Keeping on top of your brain health as well as your physical health should be a top priority. We are so aware of keeping our bodies healthy that we can sometimes forget the organ that controls all the rest of our body.
Our brains are our nervous centres, they are where we make the physical actions happen. So, keeping your brain healthy is going to help keep your body healthy in turn.
The more mental agility we have, the more capable we are of doing the things we love.
Mental agility is essential for success in poker tournaments. Players must be able to think quickly and strategically, make decisions under pressure, and adapt to changing circumstances. However, the stress and high stakes of these competitions can also take a toll on mental health. It’s important for poker players, and anyone else pursuing mentally challenging activities, to prioritize self-care and mental wellness to avoid burnout and maintain a healthy balance in life.
Whether it’s reading a good book or competing in poker tournaments, we need to make sure our brains are in the best condition possible in order to enjoy our lives to the maximum.
How to train your brain
One of the biggest things to look out for when making our brains more agile and resilient are the 4 C’s.
- Control
Keeping your emotions and reactions to situations under control demonstrates that we have good mental agility. We can all fly off the handle and succumb to our immediate emotional reactions from time to time.
However, keeping control of our emotions and knee jerk reactions can help us regain some control. Taking a step back and observing the emotion that we’re feeling rather than reacting to it straight away can help us understand ourselves better. We can control the feelings that we have and work out the root of them.
This way, we can have more rational conversations and a better understanding of ourselves along the way.
- Commitment
If you struggle to set boundaries or fulfil commitments you’ve said you’d see through, you might be struggling with the commitment side of mental agility. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, we all struggle to see things through from time to time.
However, trying to set achievable goals and find the motivation to see them through can improve our mental health. Not only will you feel a sense of accomplishment but you will also set yourself up well for the next challenge that you face.
- Challenge
Seeing obstacles or unforeseen circumstances in your life as challenges rather than disasters can really help your mental toughness. When we see something happen and think of it as a disastrous circumstance, we’re less likely to think we can overcome it.
However, when we see something as a challenge that we get to face, it seems more manageable. Challenges are often going to come about at the least helpful of times but getting through them is going to improve our mental capacity.
Overcoming something challenging feels like a huge achievement and can make you feel more positive about your ability to overcome the next thing to happen.
- Confidence
Having confidence in yourself is a great way to ensure you maximise your mental toughness. It can be difficult to believe in yourself when you’re faced with something you’ve never experienced before. However, having a positive attitude in the face of adversity can do wonders.
The phrase mind over matter isn’t just something people say, it’s proven to be true. No matter what the challenge it is that you’re facing, having a positive outlook already sets you on the right track for success.
If you’re setting off on a long hike, you wouldn’t walk 10 step backwards before you set out as that would infringe on your ability to get where you’re going. The same can be said for a challenge you’re facing. Having the right attitude means that you’re going to go forward into it rather than setting yourself back before you’ve even begun.
How to maximise your mental strength training
- Plan for setbacks
When building up your mental toughness, you’ve got to plan for the times where it doesn’t go so well. Everyone has down days and improving any part of yourself is never linear. There is always going to be some kind of setback along the way.
The best thing to do is to ensure that this set back doesn’t have a negative impact. This is where you can utilise your confidence. You have to believe that even though you’ve had a bad day or fallen behind, you can always pick it back up again.
- Keep stress levels low
Keeping stress down to a minimum is often harder than it sounds. There are some elements of stress that we can’t get away from. However, making sure you’ve done everything in your power to eliminate any outside variables that could cause stress will do wonders in the long run. According to nootopia.com, you may also want to increase BDNF levels to reduce stress and promote a healthy mind.
- Maintain a good sleeping pattern
Sleep is one of the most important parts of the day. It’s when your brain gets to shut down and reset and most importantly, it gets to rest. Resting is the only way we can recharge our batteries and that means recharging your mental capacity as well.
Lack of sleep puts us in a bad mood immediately and will make working on your mental agility a lot more difficult. So, make sure you’re giving yourself the best chance you can and get as much sleep as you need to have a good day when you wake up.
Getting mentally strong is a long process but the benefits are numerable. Working on our mental agility is a daily task but it gets easier the more you practice. Take note of just how much progress you can make in a short space of time.
