Mental Equivalent to Lifting?

Dev_on · 2015-04-18T22:48:41+00:00

Reading...

How many people you know can read a 400 page novel in one sitting... How many know all the words in a story that doesn't involve vampires?

Chinese taoism talks about the big things to make you a rounded person.... Chess, painting, zither book and sword.

Or strategy, creativity, music and rhythm, knowledge and physical training.

Adapted to modern society, I find it is a good guide for being a well rounded Renaissance man

Sepean · 2015-04-18T21:12:49+00:00

Read A guide to the good life - the ancient art of stoic joy by William Irvine.

RPSigmaStigma · 2015-04-18T21:13:24+00:00

Study and practice stoicism. If you haven't already, read Mediations by Marcus Aurelius. In fact, psychologists are even looking in to parallels between stoicism and cognitive behavioral therapy, so it's definitely good for the mind.

rotwang00 · 2015-04-19T00:48:05+00:00

I concur with the Irvine recommendation. A great read.

For me, mindfulness meditation is the mental equivalent of lifting. Meditation makes me more productive and in control throughout the day. For a first book, I suggest Mindfulness in Plain English by Henepola Gunaratana.

strategos_autokrator · 2015-04-19T14:11:53+00:00

I split mental into two areas: Intelligence and Emotions. The first one is the stuff that makes you win chess games and do math, the second is the one that help keeps you emotionally focused while your wife shit tests you. Both are important in life.

For intelligence, read. Read a lot. Read the sidebar. Read other stuff for your work. Read fiction. Read biography. Read war strategy. Read everything. If you have more specific needs, ask, and I can recommend books.

For emotions, read about stoicism and buddhism. They are philosophical systems about using your emotions in the optimal way. However, reading only isn't enough for this mental skill. You need to practice the shit they say. Stocisim is very down to earth, with concrete tools. Marcus Aurelius, as others have said, is great, but not my first choice of reading. Not because he isn't smart and an amazing author, but because he wrote for himself, you to get what he says you need to read a lot of other stuff first. Ask if you want more about stoicism, and i can recommend stuff, or better, follow the links of others. Also, very connected, read about buddhism. Buddhism is HARD to understand. But that is THE philosophy about emotional frame. I find it very rewarding intellectually, but it takes me a long time and a lot of thinking to really internalize what it suggests. More actively, meditation and mindfulness techniques REALLY help with this stuff. Ask me if this interests you, and i can recommend stuff here as well.

KublerRossWasWrong · 2015-04-19T01:15:43+00:00

Reading, especially literature. Some fiction is fine, as all work and no play make Jack a dull boy. Mostly, however, I think you want to focus on topics that will stretch your mental faculties. Much like lifting weights pushes your muscles beyond their limits to stimulate growth.

Because the world is shrinking and our interaction with diverse other personalities is increasing, I would look to works that help you understand human nature, human behavior, social constructs, &c. I will readily admit that this is a bias of mine. I find this sort of thing utterly intriguing.

Transactional analysis, occasionally maligned as 'pop psychology' is actually a decent place to start. A good overview is the old book, "Games People Play." Especially fascinating is the part that talks about how we interact with others in the "parent-adult-child" context. Much of this is directly relatable to TRP and MRP philosophies.

Chess is a fantastic tool for internalizing strategic and tactical thought. It requires study, though. "Minutes to learn, a lifetime to master." Although, "lifetime" is overstating it a bit.

Taking up an artistic pursuit--whether it be painting, drawing, playing an instrument, what have you--can not be recommended enough. Developing your creative side makes you a more rounded, complete individual.

Learn another language; most people I meet are surprised to learn that I can get by, at least in casual conversation, in five languages. I'm not fluent in three of them, by any means, but I'm constantly working on improving. It helps--immensely--that my administrative assistant is herself fluent in the three that I am not. ;)

An often overlooked benefit of intellectual pursuits is that you become a much more interesting person. Much, much more interesting. Being able to easily move from conversational group to conversational group during a business dinner, for example, is priceless. But it only works well if you can participate. That requires a broad base to work from. Reading is a very good way to build that base.

ford_contour · 2015-04-19T04:14:09+00:00

Pick something impossible (to you) to make, and start working toward being able to make it.

Your brain will have to stretch to learn a everything necessary.

More importantly, in the long run, your brain will have to adapt to longer and longer periods of sustained focus, as long as you strive toward masterful work.

abdada · 2015-04-18T20:43:58+00:00

The mental equivalent to lifting is ... weightlifting.

Every time you hit a new PR, your CNS is reprogramming itself to handle more weight. It is truly mind over matter.

Lifting strong helps the brain, too.

ford_contour · 2015-04-19T04:19:24+00:00

There are many mental equivalent to lifting weights, but an ignored one is repetitions.

Solve a difficult problem. For mental health, you have probably learned to give yourself a break - spend a few minutes doing something not at all mentally taxing. This is healthy, don't stop.

But do. Once in awhile, finish something mentally taxing, and just for the hell of it, intentionally jump directly into something else also mentally taxing.

Like any other exercise, plan for safety and failure. If you need to do your taxes and a crossword, make sure the crossword is second so failure doesn't ruin you.

Any type of exercise - endurance, speed, balance, precision can has a mental e equivalent.

I also really like the reminder that every difficult exercise also exercises the brain, since it's the organ in charge of the others. :)

ford_contour · 2015-04-19T04:24:37+00:00

Read about math on the Internet. You might learn some math, and you'll definitely exercise the parts of the brain responsible for patience and dealing with frustration.

ford_contour · 2015-04-19T04:27:38+00:00

Learn computer programming. Same basic reasons as learning some math - exercises lots of parts of the brain a associated with problem solving without requiring a real life crisis.

Stonesaint · 2015-04-19T05:51:39+00:00

My father's mind grows extremely sharp after a game of cards.

My colleague gets a laser sharp focus after playing roulette.

I know of a similar increased awareness after mechanics try to bring old motorcycles to life in garages.

The bottomline is - it varies.

recon_johnny · 2015-04-19T16:32:43+00:00

Because I don't see this in the comments....

If you are suggesting not to lift/something that can take place of lifting: No. No. No. No. If you're asking is there something to help strengthen the mind, as well as lifting; I have two responses. 1) Lifting is medition/increases mental toughness. Being regimented, pushing for that last rep when you don't want to, controlled breathing--all sharpens the mind. 2) Doing any improvement (learn language, guitar, practicing mediation on it's own, imagination exercises, just plain reading) do have an effect on the brain. Perhaps this is what you're looking for.

The examples listed below are great.

But don't forget to lift. Always lift. No excuse not to.

BluepillProfessor · 2015-04-19T21:37:27+00:00

Reading The Rational Male book and blog, and Dalrock.

strategos_autokrator · 2015-04-20T10:15:22+00:00

Btw, this post nudged me to complete some of my writing on frame. I have posted the first post in the series here. I intend to continue, and some of those post will address this question head on.

CaptainWasHere · 2015-04-21T20:43:22+00:00

I like some of the cheap "brain games" apps that are becoming popular. Spend a few minutes "working out" a particular area and see if your score improves. Goofy or not, I like it!

henkie5555 · 2015-04-22T18:13:12+00:00

Surprised that no one has mentioned meditation yet. Meditating 20 minutes a day will help you build focus and willpower (there is soms science behind this). Reading books will (in my experience) often just be mental masturbation, internalising concepts in a book is hard to do without doing exercises or writing summaries.

alpha_n3rd · 2015-04-24T19:20:38+00:00

I like to do a bong hit and hop in the shower and free associate. Really helps me figure things out. Believe it or not I've come up with some brilliant solutions to some really challenging technical problems at work that way.

Lunchbox_Larry · 2015-04-19T04:25:15+00:00

If I look at my life and what worked, it's reading. I must have read a hundred books on relationships. And another hundred books on Christian marriages.

It wasn't until book #201 that I found the truth. (Well stumbled on a TRP post, which lead to many new books)

So another way to look at this is that; at book #199 I was still as lost, angry and stupid as I was on day one about what was wrong with my relationship.

It wasn't until I searched, and had read broadly enough, that I eventually found the body of knowledge that actually worked.

Reading, reading and more reading. We are swimming in a sea of knowledge and the only way to tackle it is to jump in. It's like trying to drink from a fire hose.

I thought I read a lot but when you hear that guys like Nicholas Nasim Taleb consistently read 40 hours a week, it's amazing, that is exactly what I would do full time if I could. Now I just have to get independently wealthy enough to be able to do that.

CoreyI35 · 2015-04-19T14:37:43+00:00

Homework

Title	Mental Equivalent to Lifting?
Author	rediscover03
Upvotes	18
Comments	35
Date	April 18, 2015 8:40 PM UTC (11 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MarriedRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/marriedredpill/comments/3328qw/mental_equivalent_to_lifting/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MarriedRedPill/mental-equivalent-to-lifting.202109 https://theredarchive.com/post/202109

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