anywhere from 28 to 66 days to truly solidify. And not every one of those days will be good. Willpower helps you stick to your new routine—even when you don’t want to. But the stronger your willpower gets, the easier it is to exert. And the same goes with learning. As you get better at sticking to your schedule, minimizing distractions, and doing the hard thing first, the more these behaviors will seep into your daily life. You’ll be able to learn more efficiently, which opens the door to learning more. And soon, you’ll be living the life you both desire and deserve.

Conclusion

Willpower is a complex subject. While researchers have worked hard to identify and measure it, it can still feel elusive in your daily life. But it is the key to unlocking your momentum so you can achieve your goals in life. Pay attention to your marshmallow moments, learn to listen to your body when you need to rest, and challenge yourself daily and you’ll be on your way to building this very important skill.

For more on how to develop willpower and self-discipline, watch this video:

Want to Master Your Memory? Use Your Brain Animal

Knowing your brain animal can become your biggest secret weapon in unlocking your limitless mind. Each animal has unique strengths and cognitive preferences in how they learn, read, interact with others, and yes, even actively recall information. If you’re curious how each animal can develop memory techniques that work best for them, we’ve compiled some suggestions below.

Remember to take the quiz and unlock the C.O.D.E. to your unique brain type. Once you do, you’ll have taken the first step towards understanding how to leverage your strengths and develop strategies to overcome your biggest challenges.

Owl (Logical Thinker):

Owls love organization and structure. That’s why mnemonic devices are perfect when it comes to remembering complex information. No matter how complicated the material, connecting it to a well-known pattern or rhythm will help you recall the information quickly and easily.

You can also use your organizational strengths to categorize information into logical groups or hierarchies. Maybe you have the grocery store laid out in your head, which makes remembering your list by aisle and food groups easier. You might learn the names of different people in your company based on the management structure. If you learn the information based on a structure that makes sense, you’ll have a much easier time recalling it when necessary.

Because Owls prefer a more methodical approach to learning, spaced repetition can be incredibly helpful to cement information into your memory. Practice reviewing flashcards at set intervals, taking breaks, and then repeating the process. Increase the intervals so that you have to remember the information for longer and longer, and watch how much you start to retain.

Cheetah (Instinctive Doer):

Cheetahs prefer a hands-on learning style, which means you want to use this same approach for memory. Use the body list to attach information to your physical self and come up with motions to help trigger the memory when you need it. If possible, use movement and activities to help give yourself experiences to tie information to.

While you’re using your physicality, you want to try to create mental images or visualize scenarios related to the information you want to remember. Your hair might have the movement of running your hands through it on your body list, but maybe it’s spaghetti so you don’t forget it at the store.

Another way you can solidify your understanding and memory is by teaching it to someone else. It might not seem like explaining it to another person is action-oriented, but it helps ground you in the moment. And having someone ask questions helps keep you focused and engaged, two traits perfect for a Cheetah.

Dolphin (Creative Visionary):

The Dolphins creative brain can use mind maps with stunning accuracy. You can create detailed and dynamic visual representations of information and connect them easily to different concepts. The more outrageous the visualization, the more likely you are to remember it.

You also have strength in storytelling. For each location in your mind map, you can create a story that ties it to the next piece and the next, and so on for quite a long list of information. These narratives can be used to remember anything from the periodic table to a vocabulary list to a speech.

The creative experience is essential to a Dolphins learning process, but it’s also important to memory. Listen to music, tie certain smells to different study sessions, use drawings in your notes, or create a vision board representing what you want to learn.

Elephant (Collaborative Connector):

Elephants do best when you study with others. The process of discussing and sharing information can be a game-changer in reinforcing your memory. You can extend this by asking people to study with you and quiz each other. The collaborative process will help embed the information into your long-term memory easier and faster than on your own.

You can work with others to create vivid “memory palaces”. Associate specific locations or objects in a familiar environment with key pieces of information. Using places like your home or office, where you have an emotional connection can reinforce the memory and make recall effortless.

When you have someone to practice with, or even in a group setting, practice active recall exercises. Summarize information to another person or have them summarize to you. Teach each other key elements and then test each other. You’ll strengthen your memory connections through the interactive process. And because you’ll also have an emotional memory thanks to your interactions, you’re even more likely to remember what you’re learning.

Conclusion

Each animal brain type has unique strengths and preferences. By adopting the techniques tailored for you, you can enhance not just how you learn, but your ability to retain and recall information faster and more effectively.

If you want to learn more about what habits can help improve your memory, watch this video: