What do you think?
Rate this book
The Sharp Solution: A Brain-Based Approach for Optimal Performance
Train Your Brain to Energize Your Life In The Sharp Solution , Heidi Hanna introduces readers to a brain-based approach to realistic, sustainable energy management that supports a healthier brain, and as a result a healthier, happier body. By engaging our brain, we can strategically re-wire how we operate, creating more energy and improving productivity while simultaneously reducing stress. As a result, we become more focused and productive, flexible and resilient, and able to sustain higher levels of health and performance over time. These critical aspects of "cognitive fitness"—mental strength, flexibility, and endurance—allow us to function at our best and enjoy life to the fullest. We all know what we should be doing to create a more optimal life—eating better, exercising regularly, sleeping more, taking time to relax, and having more balance in our life. But The Sharp Solution enables you to actually make those changes to your habits.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 30, 2013
15 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 9, 2018
There’s nothing entirely new here, the author made that clear at the start, but this book offers great tips for developing and maintaining cognitive fitness and all the good stuff that comes with it.
There are 5 phases to a great brain outlined here:
1. A balanced brain - learn to relax (this takes practice because our minds are always busy)
2. Engage your heart - tap into the passions of your heart to boost motivation and engagement
3. Focus your mind - don’t multitask
4. Energise your body - eat right, sleep 6+ hours and exercise
5. Strengthen your community - cultivate good social support
This is a good and easy read for anyone who wants to get healthier and understand the whys, whats and hows.
There are 5 phases to a great brain outlined here:
1. A balanced brain - learn to relax (this takes practice because our minds are always busy)
2. Engage your heart - tap into the passions of your heart to boost motivation and engagement
3. Focus your mind - don’t multitask
4. Energise your body - eat right, sleep 6+ hours and exercise
5. Strengthen your community - cultivate good social support
This is a good and easy read for anyone who wants to get healthier and understand the whys, whats and hows.
January 2, 2025
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. Most people will already be familiar with the majority of the advice given, a lot of it is as basic as could be (hydrate, get enough sleep, limit distractions, etc) but if they were easy to just implement and be done, we would never need reminders. And they're not. It's good to have the information all brought together, and I appreciated that the author backed them up by studies, making the potential results for your efforts more tangible.
April 28, 2020
Makes some remarks that trivialize the importance of valuable studies. The author provides the guise of scientific rigidity, yet says she picked some of her “favourites”.
Comparing the heart and brain to CEO and CFO, the metaphor grows old really fast. The author clings to it so long that the endless hypotheticals cause the argument she’s trying to make to lose all traction. She also grossly oversimplifies the connection between the two, and their roles (maybe a fault of the metaphor).
Either way, still willing and on the ride. I’m intrigued. The content has potential.
The author then goes on to talk about more hypothetical situations - a former classmate leaving his wife, kids, and job and going to live on an island to combat stress. It was so hard to follow because her ideas are so metaphorical and theoretical.
She seems to write/read like she thinks her audience is ignorant. She makes several comments that lead me to believe she has some issues with body image and obesity.
The author does make some interesting points I would like to look into further - in terms of comparisons between mental strengthening and other muscle strengthening (periods of stress and rest) as well as gyrophication (sp?).
She became less loathsome as the book carried on. She offers good basic advice but I don’t know that it’s revolutionary. There are certainly better resources out there with more in depth information. However, an okay starter.
Comparing the heart and brain to CEO and CFO, the metaphor grows old really fast. The author clings to it so long that the endless hypotheticals cause the argument she’s trying to make to lose all traction. She also grossly oversimplifies the connection between the two, and their roles (maybe a fault of the metaphor).
Either way, still willing and on the ride. I’m intrigued. The content has potential.
The author then goes on to talk about more hypothetical situations - a former classmate leaving his wife, kids, and job and going to live on an island to combat stress. It was so hard to follow because her ideas are so metaphorical and theoretical.
She seems to write/read like she thinks her audience is ignorant. She makes several comments that lead me to believe she has some issues with body image and obesity.
The author does make some interesting points I would like to look into further - in terms of comparisons between mental strengthening and other muscle strengthening (periods of stress and rest) as well as gyrophication (sp?).
She became less loathsome as the book carried on. She offers good basic advice but I don’t know that it’s revolutionary. There are certainly better resources out there with more in depth information. However, an okay starter.
May 8, 2015
This one landed on my DNF pile. This wasn't anything new or helpful. And as soon as I hit the first commercial for their website were additional tools could be found, I was out. Believe it or not, that first commericial was before the 45 minute mark. I didn't waste a lot of time on this. It felt like it was going to be a really long infomercial.
August 18, 2021
The is an excellent book for most anyone. There were several tale-tell signs I found that I experience because of bad habits (for me - lack of sleep was primary).
What you do in your daily routine, whether sitting for extended periods of time, dissatisfaction with most any area of your life, not getting enough sleep or falling into a routine that no longer challenges you, has an effect on your brain and brain health. Dr. Hanna sets forth both symptomology and practical solutions so that you can retain or improve your cognitive health and lead a healthier, happier life.
What you do in your daily routine, whether sitting for extended periods of time, dissatisfaction with most any area of your life, not getting enough sleep or falling into a routine that no longer challenges you, has an effect on your brain and brain health. Dr. Hanna sets forth both symptomology and practical solutions so that you can retain or improve your cognitive health and lead a healthier, happier life.
April 10, 2020
CFO is the important monitor of elements in your brain. Obese people react to images of picture very fast compared to slim people. Stress mode to rest mode during work. Take periodic rest.The optimal performance depends on how well you prep your brain for the delivery day.
January 8, 2020
"I hate throwing food away... In the end there are only two ways this story can end; I throw the food away and accept that it's more than I needed or I eat the extra food, which is still more than I need but I"m not wasting it. We either waste it or we waist it. The choice is ours."
February 17, 2014
Summary: Food is neither your friend nor your enemy; it is fuel. Maintaining steady blood sugar levels throughout the day is the main purpose of the fuel. Balance and moderation to meal planning and snacking is key. When you take care of the body, brain and mind, your overall performance improves.
Detail:
I have heard Dr. Hanna's work presented in a seminar series (sponsored at the time by Janus Funds). I enjoyed her down-to-earth presentations and the scope of her ideas. I think she does a good job of broadly covering a pretty wide variety of interrelated subjects: psychology, physiology, and nutrition.
The area that impressed me the most is her work on the role of food. I think a lot of people have a very confused relationship with food. Some people see it as friend (i.e. using food for comfort) or as an enemy (such as with anorexia or bulimia). Unlike other addictive or destructive behaviors, those involving food are particularly pernicious because you can't simply avoid food. Without it, you die - duh.
Dr. Hanna does a very good job of positioning food as what it is - FUEL.
When you view food this way, I think it changes the way you interact with it. You make better choices, both in the type as well as the quantity of food. Given how many fad or named diets are out there, it would be easy to jump on one of the diet bandwagons and promote it.
While Dr. Hanna seems to lean toward a Mediterranean approach (light on meat and processed carbs, heavy on vegetables and fruits), she doesn't preach it hard. Instead, she talks about balanced meals and moderate portion sizes.
She emphasizes managing blood sugar throughout the day by managing meal contents and sizes and strategic snacking between formal meals.
Her approach is not particularly groundbreaking. Even if you just pick up a health or fitness magazine once a year, you have probably encountered many of the ideas and strategies that Dr. Hanna discusses. However, the usefulness of this book is her simple presentation and her straightforward language.
Detail:
I have heard Dr. Hanna's work presented in a seminar series (sponsored at the time by Janus Funds). I enjoyed her down-to-earth presentations and the scope of her ideas. I think she does a good job of broadly covering a pretty wide variety of interrelated subjects: psychology, physiology, and nutrition.
The area that impressed me the most is her work on the role of food. I think a lot of people have a very confused relationship with food. Some people see it as friend (i.e. using food for comfort) or as an enemy (such as with anorexia or bulimia). Unlike other addictive or destructive behaviors, those involving food are particularly pernicious because you can't simply avoid food. Without it, you die - duh.
Dr. Hanna does a very good job of positioning food as what it is - FUEL.
When you view food this way, I think it changes the way you interact with it. You make better choices, both in the type as well as the quantity of food. Given how many fad or named diets are out there, it would be easy to jump on one of the diet bandwagons and promote it.
While Dr. Hanna seems to lean toward a Mediterranean approach (light on meat and processed carbs, heavy on vegetables and fruits), she doesn't preach it hard. Instead, she talks about balanced meals and moderate portion sizes.
She emphasizes managing blood sugar throughout the day by managing meal contents and sizes and strategic snacking between formal meals.
Her approach is not particularly groundbreaking. Even if you just pick up a health or fitness magazine once a year, you have probably encountered many of the ideas and strategies that Dr. Hanna discusses. However, the usefulness of this book is her simple presentation and her straightforward language.
September 10, 2017
The author did a good job of consolidating some great work out there, and provides a pretty good program of advice at the end.
February 10, 2014
the book has some interesting ideas. it goes into a bit of the scene on why our brain acts the way it does, with several suggested techniques on how to work more effectively and deal with stress. it could have explained the science a bit more for the understanding of a lay man, but it was always comprehensible.
August 3, 2015
Practical tips to change your habits, destress, and focus on your purposes in life, the goals being to improve your health, energy, relationships and ultimately feel happier: having more energy also means being able to give more to whom we care about. An easy read, with some commonplaces here and there, but efficient in delivering its message.
June 14, 2014
A rehash of mindfulness with very little substance. The one plus to this book is the author' s ability to simplify the role of the brain vs. what you desire. Otherwise, it was very very light on what to do with only a nibble of activities one can use to calm and focus.
September 11, 2016
Nothing new here.
September 2, 2016
De-Stress (e.g. three minutes meditation three times a day), sleep, be active (say, brisk walking), ...
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews