The self-help industry in the US is worth more than 10 billion dollars a year . It's a lot of money that people spend to get other people to tell them how to become better at something. You'd think that if it worked, it would become less valuable each year as people got better and better, until it became completely unnecessary. But somehow that's not the case.
On the other hand, you can become better mentally and physically, not just metaphorically, with a few fairly simple steps that have been empirically tested and require virtually no money or time.
10. Listening to music can improve many aspects of your well-being.
There's actually a neurological condition called musical anhedonia, which is characterized by a simple dislike of music and affects about 5% people. But beyond that, we can assume that almost everyone likes some music, and that's a good thing. Your favorite music can actually reduce level of depression и stress . It can also improve cognitive function and memory . There is even evidence that it can cure speech defects .
If you want to be healthier, listening to light music can help you. there is less . This can also improve the quality of your sleep . Essentially, music can improve many aspects of your life. And in most experiments, people only had to listen to music for 10 to 30 minutes while they performed other tasks, so it didn't require a significant investment of time or effort.
9. 60 minutes of play twice a week can boost a child's IQ
In the age of video games and digital entertainment, we need to find time to turn off our devices and just connect with the real world. A great way to do this is with board games. They've been around forever, and if you have the right group of people, it's hard to deny the fun you can have while delving into a round of Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit. And, as it happens, engaging your kids in board games can make them smarter than the average bear.
Children who were asked to play games 60 minutes twice a week, showed significant improvements in things like nonverbal intelligence and cognitive speed. And if you can't get your child to switch off, there's still hope, as some of the games the children played to achieve these results were electronic.
Further testing has shown that children playing games such as Traps and Ladders demonstrate improving math skills . Even brain games that claim to boost your intelligence actually improve your working memory (though the claims of increased intelligence are not actually backed up).
8. Reading 30 minutes a day extends life by almost 2 years.
Are you worried about your own mortality? If your plans to colonize another planet or clone yourself don't pan out, you can still improve your chances of living longer with a very simple solution: reading a book. Research shows that reading just 30 minutes a day can extend your life by about two years compared to those who don't read. Of course, if you did this for 50 years, you'd waste more than a year reading and then only have one truly productive year, but you're still ahead of the game, right?
It should be kept in mind that this is not just any reading, it is specifically reading books. The study involved more than 3,600 people Those aged 50 and older lived longer, and those who read books rather than magazines lived longer. If you read more than 3.5 hours a week, you are 23% less likely to die than those who don't read. If you read up to 3.5 hours a week, you are 17% less likely.
Why does reading prolong life? It has been suggested that it is because reading can engage your mind and improve cognitive functions.
7. Writing about past trauma can improve wound healing
Some might argue that listening to music to relieve stress and depression is simple and not all that exciting. But the things you can do to improve your life can get much stranger. For example, research has shown that you can heal wounds faster , if you write about a past injury.
We've probably all heard that talking about a traumatic situation can help us heal emotionally. This is true, and it's well-documented. But what's less well known is that the same can help with actual physical trauma. In fact, writing about your feelings related to past trauma can shorten the healing time of physical damage to wounds. twice as much .
In a study focusing on a small group of healthy adults aged 64 to 97, participants were asked to keep a journal for 20 minutes a day. One group wrote about their mundane daily activities. The other wrote about unpleasant life events.
All participants had a small biopsy wound made on their hands and its healing was monitored. More 76% tech , who wrote expressively, had their wounds healed in 11 days compared to 42% in the other group.
6. 10 minutes of daily exercise could prevent more than 100,000 deaths
These days, you don't need anyone on the internet to tell you that exercise can improve your health. It's something we should all be well aware of. But do you know how exercise can actually improve your health? Beyond things like helping you lose weight? If you boil it down to a simple numbers game, 10 minutes of daily exercise could prevent 110,000 deaths annually.
A study published in Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that if people over 40 did 10 minutes of physical activity a day, more than 100,000 deaths a year could be prevented.
The study followed 5,000 participants over many years and compared those over 40 with younger participants. Data was used from 2003 to 2006, and then mortality rate was tracked until 2015. The results showed that even more lives could be saved if those 10 minutes were increased to 20 or 30.
5. 10 minutes of meditation can improve memory and concentration
What's your opinion on meditation? Is it a useful method of introspection and relaxation? Or just New Age nonsense? Well, if it's the latter, you might want to take another look. It turns out meditation has some real-life benefits that go beyond a general sense of calm.
If you find that you have trouble concentrating and remembering things, you might want to try meditation. 10 minutes a day have been shown to improve concentration. If you practice more frequently, the results may be even more impressive. In one case, brain scans of students who meditated five times a day for eight weeks revealed the ability to switch between states of consciousness. Other tests Also showed memory improvement .
4. Cutting 20 minutes of Facebook a day improves your mental well-being
Despite almost every story about Facebook in the media over the past few years being negative, the social media giant has shown little sign of dying. They still boast almost 3 billion monthly active users on the platform. But if all the terrible things you've heard about Facebook and its policies haven't yet made you quit, consider the real benefits it could bring you.
Research shows that if you avoid Facebook at least for 20 minutes By using more than usual per day, you're doing yourself a favor. Addiction to Facebook and social media in general is a real thing. Many users feel the need to constantly check for updates to see what others are saying or whether anyone has interacted with them. This leads to a noticeable decline in overall psychological well-being. But cutting back on those 20 minutes can improve your situation.
The less time you spend on Facebook, the less depression , and you can even exercise more. And it makes sense—take those 20 minutes you're wasting on social media and just go for a walk. One study tracked nearly 200 Facebook users who were on the site for an hour a day. Half stayed on for the full hour, and half were cut back to 20 minutes. Those who cut back reported feeling less depressed and generally better after three months.
If you find yourself feeling out of place and also being on social media a lot, cut back and see if it makes a difference.
3. Playing 3D games for 30 minutes a day may reduce the risk of dementia
Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia are devastating not only for the victims but also for their families. The effects can last for years, and they are by no means pleasant. But while we wait for new treatments or a cure, there is a glimmer of hope in the ways we've discovered to reduce the risk. In particular, 30 minutes of video games per day can significantly reduce the risk.
Study participants aged 60 to 80 years were asked to play the game for 30 minutes a day for four weeks. One group played Angry Birds , and the other one played Super Mario World , which takes place in a three-dimensional environment. While both groups showed improved cognitive skills at the end, the group Super Mario World were more significant improvements , and memory also improved.
Clearly more research needs to be done, but the improvements do support the idea that conditions like Alzheimer's can be prevented with something as simple as regular play.
2. Meditation can improve your mood, but also your immune system.
We've looked at meditation previously in terms of how it can benefit your mind, but let's dig a little deeper to get more tangible results.
Meditation has been proven to have beneficial effects on the body's immune system . This means that if you meditate, you can literally make yourself healthier, at least to some extent. This can affect not only those who meditate in a more secular sense, but also those who pray and have spiritual/religious experience .
From a neurological perspective, brain scans of people deeply immersed in prayer or meditation show increased activity in areas associated with concentration, which makes sense, but also decreased activity in areas that provide our sense of self and our orientation in the world. This reflects the sense of oneness with the universe that people report, and it exists in all people, regardless of their beliefs, when they engage in intense prayer or meditative experiences.
From a body perspective, blood samples taken from those who meditate frequently show increased expression of genes and telomeres associated with fighting disease or maintaining health.
1. 30 minutes a day Super Mario 64 increase the amount of gray matter
People love scapegoats when things go wrong. Rock 'n' roll was once the scourge of youth. That evolved into heavy metal. And in more modern times, it's video games. People blame video games for violence , low ratings , unemployment , sexual dysfunction and many other things. Makes you wonder if there's anything good about video games. Well, good news: there is.
It turns out that games can actually make you smarter and improve brain function . Remember how we said that gaming can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease? Well, the way it works can benefit everyone, not just the elderly or at-risk groups. Memory, planning, spatial orientation, and fine motor skills have been shown to improve as a result of playing video games.
Adults in Germany were asked to play in Super Mario 64 30 minutes a day for two months. Afterward, they underwent an MRI. Compared to the control group who did not play the games, their brains showed a significant increase in gray matter. This was observed in the right hippocampus, right prefrontal cortex, and cerebellum.
A few years later experiment was repeated Three groups were studied over six months. The third group received computerized piano lessons. Once again, the Super Mario group showed increased gray matter.