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 requires physical and mental health. 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 firsthand 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 firing on all cylinders, you can accomplish just about anything. The more you exercise your brain, the more you grow.

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

1. Brain Axiom: The brain runs on oxygen and glucose. The greater the activity, the greater the 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 compensates. This is a very interesting axiom because your habits and activities will dictate your brain function 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 or decrease brain performance depending on what you do. Things to do to improve brain performance: keep your weight down, cut out saturated fat, eat fish (watch mercury levels), cut back on red meat, drink red wine in moderation, and eat more fruits and vegetables. Exercise increases blood flow, which increases oxygen and glucose in the brain. Exercise daily 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 in times of high stress; Too much cortisol is bad for the brain, so reducing stress is critical for 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 enhanced reflex actions along with improvements in visual performance.

4. Think Smart provides a roadmap to increase brain function and improve 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 he reads for hours every day and it boosts his brain’s performance. This simple repeatable habit has had compounding effects on Mr. Buffett, and I think his performance shows it. There are countless examples that lead to this conclusion.

I hope you have found this brief summary useful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine until it becomes a habit. Habits are formed in as little as 21 days. One thing you can get out of this book is use it or lose it. I have read several books on the brain and they all posit that the brain does NOT shrink over time like muscle mass. The exercised brain continually improves with age. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. You see this when people retire and don’t occupy their time with constructive and challenging activities. The brain atrophies and performance withers.