The human brain is a powerful organ, complex beyond our conception. It is made up of an estimated 50 billion cells with more connections than stars in the sky.
BRAIN BANK
Our bodies even consider the brain important. Despite the fact that the brain only accounts for 2% of body weight, the body allocates 20% of its energy to the brain. While this is a relatively large cost for the body, it’s a small amount of energy to fuel such a complex piece of machinery. In fact, each of our brains is only as bright as a refrigerator light bulb. With only about 13 watts of energy in our mental bank accounts, brain functioning is limited by the amount of energy we have in our accounts. So now we know that the brain has a limited store of energy, and its ability to function depends on how it spends this energy. Next let’s consider what the brain spends energy on, what the brain deems worth this valuable but limited commodity.
THINKING COSTS ENERGY
Like the body, which uses energy to produce muscle movements, the brain spends energy to produce mental movements such as thoughts, emotions, judgments, beliefs, and so on. I mean this in a literal way. Brain cells communicate and work together to invoke a memory, conjure a prediction of the future, or make sense of the present situation. Such cellular activity costs energy. To prove this to yourself, remember a time when you engaged in deep thought, a highly creative project, a challenging exam, or an intense conversation. Were you physically tired afterwards? Did your head hurt? In these situations, our brains work hard and expend energy. Do we need to hire a mental accountant to advise us on how to save and spend our mental energy?
TRACK YOUR SPENDING
Becoming mindful of the thoughts you spend energy on can help you optimize the way your brain functions, which has obvious benefits. Think about it: if you have the choice and you know every thought costs energy and you have limited energy to spend, why would you spend it on meaningless, negative thoughts or destructive mental dialogue? Without knowing anything about the brain, most of you already know where I’m going with this. Yet we still manage to mismanage our mental bank accounts, what thoughts we spend energy on.
THINK CHEAP. THINK POSITIVE.
So, if you take nothing else from this blog, please know that you have a choice to make: to save and spend mental energy constructively or to waste it. Exercising this choice in the moment is a form of mindfulness. Practice this every chance you get. Get an iB-LIEVE wristband or iBOTTLE to constantly remind you to spend your mental energy wisely. Thinking negatively is costly so think cheap. Think positively.
Be mindful. Watch what you think. It will pay off.
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