What are Brain Snacks? Well, there's an old adage, "Success leaves tracks, and failure does, too." In other words, if someone is particularly successful in an area of his or her life, then there are things that person is doing day in and day out to produce that success. Likewise, if someone is particularly unsuccessful at something, there are probably things he or she has done that have become obstructions. So, in essence, Brain Snacks are effective ideas and strategies, with detailed tactics, to help you turbo-charge your life. They're delicious and nutritious pieces of information that can help you become happier, healthier, and more successful in your life and, ultimately, make the world a better place. So, before reading a book whose origin and purpose are so centered on ideas, tactics, and strategies, it's important to understand how we define those three words in our language. Merriam Webster Dictionary defines an idea as "a formulated thought or opinion;" a tactic as "a device for accomplishing an end;" and a strategy as "a careful plan or method." In this way, it's pretty clear how those three words are related: an idea can engender a solution to a certain problem, and that solution would require a strategy, which would in turn comprise of various implementable tactics. In sum, the idea is the prime mover, the strategy is the plan, and the tactics are the ideological tools. The ideas, tactics, and strategies in this book have been helpful to me throughout my life, and my hope is that they will be just as helpful to you. The book is broken up into four parts: Your Brain, Your Body, Your Life, and x Your World. There's a good reason for this order. Everything we do begins with our brain. Life for us might as well not exist without our brain, since everything we perceive takes place inside of it. All our thoughts, actions, habits, reflections, emotions-everything that constitutes existing-originates from our brain. Therefore, on the road to changing ourselves and those around us for the better, the brain is the first destination. Once we have achieved a level of mastery over our brain, we can begin to control our body. We can gear our habits toward improving our health, fitness, and well-being, and we can maintain those habits over time-but only if we have disciplined our brain to do so. Once we have control over our brain and our body, we are well on our way to controlling all the other, less tangible aspects of our life, from building confidence to developing a stronger character. And as you will read on the next page, we cannot expect to change our world for the better if we cannot change ourselves for the better first.
About the Author: Alex Southmayd was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and raised in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Groton School, a prep school in Groton, Massachusetts, with honors. At Groton, he was Vice President of the Debate Team, President of the French Club, a head board member of the Groton Community Service Board, a writer for the school newspaper, the lead trumpeter in the Jazz Band, a member of the varsity squash team, and an All-League squash player. He scored 800, 800, and 770 on the Critical Reading, Writing, and Mathematics sections of the SAT, respectively, and he is an AP Scholar with Distinction. Alex also qualified to sit for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. His favorite area of study is foreign languages, and he is fluent in French. Alex is a lifeguard, he lives in Boston, and he is the class of 2015 at Amherst College.