The Brains Behind the Operation
Or- Avoiding the fool's attic
Think.
A quick recap for those just joining us. In the military, we use Lines of Effort to ‘bin’ logical groupings of tasks and missions that contribute to achieving a specific strategic or operational objective.
In life, I use 6 Lines of Effort, LOE—1 Body, LOE—2 Mind, LOE—3 Spirit, LOE—4 Purpose, LOE—5 Relationships & LOE—6 Responsibilities.
We spent April talking about LOE—1 Body.
This month we’re moving on to LOE—2 Mind.
Now, I recognize that a distinction can be drawn between the brain and the mind. A psychiatrist would probably make a bad brain surgeon and vice versa, but when I talk about the mind, I view it as the area betwixt the body and the spirit with brain health and cognitive function being closer to the body of LOE—1 and the ideas of mindfulness and mindset falling closer to LOE—3, Spirit.
Today we’ll start off with Brain Health and Cognitive Function.
Obviously, the big 3 from LOE—1: Diet, Sleep, and Exercise are critical to maintaining brain function. But, we beat them up last month, so I won’t go back over them.
I would encourage you to check out the substack from the Read section from
. I recently discovered it and have been enjoying the Brain Health Kitchen.Some other common sense things we can do are:
Don’t avoid carbs. Your brain uses 20% of your caloric intake to fuel its function and its preferred fuel source is glucose derived from carbs.
Protect your head. Wear a helmet for sports or activities that pose the risk of getting conked on the gourd.
Understand the effects of drugs and alcohol not only on reaction time and decision-making but also on brain health.
Get regular checkups and listen to your doctor.
Keep blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol in the healthy range.
The next subsection is cognitive function.
When we talk about cognitive function we are referring to a set of skills including our ability to:
Reason
Remember
Pay attention
Communicate
Learn
Perceive.
Everything above will not only keep the brain healthy but also optimize brain function. But aside from these basics, there are some things we can do to keep our brains functioning in top shape.
While there are plenty of nootropics and other supplements that promise better brain function, most experts agree that you are better off getting the necessary micronutrients through your diet and supplementing only if necessary. (Get a micronutrient blood panel)
I have been running an experiment on myself over the past six months or so testing different nootropics and can’t report any notable results.
Be curious— In my opinion, this is the best tool to keep our brains functioning. Get curious about something and study it. It may be a bit cliche, but the brain is like a muscle in many ways, use it or lose it. Learn stuff, and then make connections to other stuff you already know. Explain those connections to someone else (Feynman technique). If you don’t have anyone else to explain it to, make some friends.
Social connections are important for cognitive function.
Play games (Not just sodoku)
Practice Mindfulness (we’ll get into this in two weeks)
Learn a language
Have new experiences
Taking the above advice can’t guarantee that you won’t experience issues like dementia later in life, but some studies show those who stay mentally active have better outcomes.
Read. Brain Health Kitchen
By Dr. Annie Fenn
Write.
I have been using this section to share what other people have been writing about my forthcoming book: Tough Rugged Bastards.
These kind words come from Nina de Gramont, author of the New York Times best-selling book, The Christie Affair
This memoir is the closest most of us will ever get to the inside of the Marine Corps’ most dangerous command. Beautifully written and brutally honest, Tough Rugged Bastards is a reflective and unapologetic tour of the complexities of combat. Just as John Dailey joined an elite American fighting force in 2003, he now joins elite American writers -- Anthony Swofford, Tobias Wolff, and Tim O’Brien -- with this unflinching chronicle of war.
Repeat.
Words of wisdom from those who said it best.
“I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet
I now have a YouTube Channel where I post a Sunday morning Ruck Rant that you might enjoy. This week was about avoiding sad clowns.
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See you next Thursday!