How would you like to improve your intellectual wellness? Intellectual wellness is an important component of our overall wellness. We are actively using our intellect in our daily life even if we are not always aware of it.
A high IQ is not the only measure of intelligence. There are different ways that individuals manifest intelligence. We often think of Albert Einstein when we think of intelligent people with high IQs. But we also have geniuses in music, art, engineering, and other fields of study. Here are some ways that can help you improve your intellectual wellness.
Take Care of Your Health
It takes a healthy body to maintain a healthy brain. Your physical wellness is the foundation that will help you develop and enhance all other aspects of your wellness. So drink your 8 glasses of water daily, eat healthy, exercise regularly and sleep adequately. There is such a thing as a mind-body connection. You won’t be able to focus on improving your mind if you don’t have a healthy body.
To keep a healthy body in good health is a duty… Otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
Buddha
Plan your day so you can work SMART instead of working harder. Make sure to make time for meditation and self care to calm your senses. This will allow you to focus better so you can be more productive. This way, you will have more time to spend on the things you want and love.
Indulge Your Curiosity
We all have been curious as children but we learned to suppress this instinct as adults. Being curious doesn’t mean just asking questions. It is a desire to find the answers to your questions that makes it worthwhile. If you’re curious about a certain place, travel there and experience it yourself. There is no better way to indulge your curiosity than to be immersed in another environment. So don’t hesitate to take that road trip with your friends.
Be curious. Read Widely. Try new things. What people call intelligenve just boils down to curiosity.
Aaron Swartz
A more affordable way to satisfy your curiosity is by reading books, listening to audiobooks and podcasts and watching videos on topics you are interested about. You can also talk to other people who are experienced or experts at these topics. Taking classes and traveling to experience something new are also good ways to indulge your curiosity and learn something new.
Set Time for Fun and Play
Improving your intellect doesn’t mean boring yourself to sleep with reading or taking classes, even if you’re not up to it. Even at work; you should take breaks to reset your brain. Set time to play board games with your family, friends and colleagues. You can play checkers, scrabble, chess, or even snakes and ladders, just for fun. On your own, you can also challenge yourself with a crossword puzzle or sudoku or a rubik’s cube.
Play is not just about having fun but about taking risks, experimenting, and testing boundaries.
American Academy of Pediatrics
There will be times when you don’t even want to think and just want to have some fun. So go out and enjoy a walk or even a picnic at a nearby park. Visit a museum with your friends or an amusement park. Indulge in a hobby or find one. Do something creative like taking photos, making videos, drawing or scribble quotes, work on a coloring book. It’s not wasting your time when you’re refreshing your mind.
Reflect on Your Learnings
A journal is a great way to do some reflection. At the end of the day, or whenever you feel like it; write down your experiences, how they made you feel, how you can apply it to your future experiences. It doesn’t have to be too detailed. The main goal is to be able to review your experiences and inspect it for helpful tidbits that will benefit you, or other people around you. A gratitude journal is one way to encourage a more positive mindset.
Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.
Margaret J. Wheatley
There are always some good learnings to be had even in unpleasant circumstances. By journaling, you will learn how to look at things from a different perspective. It means you can look at things objectively, without your personal biases stepping in. This will help you choose the thoughts that will benefit you the most. In the long term; it will also help you control your self and your reactions; so you can keep calm and respond to the situation in the best way possible.
Maintaining intellectual wellness means always being open to learning new things. There are many ways to constantly keep learning. So don’t hold back from asking a question and trying to find the answers. It will definitely help you improve your social wellness and help you discover a whole new world of possibilities to move forward in life.