Mental state—get your mind ready for learning
The last learning state layer, mental state, deals with the mind. The
inner state layers (cell and physical) influence the mind and its workings,
however this layer is also influenced by our own thoughts. Six key
contributors to good mental state are:
- General mental health. Good mental health
supports learning performance. Stress and Depression are prevalent today
and have a harmful effect.
- Mental fitness. Like physical fitness,
mental fitness benefits the whole brain. You can develop mental fitness
through mental exercises and other activities.
- Mental relaxation. Mental relaxation
also plays a role in supporting good mental performance.
- Attention and concentration. If
you concentrate and pay attention when you learn, your content has a much
better chance of making it into your long-term memory.
- Positive mental attitude. Your
self-image influences your memory and learning performance. You can alter
your self-image through self-talk.
- Clear, desirable and achievable goals. If
you don’t believe in the direction your learning is taking you, it’s
unlikely you can sustain good learning performance.
Like good physical health, good mental health contributes to good
learning performance. There are many ways you can improve and maintain your
overall mental health, for example through relaxation, neurobics, hobbies,
stress management and more. Good mental health also needs the absence (or
control) of a wide range of possible mental illnesses. These can include
disorders such as anxiety disorders, Attention Deficit disorders, Borderline
Personality Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive disorders, Panic Disorders,
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders, Schizophrenia, and Phobias. The two most
prevalent mental health issues in the western world today though are
excessive stress and depression, and these have a significant detrimental
effect on learning and memory.
The Memletics Accelerated Learning Manual describes:
- General activities that contribute to good mental health.
- Disorders that can negatively impact learning, such as anxiety
disorders, Attention Deficit disorders, Borderline Personality Disorder,
Obsessive-Compulsive disorders, Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Phobias.
- More information on the two most prevalent mental health issues in the
western world today—excessive stress and depression.
- For stress – how stress impacts learning because of cortisol, and its
long term impact on the hippocampus
- For depression – how a lack of a key neurotransmitter called serotonin
impacts learning.
You can improve your memory and learning performance if you improve your
overall mental fitness. There are many likenesses between physical and
mental fitness. Let’s explore some:
- You can build up your mental fitness over time using various exercises
and activities.
- You should not expect immediate results. Good results come with time.
- Good mental fitness impacts many other areas of brain performance, not
just those directly involved in the exercises.
- Don’t try to do too much at once. Start slowly and find exercises you
enjoy and could do regularly.
- Good mental fitness protects the brain and helps it stay healthy for
longer.
Various exercises and activities can increase your mental fitness.
The Memletics Accelerated Learning Manual describes:
- Details on specific exercises that can improve your mental fitness,
including Neurobics, Music, Signing, games and puzzles (such as
“concentration”), software (eg IQ builder, MindGym, Brain Builder), and
travel.
- More exercises include: Learn another language, develop your social
networks, do volunteer work, read more widely, try a new hobby, get
creative – learn to write, draw, or paint; learn photography, change
careers, or learn to fly!
The primary purpose of mental relaxation, for learning, is to control
stress. We are all subject to mental stress in our daily lives. Work is
typically the highest cause of stress. Use these exercises regularly in your
daily cycle to help manage the impact of stress on your mind.
As I mentioned in physical relaxation though, there is little reliable
evidence to suggest that relaxation directly before or during a learning
activity significantly improves learning performance. Specific relaxation
exercises before or during a learning activity appears useful if you feel
stressed or lacking in concentration. Use the exercises to get into a better
state of mind for learning.
The Memletics Accelerated Learning Manual describes:
- Mental relaxation and its role in controlling stress.
- Further information to dispel the “highly accelerated learning through
relaxation” and “classical music” learning myths.
- The best times to use relaxation.
- Details on some common mental relaxation techniques, such as
meditation, guided imagery, music, and anchoring.
- Using these techniques with physical relaxation techniques
- The impact of stress, fear and nervousness on learning, and using
relaxation to control it.
Attention and concentration are fundamental to learning and memorizing.
If you don’t pay attention when you first encounter a particular fact, it’s
unlikely it even makes it into your memory. If it isn’t in there, you don’t
have much chance of recalling it.
Nearly all the other good state principles influence your attention and
concentration. For example, a distracting environment affects your
concentration. Not eating well or failing to follow natural body rhythms
also negatively impacts concentration. You may also find it hard to
concentrate if you don’t believe the material you are studying contributes
to your overall goals.
If you find your concentration wandering or staying attentive is
difficult, scan through all the state layers and see if there is an obvious
problem somewhere.
You may also want to try some specific concentration techniques during
study, or try some longer-term exercises to improve your overall
concentration.
The Memletics Accelerated Learning Manual describes:
- Short term and longer term exercises to improve attention and
concentration,
- Short term techniques such as “be here now”, the spider approach,
paragraph marking, distraction logs, topic switching, and interactivity.
- Longer term techniques such as games, meditation and other exercises.
Also includes important information on expensive memory and concentration
improvement software.
- Specific information on how the environment impacts your
concentration. How to reduce distractions from sources such as friends,
family and colleagues, electrical noise, and peripheral vision. Where to
sit in a library, and how to train yourself to better handle distractions.
Our beliefs significantly influence how well we learn and remember. Let’s
see an example. Yesterday someone told you a phone number, and today asked
you whether you can remember it. Your ability to remember it largely depends
on whether you believe you can remember it. If your first thought is “Of
course I can remember, it’s …” then you are far more likely to recall the
number. If your first thought is “There is no way I can remember that
number. I didn’t write it down” then it’s a lot less likely you can remember
it.
If you believe you have a good memory, your brain builds neural networks
that support that belief. If you believe you have a bad memory, your brain
builds neural networks that block recall of material that otherwise might be
available. You consistently act in a manner that matches your self-image.
The Memletics Accelerated Learning Manual describes:
- How your self-image interacts with two other parts our mental attitude
– Self-Talk and Self-Esteem.
- How to change your self-image via changing your self-talk.
- Specific information on using assertions, mental firewalls and
anchoring to help change your self-talk.
A clear, desirable and achievable goal is important for good learning
state. This provides the underlying motivation to start out the adventure,
get through the tough times, and keep going until completion. If you don’t
believe in the direction your learning is taking you, you may not achieve
anywhere near your full learning potential.
There are three key ingredients though that I find compelling and I
recommend. Written objectives help clarify and keep your goal in your mind.
Set various rewards for yourself along the path to celebrate each step of
the way. Lastly, collect a set of images to help you visualize what success
looks like.
The Memletics Accelerated Learning Manual describes:
- The role that clear, desirable and achievable goals play in learning.
- Key ways to highlight your goals, such as writing objectives, setting
rewards and using images (such as photographs).
- (More information is in Memletic Approach).
|
