When I was a kid, we had one of those “Simon Says” games where you held this little black box with four different colors.

They would light up in sequences, progressively getting faster and faster.

The goal was to tap the colors in the exact same sequence, a game of memory-testing.

I would play that game for hours until I mastered it.

The same went for Tetris. Nowadays, I’m hooked on Brain Age.

I’ve been a gamer practically my whole life, but I never realized that I was, in a sense, training my brain, memorizing those light sequences, getting the Tetris blocks to line up in a millisecond.

It’s nice to be good at something but I’m always looking for the next thing to occupy my brain for training.When I train my brain, I believe that I’m doing something good for me, as opposed to sitting stagnant, watching reality television. I firmly believe that training your brain is just as important as training your physical stamina. Increasing one’s intelligence is never a bad idea, and there are many ways to do it. 1. Patterns, exercises, puzzles Your brain thrives on patterns. When listening to music, do you ever notice the syncopation of the drum beat and work it out in your head? Do you ever organize your spare change according to denomination and then chalk it up to OCD? You’re actually exercising your brain. Routinely playing brain teasers such as Sudoku or cross-word puzzles can increase your intelligence as well as your deductive reasoning. 2. Master a talent (or at least attempt to) Some of the smartest people I know are musicians or artists. Finding an outlet for your thoughts and emotions can help you sort out the more subconscious thoughts and bring them up to the surface. To master anything, it takes a LOT of practice. Practice usually involves repetition and that’s just what the brain needs. 3. Jogging makes you smart? Everything in the body is connected. If you are usually sitting down, not really doing much physical exertion, your brain isn’t going to get much action, so to speak. A healthy heart can mean a healthy brain. The endorphins your body releases from exercise are also good for your brain. 4. Forever a student Education is usually the first thing people think of when intelligence comes into question. Obviously, the more you know, the smarter you become. Learning something new is a no-brainer (pardon the pun) to becoming more intelligent, but the most important thing is what you do with that education and applying it in your life. 5. Get out there and experience life You won’t absorb very much new information if you only stick with what you know. You will learn so much more on a vacation to the cottage or a backpacking trip in the wilderness than you will staying home. Life experience is better than related experiences. Taking a break to sort your thoughts can greatly benefit your intelligence. You take something away from every experience, good or bad and you learn from them. Never give up on your intelligence, and never be afraid to try something new. Life’s too short, and the world welcomes smart people! Written on 4/3/2013 by Dustin. Dustin is an optimist. His goal is to help you improve your mood one way or another. He specializes

in finding the perfect quote to get you grinning again. You can find him producing smiles at http://optimisticquotes.org/ or connect with him on Facebook. Photo Credit:

Stuart