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Critical thinking is very important because it is a thinking approach that involves skills like analysis, synthesis, and logical reasoning. It is also about being very investigative of different situations, seeking out different kinds of information to evaluate and eventually conclude.

Thinking critically is basically manifested thru the following:

- You determine clearly what the issue is about.
-You gather enough evidence or information regarding the facts of the issue.
-You examine the data that you gathered whether it is bias or not.
-You examine the logic behind the evidence.
-You consider different types of information such as first-hand accounts, statistics, factual reporting, etc.
-You look at all angles and analyze if all perspectives have been considered.

Adults usually have the better critical thinking tools than kids because of the information that has been acquired through time. It is best that kids are taught to think critically at an early age in order to instill in them a more investigative mind and a keen sense of reasoning out things.

When it comes to teaching kids at an early age, here are some ideas you can try out to nurture their critical thinking:

1. Be open-minded. When in a conversation, observe then ask questions later. Keep the conversation open so that you can get the child to think more. Ask open-minded questions then make observations. Through this, you can see how a child improves in thinking more analytically.

2. Discuss Two Sides of Reason. When your kid matures, he/she will eventually argue with you because of different information that he/she may have gathered from magazines, TV, etc. So when your child begins to cite reasons because of “that’s the system”, instill in him/her that this is not a great way to reason out things. Discuss the side of why it is not good.

3. Information is Not Always Equal To The Truth. Your child may gain different information over time but always remind him/her that not all the information that he/she can get is the truth. Your kid needs to know that information can be gathered anywhere and this is where critical thinking applies. Your child must be able to know which is the genuine information and which are just false statements. Encourage your child to research and seek out different forms of sources. Encourage your child to reason out based on evidence and not based on pure intuition alone.

4. Make Your Child Explain. Ask your kid how did they come up with that position or answer. This will help him/her think in a more analyzed way and become more aware of his/her ability to reason out things. By asking questions to your child, he/she will be encouraged to seek answers that will clarify and satisfy his/her position.

5. Respect His/Her Opinion. When you disagree with the point of your child, never bring him/her down. Respect his/her reason and try to explain yours in a subtle way. If you let him/her acquire information from you thru an encouraging manner, you have the best chance that he/she will agree with your disposition.

Critical thinking is something that you definitely need to equip each and every day of your life. The more you think critically of things, the better chance that you get to learn new stuff and acquire the correct information that is needed. Also, if you think critically, you have the lesser chance of being misled by other people. A sharp mind is always a tool for success.

Did you know that Albert Einstein was a Genius? Read More here

This little game may seem simple at first as it can be played by anyone at any time. But the more you play it the harder it becomes!

How to play:

Taking your whole name i.e. Kevin O’Connor, you need to find TWO objects that start with the same letter as the letters in your name.

So, I would take the first letter, K, and find two objects that start with K. I will choose Kangaroo and Kite.

Now I take the next letter, E, and do the same. Elephant and Egg

And so on.

Rules:

1. You must not repeat the same object.

2. Spend no more than 30 seconds on each letter which means you need to find two objects every thirty seconds.

3. Don’t use the internet to find objects! It will defeat the purpose of the Brain Name Game. You need to use the power of your brain.

4. if you are having difficulty then move on to the next letter.

5. Don’t start a new name until you’ve completed the current one.

6.It might take several days before you complete the whole game so don’t worry!

7. Most importantly, post your results in the comments below!

Not all people have exceptional communication skills, thus there are those who excel compared to others. Usually, those who are great with their communication skills tend to have a better personality because they can easily converse with other people. Though not everyone are equal, the chance to improve your communication skills can be achieved though proper practice. The interpersonal relationships that you have with people are affected by your communication skills.

In order to groom your personality, here are some skills that you can use.

1) Speak in an Intelligent Way. Try to speak on a slower pace to help you find the proper words and showcase thoughtfulness. Pause at important key points because this adds emphasis with regards to the specific point that you want your listener/s to realize.

2)  Speak Politely. It’s better to start a conversation or a speech with a greeting. This would initialize everything and set up the mood.

3) Speak Confidently. When you communicate with others, take note of your body language. Do not slouch. Do not hide your face. Speak in a confident way. Show the person you are conversing with that you are not ashamed of what you are saying. Always remember that your body stance and body language can add to your communication skills, thus, you should always showcase confidence.

4) Speak More Articulately. Use words that you are familiar with. Pronounce words clearly and avoid using words that you are unsure to pronounce. Use what you know and avoid mistakes by not using unfamiliar words.

5) Speak in a Polished Way. When answering a question, never answer with a single word. Add more words to affirm your answer. This will help in clearing your answer and getting your point across.

6) Speak in a Sensitive Way. Observe your listeners and make sure that they are listening or responding to what you are saying in a positive way. It’s up to you how you could turn the situation around. Make use of your hands and eyes to maintain interest from your listener/s.

7) Speak with Power. When you speak, speak as clear as you can. Never whisper or shout. It is best that you utilize declarative sentences that are short and concise. Always mean what you are saying. Delete ineffective connectors in your sentences. Say things straight to the point.

Always remember that practice is very important to enhance your communication skills. You can try practicing in front of a mirror or simply record what you are saying. By doing this, you can analyze and correct your mistakes. Once you have mastered these skills, you can definitely see that your personality is shining. Don’t let your communication skills dictate your whole personality. Always keep in mind that you can always improve if you only allot proper attention and determination to do so.

Just click play and enjoy

The role of confidence in a person’s success is essential. Success is hard to achieve if you do not have confidence in yourself. It is understandable that not everyone easily have self-confidence but the good thing about it is that it can be improved. Self-confidence can be achieved one step at a time. The great speakers who delivered the greatest speeches also took some time in order to accomplish their tasks. The feeling of fear and the possibility of failure are detractors to anyone’s self-confidence. You are the only one who could change this.

Below are tips to develop your own self-confidence:

1) Look at Yourself and Change Your Perception. It is best to start with how you see yourself. When you learn to accept yourself, you will easily learn that others will also accept you. Never down yourself and feel less important because if you do, others will perceive you as this as well. If you think you need a makeover to feel better then do it. It is very important that you accept yourself for who you really are. If you decide to have a makeover, then go shop for new clothes, get a new haircut. Whatever you look in the end, the important part is that you finally accept yourself and increase your confidence.

2) Observe Other People. You can see thru others how they utilize their confidence. Observe the successful people or the most outgoing ones, they have definitely mastered being self-confident. Once you have observed carefully, you can eventually incorporate it within you. Choose vital points that are positive that you want to emulate, then incorporate.

3) Confront Your Fear/s. Having low self-confidence typically coincides with having a fear of something which holds you back. If your fear is talking to a huge crowd of people, then you should work on it. You can practice by talking to a group of friends, then choose a larger group as your confidence starts to build up.

4) Strengths & Weaknesses. At this point, you already have analyzed yourself, others, and your fears. It is now time to know your strengths and weaknesses. Even though you are on the stage of rebuilding your self-confidence, never forget that you also have a positive side. You also have good features that you can enhance once you have acquired better self-confidence. The weaknesses that you would realize should be well-focused on. You can work on them one by one. As soon as you eliminate each weakness, you can eventually find yourself with more strengths.

5) Compliment Others. Always remember that it feels good to receive good words from other people, so give good words to others as well. The more you compliment other people, the more other people can return the favor. A compliment from another person definitely provides a huge boost with regards to one’s self-confidence.

Self-confidence seems hard to gain especially if you have been a shy person ever since you were a kid. But it’s never too late to change. Find the confidence in yourself and enhance it. Always remember that in the end, you will always control the outcome of your life. So go and build your confidence up, believe in yourself.

The genius of Albert Einstein has been attributed to intelligence increasing techniques he famously used. These were developed over 15-20 years in his life, so his progress was both slow and tedious. The basic things he did to increase his intelligence are detailed below

1. He would engage all his senses when it came to thinking.

In other words, he would think about the taste, smell, touch, sight and sound implications of what he was thinking. Obviously, this is extremely difficult to do in real life, because we don’t tend to think about problems in this way. However, the secret here is that over time, the different areas of the brain associated with the different senses would automatically become engaged without thinking about them to provide more brainpower. So where normally we would use 1-2 brain areas to think about something (e.g visual and logical), Einstein was using 7-8 areas (the senses which are automatically engaged, logical, creativity areas etc), therefore meaning he was literally using more of his brain to solve problems.

2. He made consistent use of visualisation in his thought experiments.

He would see the images in his mind and play about with them with the senses as above. The secret here is that when you see an image in a deep mental state, the subconscious and unconscious minds can take the image as being its own creation, and therefore use their own resources to determine a solution and develop the image. In other words, Einstein developed a strong connection to the subconscious and unconscious minds and used their great mental capacity to solve his problems.

3. He used to sleep a lot.

This is not just any sleep, but targeted sleep with specific goals in mind. Einstein used to sleep for 10-11 hours every night and when you sleep, you are in a subconscious and unconscious state of mind. The greater the depth of sleep, the more connected on awakening you become to parts of the subconscious and unconscious minds. For Einstein, this meant that his creativity, intuition and level of insight was completely abnormal and astronomical. His conscious mind was also made extremely sharp from the level of sleep. Therefore, he was able to have an extremely focused, and sharp mind alongside his strong subconscious connection, allowing him to solve difficult problems with ease.

What To Expect

Einstein’s strategy is simple to read on paper, yet extremely complicated to understand properly why it works. If you use Einstein’s strategy, it will be 5-10 years before you see any intelligence increase. It is therefore ineffective for the 21st century and the type of quick and fast gains you should be looking to accomplish. This is why I recommend using the modified Einstein’s version and combine it with research, so that you can increase your IQ dramatically within a 3-4 week period. The strategy is simple and much better than Einstein’s tedious and slow techniques.
Utilising a strategy similar to Einsten’s, you too can become a genius! Check out the link below to see how.

Start Becoming a Genius Today!

Nowadays, our technology driven world has made us busy almost each and every day. With this effect, we tend to lose our focus during some instances. There are so many external distractions that affect us like TV, computer games, etc. But do not be surprised to find out that the internal distractions also provide a huge impact with regards to our concentration. Stress, anger, depression or exhaustion, all of them can have a critical impact on your concentration.

If you think you need to boost your concentration and lose the mentioned distractions, you can follow the simple tips below so that you won’t have to struggle concentrating or simply forgetting vital appointments or important dates. The tips below shall provide you become focused and sharp:

1. Sleep Properly. When you are deprived of sleep, you fail to get enough to rest your mind and body. Keep in mind that when you become tired, oxygen is also deprived, thus affecting your need to produce brain chemicals which assists you in focusing. One night of being awake can lead to being forgetful or having a hard time to concentrate on a specific time. When you have a good night’s sleep, your brain takes a lot of time to rest. This can largely help you in concentrating the next day. Along with this, you should avoid using the PC or watch TV one hour before going to bed so that your mind and body can wind down in a progressive and relaxed way. An alternative to this is to read a magazine or a book instead. Take note of your relaxing space as well because this also contributes to your sleep. It is advisable to take a warm shower to help you relax before you lie in bed. Lastly, make sure that the temperature of your room is cool and that air circulates well so that you will be comfortable while resting.

2. Avoid Tension. When you become angry or stressed, there is a rush of chemicals to your brain like cortisol and norepinephrine which leads to hyperfocus. When you keep your mind thinking about stressful things or things that easily angers you, concentration will definitely be absent. The answer to this is to simply do something positive to counter the negative factors that cause your stress and anger.

3. Take A Break. Every once in a while, when at work or at school, utilize a break to get yourself together. This can greatly help in maintaining your focus or simply concentrate on a task at hand. This does not mean long breaks, but short breaks can already be helpful enough to renew your focus and concentration.

4. Appropriate Environment. When you work in an environment that helps you with concentrating, the problem of distractions can be easily deleted. You can boost your concentration if your atmosphere permits you to work in a more focused manner. Take extra effort to improve your surroundings and do what you can to make a conducive place for concentrating.

Boost your concentration by simply following the mentioned steps above. You have the choice to work on your concentration. Ease your mind and analyze the task at hand. Focus and concentrate by thinking straight, taking enough rest and improving your environment.

The Major System or the famously known as the Phonetic Mnemonic System is one of the most successful systems available today. It’s complexity depends on the person trying to master it. But do not be fooled because it would definitely take time to be mastered. Once it has been mastered, it would be a very potent tool. When this technique is mastered, it is usually utilized as a basis for some memory feats that seem to be magical in nature. Memory performers and stage magicians utilize this system to wow their crowds.
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