7 Best Ways to Boost Mental Agility and Develop an Agile Mind

If you’ve been job hunting recently, you’ve likely encountered employers requiring their prospective employees to possess mental agility. You probably know what those two words mean on their own, but what exactly does this phrase entail?

Well, in this article, we’ll explore this concept in more detail and go over some simple ways to boost your mental agility.

So buckle up, and let’s get started!

What Is Mental Agility?

Mental agility is the ability to think flexibly, adapt to uncertainty, and overcome any challenges life throws your way.

But what exactly does that mean? We’ll give you a mental agility example to help you understand the concept. Let’s take a quick trip to the recent past and imagine two restaurant owners trying to stay afloat in the customer drought that occurred during the pandemic.

In this less-than-ideal situation, the first owner decides there’s nothing he can do but wait for the pandemic to end. He sits every day, hoping for good news and wondering why luck is never on his side.

On the other hand, the second owner realizes that waiting will do him no good. So, instead, he looks for alternative ways to reach customers—by starting a delivery service, for instance. Over time, his business keeps growing, while the first owner ends up closing his restaurant.

By now, you’ve surely guessed which owner is more mentally agile. Of course, it’s the one who faced change and uncertainty head-on, adjusting his mindset and quickly developing an innovative solution that allowed him to thrive and move forward.

The Importance of Having Mental Agility

Mental agility is considered one of the most crucial skills in today’s fast-paced professional world. Employers want flexible, adaptable employees who see change as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

Therefore, if you hope to advance in your career, don’t just work on strengthening your resume; train mental agility too.

Of course, some career paths require greater mental agility than others, especially when they involve responsibility and leadership.

Here are a few examples:

• CEOs and business owners
• Managers
• Directors
• Coaches
• Team leaders
• Supervisors

While the ability to think flexibly and freely is particularly appreciated at work, mental agility comes in handy in your daily life too. As we’ve become aware over the last few years, nothing is entirely safe or set in stone. So, when change inevitably happens, it’s better to be capable of calmly working through it and rediscovering your own path.

7 Ways to Develop Your Mental Agility

To some people, mental flexibility is as natural as breathing. However, they are a rare breed, as everyone else needs deliberate effort to reach this state. If you belong to the second category, here are a few tips to help you get started.

#1. Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

You know how you love eating sweets even though they aren’t good for you? Well, your brain’s relationship with comfort is very similar to that. When faced with discomfort, your mind will create anxiety, fear, and self-doubt, forcing you to retreat to a comfortable place.

Yet this comfortable place does nothing to help you grow. On the contrary, it offers no challenges and makes you stagnant and risk-averse. And such a state isn’t conducive to effective problem-solving and creative thinking.

The only way to pull yourself out of this “slump” is to purposefully put yourself in uncomfortable situations. Yes, it might feel overwhelming at first. But the more you do it, the better you will handle discomfort. And slowly but surely, your mindset will change.

#2. Engage in Reading

A girl reading a book to boost mental agility

If you’re not quite ready to jump into the frying pan that is the zone of discomfort, there are other ways to train your mental agility. For instance, you could stimulate your mind with a book instead.

What kinds of books should you read, though? Should you exclusively stick to self-improvement readings on the topic of mental agility?

Well, not necessarily. Of course, you’ll benefit from such books too. But you could also read classics, contemporary literature, or basically anything you find stimulating. Ultimately, the goal is to better understand different perspectives, and fiction can be a powerful tool for achieving that.

#3. Come Up With Multiple Solutions to a Problem

Come Up With Multiple Solutions to a Problem

Here’s a fun brain exercise; when you encounter a problem, try to look at it from various angles and think of as many solutions as possible. It doesn’t matter if you already have a tried-and-true solution in store. Before applying it, consider all other possibilities.

And why would you bother coming up with several solutions if you already know a good one? Because that’s how you train mental agility. If you do it frequently enough, the process of changing your perspective and considering alternative paths will become automatic. At that point, you will have reached supreme mental agility.

#4. Preserve Your Mental Energy

A women relaxing to boost mental agility

You’ve surely experienced days when you feel fine physically but are exhausted mentally. If you examine the times you’ve felt like this more carefully, you’ll notice that such days typically involve more decision-making than usual.

By this, we don’t mean some big, life-changing decisions. Even something as simple as “What should I eat today?” counts as a decision. And each of these choices, no matter how big or small, slowly deplete your mental energy, putting you in a state where you naturally need to retreat to your comfort zone.

So, how do you avoid exhaustion and the dreaded comfort zone? The solution is simple—develop healthy routines. Routines ensure you don’t have to make many decisions during the day, saving your mental energy for important tasks.

#5. Focus on Others

Two people having a conversation to boost mental agility

A great—and hopefully fun—way to boost your mental agility is to talk to other people. Exchanging thoughts, perspectives, and experiences allows you to see the world in a new light and consider points of view you never have before.

As a result of this, your mind becomes more open, creative, and capable of dealing with unfamiliar situations.

In addition, getting out of your own head can do you nothing but good. It’s easy to get stuck in your ways and put your mind on autopilot when you have no outside input. However, every new interaction will surely bring a surge of fresh energy and stimulation into your life.

#6. Eliminate Distractions

A girl being distracted

Yes, we know it’s nearly impossible to ignore the pings on your phone or the constant flood of emails in your inbox. But if you want to develop your mental agility skills, that’s just what you have to do.

Set aside a specific time for each task on your agenda and focus your mental efforts on nothing else. That’s the only way to allow yourself to truly engage and explore the problem from all angles.

And another small tip—multitasking also counts as a distraction. Don’t try to do several things at once, believing it will make you a more flexible thinker. It doesn’t work, and you’ll needlessly waste your mental energy.

#7. Develop a Growth Mindset

Have you heard of the terms “growth mindset” and “fixed mindset?” The former refers to the belief that everyone can change, develop, and grow with enough effort and determination, while the latter limits a person to a predetermined set of traits and abilities.

Unsurprisingly, people with a fixed mindset are often characterized by poor mental agility. That’s because they don’t believe there is a way to change their personalities and ways of thinking. To them, these things are set in stone.

However, mental agility is all about training, growth, and embracing change. As a result, if you want to improve your agility, you need to develop a growth mindset by using empowering language, focusing on learning and seeing failures as opportunities.

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The Importance of Developing Mental Agility in Children

As a rule, behaviors and mindsets you adopt as a child tend to stick longer and become a more permanent part of your personality. For example, if your parents taught you never to throw away food, you’re likely to stick to this rule even as an independent adult.

For precisely that reason, mental agility is a crucial skill to develop in children—one that is sure to positively impact their lives as a whole. Children with agile minds are more likely to be self-reflective, confident, communicative, and creative. In addition, their critical thinking and problem-solving abilities will be far beyond those of their peers.

So, how would you go about developing mental agility in children? As teachers and caretakers will tell you, games are always the best bet. Children pick up new skills and mindsets rather quickly as long as they are presented in a fun and digestible form.

For example, you could let them piece together a jigsaw, give them a Rubik’s cube, or play Pictionary and tic-tac-toe. And if you’re feeling particularly creative, scavenger hunts, games of Simon Says, and obstacle courses are always fantastic ideas!

Mental Agility Games & Exercises

Who says you have to be a kid to have fun? Even as an adult, you can boost your mental agility through games that challenge your thinking.

Here are a few examples:

• Chess. The classic board game requires focus, excellent problem-solving skills, and creative thinking, quickly increasing your IQ and mental capabilities.
• Crosswords. Expand your vocabulary and sharpen your mind by solving a few crossword puzzles every day. Not only is the game great for your brain, but it’s also rather relaxing!
• Sudoku. If you are fonder of numbers than words, sudoku is an excellent alternative to crosswords. Filling out a 9x9 grid with numbers from 1 to 9 will really challenge your critical thinking and deduction.
• Letter scrambles. Puzzles that ask you to come up with as many words as possible when presented with a scramble of letters help you develop vocabulary and think outside the box.
• Memory games. Write ten words on a piece of paper and memorize them. Then, after a five-minute break, try to write down as many words as you remember without looking at your list. Repeat this process daily, and you’ll notice your mind sharpening over time.

Key Takeaways

Signs of mental agility include thinking fast on your feet, embracing uncertainty, and adapting to unforeseen circumstances.

While some people may naturally have an agile mind, others can boost their agility by:

• Having experiences outside of their comfort zone
• Focusing on other people’s perspectives or reading about them
• Developing a growth mindset
• Eliminating distractions
• Looking at problems from new angles
• Playing mental agility games

And remember—when it comes to training your mind, a little goes a long way, as long as you are consistent!