How to increase your IQ
IQ stands for Intelligence Quotient and is a type of measuring test that translates someone’s intelligence into a number. These tests assess 5 main skills: concentration, logic, visual, memory, and verbal skills. Therefore, anyone looking to increase their IQ in general or to increase their IQ scores in these tests should train these 5 skills as much as possible. Studying IQ tests may seem like the quickest way to do it, but, although it may help you raise your scores, it does not necessarily mean that it will improve your intelligence. To do so, you should engage in activities that stimulate your brain and enhance its functioning. Interesting enough, training your brain in these 5 skills is easier and simpler than you might think. It is possible to increase your IQ just by leading a healthy life and engaging in thought-provoking activities that may even benefit you in other aspects of your life. Keep reading to find 7 examples of ways you can improve your IQ and overall cognitive skills.
Practice meditation
People who practice meditation frequently are more capable of blocking distractions and controlling their emotions naturally and unconsciously. These abilities increase their problem-solving skills as they can fully concentrate on the task at hand and prevent any emotions from interfering with their logical thinking.
Meditation has also the added benefit of people keeping their calm under stressful situations.
Eat healthy and nutritious food
Your body and brain need top-quality fuel to perform at their best. Therefore, the healthier you eat, the fittest your mind and body will be.
You should also remember to have regular meals throughout the day and to never skip breakfast as the body needs to refill its glucose levels after so many hours without any food.
Additionally, you should avoid having a heavy meal before taking any test if you want to increase your IQ score. Digesting a heavy meal can leave you feeling sluggish and hinder your performance.
Learn how to play an instrument
Learning how to play an instrument can have a positive impact on your brain. Since it requires motor and sensory multitasking, this complex activity can help to increase the brain’s capacity of balancing different factors at the same time and adapting to different scenarios.
The good news is that you do not need to master a musical instrument to benefit mentally from it. The simple act of practicing reading and playing music is already good training.
Read as much as you can
Reading will expose you to new vocabulary and grammar constructions, while also stimulating your imagination and capacity of thinking subjectively. At the same time, you will also be practicing your concentration skills and ability to block any distractions.
As concentration and verbal skills are two of the main capacities evaluated in an IQ test, training and improving them will give you a better chance of increasing your IQ scores.
Learn a new skill
Learning a new skill, be it a new language, a craft, or a new game, will help you keep your brain active. Exposing it to new information, new thinking structures, and new problems will increase its plasticity, force it to adapt to new situations, and take its problem-solving skills to another level.
It is not so much about what activity you choose to do, but about the unknown factor. Also, the more varied the activities in which you engage, the better. The goal is to cover and improve any neglected set of skills and areas of your brain.
Have fun playing puzzles
Puzzle games such as Sudoku, Word Search, Jigsaws, or Scrabble and even casual games like Solitaire or Mahjong are great pastimes but can also be a precious help to improve your brain’s capacities.
These games require visual-spatial analysis, logical thinking, concentration, and the capacity to recall information and apply it in a problem-solving situation. All of these are evaluated in every IQ test and represent a big part of it.
Exercise
Any type of physical activity, even mild exercises such as leisure walks, can have a positive impact on the brain and help you increase your IQ.
Several studies have now confirmed that exercising leads to better concentration skills and improved memory. The relation between exercising and brain improvement may not seem obvious at first, but according to researchers is quite simple to explain.
Exercising increases the blood supply to the brain, providing it with energy to think. It also helps to improve the body’s nutrient absorption, release growth hormones and neurotransmitters essential for the brain’s overall health, and to increase the intake of oxygen to the brain to every cell in the body.
When put together, these changes help the body and the brain to become healthier and stronger, and to improve concentration, memorization, and reasoning skills.
Is there a quick way to improve my IQ test scores?
IQ tests are rigorous, and the exercises are always different to prevent people from memorizing the answers and tamper with the results. Therefore, the best route to increase your IQ test scores is by training your brain to perform the skills that are evaluated.
That being said, practicing should not be disregarded. Taking several IQ tests will help you get acquainted with the exercises you may later face on your official test. You should still read the questions very carefully to understand what is being asked of you, but by knowing the structure of the test at least you will not be caught off guard.
Common test questions include:
Figures: you are presented with a sequence of figures and must indicate which one should be next. To solve it, you must understand what is the connection/relation that drives the sequence. For example, they might be rotating clockwise or counterclockwise, mirrored, etc…
Numerical reasoning: similarly, in this exercise, you have a numerical sequence and must indicate which digit is missing or should be next. Practicing this type of exercise can help you understand the logic behind the different sequences quicker, thus increasing your IQ scores.
Syllogisms: in these questions, you are given two or more statements from which you must draw a logical conclusion. These exercises test your ability to think logically and they can be the trickiest ones you will find in the test they do not always follow common knowledge. You must be able to disregard the validity of the statements in real life and focus solely on finding the logical conclusion that they lead to.
Analogies: these exercises test your verbal skills. You are presented with a group of words and must understand the relation between them. You may be asked to point the odd out word in that group or to select the one that best conveys the same or opposite meaning of a certain term.
Practicing IQ tests will not necessarily improve your overall IQ, but it can help you boost your score. If you truly want to increase your IQ by improving your brain capacity, there is no better way than training your mind and reasoning.
