Feel like you’re falling behind? Here are seven habits to help improve your intelligence

Have you ever felt like you’re getting left behind intellectually? Like everyone around you seems smarter, learns faster, or understands things you just can’t seem to grasp and it takes forever?

And sometimes, you can’t help but think, “Am I getting dumber?”

With age, school pressure, information overload, and now the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it’s easy to feel like our minds aren’t keeping up anymore. But feeling behind doesn’t mean you’re incapable of becoming smarter. Intelligence is not simply something you are born with—it can also be developed through the way you learn, think, and challenge yourself.

So if you’ve ever felt like you’re being left behind, don’t worry, because you’re not doomed. Here are seven simple, research-backed habits that can help strengthen your mind and improve the way you learn, think, and understand the world! 

Turn the page

Ever heard of the triple R? Read, Read, and READ!

Though reading can indeed expand vocabulary, it proactively is where the real benefits come in. Reading exposes us to ideas, experiences, and perspectives that we may never encounter in our own lives.

As cognitive scientist Maryanne Wolf explains, “When we read fiction, the brain actively simulates the consciousness of another person… It allows us to try on, for a few moments, what it truly means to be another person.” Through fiction, readers gain insight into different emotions, experiences, and ways of seeing the world.

However, reading is not limited to fiction. Nonfiction books, articles, and essays provide direct information that expands our knowledge. As one participant in Helena Hollis’ study on reading and critical thinking explained,  “The more you read about the topic, the more you build your knowledgebase, and the more you then have to work with.” 

Reading lets us encounter words that ignite something in our minds to seek more answers. It allows us to indulge in worlds and ideas we may have never touched upon before, while also helping us develop the critical thinking needed to make sense of them.

Get moving 

Ever set a New Year’s resolution to walk 10,000 steps a day but it ended up still a resolution? 

While it may seem harmless to miss a few days, staying active can benefit more than just your physical health but also your wit!

According to Harvard Health (2026), Dr. Scott McGinnis recommends treating exercise almost like a prescription medication by making it a regular habit rather than something you do only when motivated. He suggests aiming for 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, each week, starting with a few minutes a day and gradually increasing the duration over time.

Brisk walking may seem simple but it increases blood flow to the brain and helps support the growth and maintenance of brain cells involved in learning and memory. In other words, every step is not only working your muscles, but also helping keep your brain active.

Feed your brain

Well, exercise wouldn’t be enough without a proper diet!

Just as our bodies need fuel to stay active, our brains also rely on the nutrients we consume every day. In their review on nutrition and cognitive health, Puri, Shaheen, and Grover (2023) emphasize that evidence supports a “whole diet approach,” meaning, a balanced diet is more beneficial for brain health than focusing on a single nutrient or food.

So instead of searching for a miracle, “brain food,” focus on building balanced meals. Foods commonly found in brain-healthy dietary patterns include fruits and vegetables, which provide vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber; legumes and whole grains, which supply fiber, B vitamins, and steady energy; nuts and olive oil, which contain healthy unsaturated fats; and fish, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids that support brain function.

At the same time, it may be helpful to limit foods high in added sugars, saturated fats, and heavily processed ingredients, which are often associated with poorer health outcomes. 

Learn a new skill

Learning shouldn’t stop once you’ve mastered what you already know.

Whether it’s learning a new language, playing an instrument, coding, drawing, cooking, or developing a new sport, acquiring a skill forces the brain to process unfamiliar information and adapt to new demands. This process is associated with neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to change with learning and experience. 

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) states that learning a new skill involves repeated patterns of brain activity, and short periods of rest can actually help strengthen what was learned. In one NIH study, 33 volunteers practiced typing a five-digit sequence while researchers observed their brain activity. During their breaks, the brain rapidly replayed the activity associated with the skill they had just practiced. 

So don’t be afraid to be a beginner. Choose something unfamiliar, practice consistently, and give your brain a new craft to master.

Question everything

Curiosity is more than simply wanting to know things—it can be a powerful tool for learning.

Instead of immediately accepting information, make it a habit to ask “Why?” “How?” “What evidence supports this?” and “Could there be another explanation?” Questioning forces you to examine information instead of simply memorizing it. This is especially important because learning is stronger when we actively engage with information. 

The U.S. Institute of Education Sciences (IES) highlights retrieval practice—actively recalling information rather than simply rereading it—as an effective learning strategy. Research reviewed by IES has found that actively retrieving information can improve later retention compared with common approaches such as rereading and highlighting. 

Questioning also turns passive learning into active thinking. When you ask why something is true, you begin looking for evidence, connections, explanations, and alternative possibilities. Hence, don’t question everything just to disagree, but question so you can understand and for you to see beyond the surface.

Solve something

Solving puzzles, mathematical problems, riddles, logic games, and real-life challenges requires you to analyze information, recognize patterns, hold information in your working memory, and evaluate possible solutions.

Even something as simple as a puzzle can require several cognitive abilities at once. In a study of 100 cognitively healthy adults aged 50 and above, researchers found that jigsaw-puzzle skill was associated with abilities including visuospatial processing, or the ability to understand the position and relationship of objects in space, working memory, reasoning, mental rotation, and cognitive flexibility.

However,  researchers also found that a 30-day puzzle intervention did not significantly improve overall visuospatial cognition compared with the control group—an important reminder that not every “brain game” automatically makes you smarter. 

The goal, therefore, isn’t to solve puzzles just to become “smarter.” It is to regularly practice thinking through difficult problems instead of immediately looking for the answer.

Don’t always choose the easiest answer. Give your brain a reason to think.

Explain what you know

Want to know if you really understand something? Try explaining it.

Teaching or explaining a concept requires you to recall information, organize your thoughts, and put complex ideas into your own words.

According to IES, retrieval practice—actively recalling information instead of simply rereading it—can improve long-term learning and retention.

Therefore, after learning something new, close your notes and ask yourself: “Can I explain this without looking?”

So, are you getting dumber?

Of course, not all of these habits will work the same way for everyone, and not everyone will suddenly become smarter by practicing them. Maybe some people are good at academics, while others are more intelligent and inclined when it comes to art, sports, leadership, writing, or other creative pursuits where they can use their imagination and express themselves differently. 

All of these habits require consistent effort for them to work. One book, one workout, one healthy meal, or one puzzle is not going to make a huge difference overnight. Still, all of these habits have one thing in common: they keep us learning, one way or another. 

In the end, a lot of us probably wonder if we’re falling behind, especially when it feels like everyone else is doing more or learning faster. But becoming smarter doesn’t happen after reading one article. It happens over time, and hopefully some of these habits can be a good place to start.