Think Smart is a book about the brain and improving its performance. There are highlights on how to significantly reduce your chances of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Why is this important to me?

To pursue your passion in life and achieve real meaning, physical and mental health is required. The benefits of physical exercise are numerous, including lower blood pressure, a stronger heart, and more energy. If you’ve ever been sick, then you know first-hand that performance and ambition mean nothing because you can’t perform.

Mental health is even more important than physical health. Your brain works like a muscle, if you don’t use it, you lose it. When your brain is on full blast, you can accomplish almost anything. The more you exercise your brain, the more you will grow.

Think Smart is an easy and very practical read. There are 4 key points that I will point out for reasons of time.

1. Brain Axiom: The brain works with oxygen and glucose. The higher the activity, the more blood flow to the brain to compensate. Plasticity allows us to sculpt our brain according to our activity. This means that when the average person spends 5 hours a day in front of the television, the brain makes up for it. This is a very interesting axiom because your habits and activities will dictate how your brain works over time. This is great news because with a smart plan of daily activities, you can improve the performance of your brain on purpose.

2. The Basics: Diet, exercise, and sleep improve / decrease brain performance depending on what you do. Things to do to improve brain performance: keep weight low, eliminate saturated fat, eat fish (watch mercury levels), cut down on red meat, drink moderate red wine, and consume more fruits and vegetables. Exercise increases blood flow, which increases oxygen and glucose to the brain. Exercise every day based on where you are physically, and continually increase exercise as you improve. The last key to the basics is sleep. Sleep reduces stress, energizes the brain, and processes new information. Cortisol is released during times of great stress; Too much cortisol is bad for the brain, so reducing stress is critical to brain health.

3. Cool stuff: you can improve your brain’s performance on purpose. Using your brain and constantly challenging it will increase performance. Reading, thinking, puzzles, and some video games can dramatically improve performance. Some video games have shown improved reflex actions along with improvements in visual performance.

4. Think Smart provides a roadmap for increased brain function and better health. Warren Buffett, the world famous investment guru, has a very sharp mind and a monstrous IQ. What most people don’t know is that you read for hours every day and boost your brain’s performance. This simple repeatable habit has had compounding effects on Mr. Buffett and I think his performance proves it. There are countless examples that lead to this conclusion.

I hope this short summary has been helpful to you. The key to any new idea is to incorporate it into your daily routine until it becomes a habit. Habits are formed in just 21 days. One thing you can take away from this book is use it or lose it. I have read several books on the brain and they all postulate that the brain does NOT decrease over time like muscle mass. The exercised brain continually improves with age. Unfortunately, the opposite is the case. This is seen when people retire and do not occupy their time with constructive and challenging activities. The brain atrophies and performance withers.