What Are Nootropics?

You are like a fighter jet. Your mind is the pilot. Your brain is the instrument panel. And in today’s knowledge economy, peak performance has become non-negotiable. That is if you want to have a chance of even competing in your field of choice.

So, we ask, with the seemingly limited capacity of our biology and psychology, how do we outperform the competition? More importantly though, how do we outperform our fiercest rival, ourselves?

What Contributes to Peak Performance

To begin to answer the question, we need to understand what contributes to peak performance. Going back to the analogy of you being a fighter jet, where the brain is the instrument panel and your mind is the pilot, it is obvious that the most important part of success is mindset.

We all arrive at adulthood with a worldview that has been mostly handed down to us by other people. People whom we have encountered as children. We had very little say on what they would teach us about the world. They taught us how to walk, how to talk, what foods are safe to eat and how to deal with other people.

The worldview that has been handed down to us may be healthy or toxic, helpful or not. But we did not have a choice as children. We absorbed what other people have told us about life. And no matter how toxic that worldview might have been, it got us to adulthood. It did its job.

But soon enough, we recognize that success requires a particular kind of mindset. One that will push us forward and not hold us back. Welcome to adulthood, the part of our lives where we actually now have a choice to change.

Not the Whole Story

That’s the big part of peak performance. Choice. The choice that you have to make day in and day out about how you are going to live the rest of your life. But that’s not the whole story. You need the engine to work on your machine. The instrument panel needs to work at its best if you want to reach your chosen destination at the fastest time and most efficient way possible.

Now, if you managed to have a healthy childhood, your biology will be healthy as well, all things being equal. But if you’re like most people, your biology might have suffered some level of damage from toxic stress from the environment you grew up in. How do we recover potential in these cases? And how do we maximize potential in healthy individuals? Enter Nootropics.

Enter Nootropics

In 1972, Romanian psychologist and chemist, Corneliu E. Giurgea coined the word nootropic from the Greek words νοῦς or mind, and τρέπειν meaning to bend. Nootropics are substances which improve cognitive performance. You alone are in complete control of the worldview you adopt. And Nootropics? They take care of your biology. And with both body and mind working at their best, peak performance is just around the corner.

The Science Behind Nootropics

Science has advanced dramatically. And today’s knowledge economy is partly driven by a need for reliable data. We need information that can be transformed into useful knowledge. Knowledge about bettering humanity and pushing the world forward. At the center of bettering humanity is enhancing the subjective human experience. And scientists have not stopped looking for ways to optimize human biology. Nootropics are the natural results of this quest.

Nootropics can either be synthetic or natural substances. They can be taken as daily supplements. They have very low toxicity. And they have very few side effects.

Contrary to what has been believed about the brain in the past decades, we now know that the brain constantly changes in response to many different factors from within the individual and from the environment. The brain is not a fixed and unchangeable machine by adulthood. It continuously changes throughout our lifetime. This is known as Neuroplasticity. Plus, the brain also continuously gives birth to new neurons in particular regions, known as Neurogenesis.

What this means is that you have a choice in which direction the changes in your brain architecture take, day in and day out. And Nootropics are one of the best ways you can ensure you are directing these changes in a way that maximizes your potential.

The Challenge of Stress

One of the biggest challenges today’s population face is the challenge of stress. In toxic levels, it can drastically reduce performance and productivity. It causes most illnesses known to man. And it causes billions of dollars of lost revenue, even more in healthcare costs.

Nootropics not only enhance cognitive performance. They protect the brain from succumbing to the negative effects of stress. And stress has become the price of highly demanding work environments today’s population inhabit.

In a study, Ginkgo Biloba, a natural nootropic, was found to have prevented a substantial rise in blood pressure and reduced the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, released in study participants given the substance and then later exposed to stressors.

Stress can be such a serious problem. It can cause changes down to the level of the DNA, affecting the quality of gene expression. And finding an effective buffer against such a menacing challenge may be one of the most important things we do for ourselves.

Ensuring Peak Performance

Increasing motivation, creativity, focus, willpower, and energy, and providing protection against stress are what nootropics are for. They provide some of what our brain needs to function optimally. And in today’s competitive world, making the most of everything that gives us an edge over the competition has become a necessity.

Nootropics are an excellent way of ensuring peak performance. They have been the product of humanity’s continuing search for what will help us quench our hunger for pushing past our limits and bringing the world to a meaningful place for all of us. And we are only beginning to uncover the potential of these substances. Research is still being done on nootropics. And the future looks bright for enhancing the individual subjective experience. Nootropics help us reach a state where we achieve these goals and accomplish progress.