The Learning Mindset: 8 Simple Practices That Boost Your Intelligence

We live in an age obsessed with shortcuts to getting smarter – brain-boosting supplements, focus apps, sleep headphones, and “productivity pills” that promise to unlock hidden genius.
But if you’ve ever tried a few, you already know the truth: none of them really work.
The human brain doesn’t upgrade like software. It grows through effort, reflection, and habits that sharpen thinking one day at a time.

For years, I chased the same mirage – reading every article about faster learning, stacking techniques, and optimizing my mornings. Eventually, I learned something more important than all of that: learning isn’t about speed, it’s about depth.

The smartest people I’ve met – scientists, leaders, artists, and mentors – all have one thing in common. They practice habits that make them better learners, not just better performers. These aren’t hacks. They’re mindsets in action.

Let’s look at eight of them – simple, science-backed habits that can reshape how you learn and think.

1. Teach to Learn: The Feynman Technique
Richard Feynman, the Nobel Prize–winning physicist, had a notebook labeled “Things I Don’t Know.” His rule was simple: if he couldn’t explain something clearly to someone else, he didn’t truly understand it.

Modern research proves him right. Students who teach a topic to others retain 50% more than those who only reread or review. Teaching forces us to process, organize, and re-explain – deepening comprehension through effort.

Try this: pick one thing you’ve learned this week – how an engine works, why the sky looks blue, or the basics of negotiation. Then explain it aloud to someone else.
If they don’t get it, refine your explanation until they do. If no one’s around, teach it to your dog, your mirror, or a voice recorder.
The moment you can explain an idea simply is the moment you truly own it.

2. Quiz Yourself: Retrieval Beats Review
We often mistake familiarity for understanding. Rereading notes or highlighting paragraphs feels productive, but it’s deceptive.
The real magic happens when you pull information out of your memory – not when you push it in.

In one landmark study, students who tested themselves remembered 50% more a week later than those who only reread. Retrieval practice is like resistance training for your brain – every recall strengthens the memory path.

Here’s an easy way to practice: after reading an article or a book chapter, close it and write down everything you remember.
Better yet, use AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude to quiz you:

“Read this article and ask me 5–10 open-ended questions. Evaluate my answers and help me fill gaps.”

You’ll be amazed how quickly recall improves when you stop reviewing and start retrieving.

3. Walk It Out: Movement Sparks Creativity
I’ve long had a habit of pacing when I think. I thought it was nervous energy until I read the Stanford study showing that a short 15-minute walk can increase creative output by 60%.

Walking boosts blood flow, releases dopamine, and activates the brain’s default network – the part that connects ideas in unexpected ways.
As one writer beautifully said, “Walking is thinking at three miles per hour.”

When you’re stuck on a problem, don’t force it. Get up and walk. Take a 20-minute stroll, and let your thoughts breathe.
Or try a variation I love: pick a color, say blue, and look for all things blue around you as you walk. It resets your attention and helps you see your world with fresh eyes.

The best ideas rarely come at a desk. They arrive mid-stride.

4. Make It Harder: The Power of Desirable Difficulty
Here’s a counterintuitive trick: make your learning a little harder.

In one Princeton study, students who read material in an ugly, hard-to-read font remembered 14% more than those who read clean Arial text.
The friction forced deeper engagement – a principle psychologists call “desirable difficulty.”

When things are too easy, your brain coasts. When there’s effort, it pays attention.

Next time you review notes, change the font to something challenging, like Lucida Blackletter or Comic Sans Italic.
Or when you’re revising your own writing, print it in a completely different format.
You’ll spot errors, patterns, and ideas you missed before – not because the font changed, but because your attention did.

Learning, like exercise, only works when there’s resistance.

5. Stop Multitasking: Focus Deeply, Monotask Ruthlessly
Multitasking feels efficient but it’s a productivity illusion.
In a Stanford MRI study, heavy multitaskers showed lower activity in the brain’s focus and memory centers. Every time you switch tasks, your mind pays a 40% tax in lost efficiency.

The cure is monotasking – working deeply on one thing for a set block of time.

Try this simple rhythm:

• 25 minutes of focused work, 5 minutes of rest.
• Silence notifications, close extra tabs, and keep your phone in another room.

This Pomodoro method helped me write several long pieces, stories, and books. It also helps me a lot at work. I have a Pomodoro timer on my desk.
It’s not the timer that works – it’s the commitment to focus fully, then rest intentionally.

Smart learning isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing one thing well, then letting your brain reset.

6. Build a Second Brain: Keep a Commonplace Book
Before there were productivity apps, there were commonplace books.
Thinkers from Leonardo da Vinci to Charles Darwin kept notebooks filled with quotes, sketches, discoveries, and stray thoughts. These weren’t diaries – they were living libraries of ideas.

Science now validates what those great minds knew. Writing by hand improves memory and comprehension. Collecting ideas builds connections you wouldn’t otherwise notice.

I’ve kept my own version for years – a small notebook where I jot one quote, insight, or observation each day. Over time, those fragments form patterns, and patterns become wisdom.

Try it for 30 days. Each night, record one idea, quote, or question that caught your attention.
Every Sunday, read your last seven entries and look for themes.

In a month, you’ll have the beginnings of your personal knowledge map – your own “second brain.”

7. Chew on It: Small Rituals for Focus
Here’s a quirky one – chew gum.
Cardiff University researchers found that gum-chewers scored 10% better on memory tests than non-chewers. The act increases blood flow and activates brain regions tied to alertness.

Before a big presentation or meeting, I often chew sugar-free gum while mentally rehearsing.
The moment before I start, I toss it out – leaving my focus anchored and ready.

It’s not really about gum; it’s about small rituals.
Whether it’s breathing deeply, stretching, or listening to the same focus song – the right cue can prime your brain for clarity.

8. Stay Curious: Practice Intellectual Humility
The final habit might be the most important.
Admit what you don’t know.

We all know people who are so certain they stop learning. But the truly intelligent – the scientists, innovators, and wise elders – share one trait: intellectual humility.

In a 2025 university study, students who scored high on humility tests – those most willing to question themselves – outperformed peers in reasoning, logic, and persistence. The reason is simple: when you think you already know, your mind closes. When you know you might be wrong, your mind stays open.

Here’s a habit that can quietly change you: keep a mistake log.

• Once a week, write down one thing you got wrong – a belief, a decision, a prediction.
• Note what you learned from it.

Over time, you’ll train your brain to ask the most powerful question in learning: “What am I missing?”
That single question can make you wiser than any app ever could.

The Real Secret to Getting Smarter
You don’t need more hacks.
You need fewer – practiced consistently.

• Teach it.
• Test it.
• Walk it.
• Make it harder.
• Monotask it.
• Record it.
• Chew on it.
• Question it.

These aren’t tricks for quick intelligence – they’re lifelong habits of a learning mindset.
Every one of them reflects the same truth: the act of learning changes who you are, not just what you know.

Because the people who grow, adapt, and thrive aren’t the ones who know everything – they’re the ones who never stop learning.

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In my upcoming book, I explore how to turn these habits into a daily ritual – how to make learning not a phase of life, but the way you live it.
This article is also inspired by Daniel Pink’s video on YouTube (author of the book Drive).

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