How 30 Minutes a Day Can Increase Your Intelligence

If you ask me, where humans go wrong is with their lack of patience. That, and their recent acquired taste for instant gratification.

The reality is that things take time. Richard Branson didn’t become a millionaire overnight. Madonna was not an overnight success. David Beckham was not born a superstar footballer.

That said, it’s actually pretty easy to improve yourself. Why?

Because most people don’t bother.

The majority of people don’t do a single thing to improve themselves. They just coast along expecting the world and everyone else to change for them and then get frustrated when they end up stuck in a rut.

So I’ve come up with a new theory: The Half Hour Theory .

I love it because it’s actually pretty easy to integrate into your life. The general idea is that you do one small thing every day for half an hour and then as time goes by you gradually improve. Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? You’d be surprised how many people don’t do the obvious. They do a lot of ‘talking about the obvious’ – but rarely do they take action.

This could take the form of half an hour’s reading every day. Doing so for one year will mean you have read the equivalent of 24 books – that’s more than most people read over a decade, let alone one year!

You may even want to improve the speed of your reading so you can learn faster. It could take the form of half an hour of study everyday – a new language or a new skill. This would equate to a full 6 week course by the end of the year.

This theory could even rely on you taking a half an hour every day spending time on the Internet, researching into something that really interests you. Doing this will ensure that you are always up to date with new trends and breakthroughs in your area of interest.

The point is that by dedicating a small amount of time every day to something that will expand your intelligence or improve your life in some way, you will (after a while) notice a large result.

Here’s how to implement The Half Hour Theory:

Pick something you’ve always wanted to learn or become more proficient in.

Schedule in a half an hour everyday to devote to learning the new skill (early morning is often a good time as there are no distractions, times during a commute are also great as this is dead time).

After a considerable amount of time (a few months at least) check in to see what you’ve learned. You’ll be surprised to see how much progress you’ve actually made.

Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a few sessions – simply get back on track. Remember: you’re doing more than the average person even if you fall a little bit off course.

Be patient. Don’t expect results overnight. It takes time to build up a new skill.

(Note: If you’re not sure how to get started, here’s a handy list of 60 ways to improve yourself in the next 100 days.

 

    如果你问我，人们常常做事半途而废是不是因为缺乏耐心。我认为，那是因为人们都太急功近利，习惯于眼前短暂的满足。

    事实上，做任何事情都要付出时间。理查德·布兰森不是一夜成为百万富翁的；麦当娜也不是一夜成名的；贝克汉姆更不是一出生就是足球巨星。

    其实，想要自我增值很简单。为什么？

    因为大多数人只是在想而不行动。

    大多数人都在做很多事情来提高自我。但他们只是在海边眺望世界，却总是不去行动，最后只能停滞不前，陷入低谷。

    所以，我想出了一个新理论： 半小时理论。

    我喜欢它，因为这真的很容易融入你的生活。总的来说就是每天花半小时去做一件事，随着时间的投入，就会逐步推动事情的发展。听起来简单明了，不是吗？你会惊讶每天人们都懒得去做这样简单的事情。他们只停留在口头上，而不去采取行动。

    你可以每天花半小时看书，坚持一年的话，这意味着你可以阅读24本书——这比一般人十年看的书还多，更不要说一年了！

    你还可以提高你的阅读速度，这样你就可以学得更快。每天的这半小时可以你可用来学习一种新的语言或者新的技能。一年下来这相当于学了整整六周的课程。

    根据这个理论，你还可以利用上网的时间，每天花半小时去了解感兴趣的研究。这样做可以让你了解、关注你感兴趣领域的进展和新趋势。

    其实关键就是每天通过一点点时间，去扩展视野、学习、提高自我。你最终会（过一会儿）发现这会带来多大好处。

    怎样利用半小时自我增值

    这是实施半小时理论的建议：

    挑选一些你一直想学很久或者想精通的事情。

    计划每天半小时投入到学习新的技能中（清晨往往是个很好的时间段，因为没人打扰你，上下班的时间也不错，因为这是固定）。

    一段时间后（至少几个月），检查你学习到的东西。你会惊讶得发现你所取得的进步。

    不要被自己打败，如果你延误了计划——回到正轨继续执行就好了。记住：就算你稍微偏离了计划，但是你的努力已经超过了大多数人。

    耐心再耐心。不要指望一蹴而就。学习需要投入大量的时间。