If you want to live long and happily, for heaven’s sake, keep your brain occupied.
In the old days, “success” used to be measured by say, the size of the house you own or the make of your car.
Now there’s a new metric - a much more important one:
You measure success by the stuff you allow in your brain.
If most of your day is spent thinking about interesting, stimulating things, that is a successful existence.
If most of your day is thinking about drudgery and trivia, then less so.
This is why, when we hear about billionaires who work in cubicles or still live in relatively modest houses, we're not surprised. Because they didn’t get successful thinking material goods were important. They got successful by being single-minded about the stuff they let in between their ears… stuff far more interesting than material possessions.
Rich or poor, young or old, atheist or religious, the game is the same.
The game is about consciousness. Think about this deeply.
“Every week someone will ask me, will I be OK if I do crossword puzzles?” says the neuroscientist Henry Mahncke, CEO of the company Posit Science. His answer is, “No.”
“Yes, you are thinking — you’re trying to find an anagram or a synonym — but you’re not making the brain faster or more accurate. For that, you need to challenge yourself.”
The challenge comes in the form of brain-training programs that claims they can sharpen your brain.
Trials have found that older people who play enough hours of this particular kind of game have fewer car crashes — and even, apparently, a lower risk of dementia.
It is well-proven now that humans generate new neurons, all throughout their lives. How to put these new brain cells to good use?
Well, the experiments suggest three things help: aerobic exercise, social contact, and new challenges.
As we get physically fitter and can endure longer workouts, the neurons in our brains start to fire faster, and more in sync with each other. Neurons that ‘fire together, wire together’: they give out clearer signals. This is important because clearer signals improve memory.
No excuse for being old.
‘You’re never too old to learn,’ says Dr. Lara Boyd. Slumping into a comfortable middle age may be tempting, but the alternative is more attractive. Regular mental heavy lifting through physical exercise, social contact, and new challenges and you can make your tail-end years (that you have so painstakingly added to your life) can become the best years of your life.
‘Your brain is being shaped by everything you do, but also by what you don’t do.’ says Dr. Boyd.
In 2017, the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine examined 17 possible ways to slow cognitive decline and dementia. The three most promising were:
physical activity,
blood pressure management and
cognitive training, including speed-processing programs.
Old dogs, as it turns out, have many tricks up their sleeves.
In 2019, a 19-year-old girl did something many people thought was impossible. She beat Serena Williams and won the US Open.
If that wasn’t enough to shock the spectators, what she did next was knocked them over.
She went up to Serena Williams and apologize for beating her. When the reporters rushed to her and asked, “Hey, Bianca, we love you. But what’s up with you? How come you are so compassionate, positive, and kind? What is your personal growth practice like?”
Biana Andreescu reached for her phone and pulled up a book, The Code of Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani. She said the ideas in this book changed her life.
I am reading this book and have become a member of the Mindvalley community. I am following Jose Silva’s method to do active meditation to turn problems into projects.
That’s all from me this week.
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Loved, loved, loved your post!!!! Yes, our ability to pay attention is our greatest resource and to remember to pay attention to what goes into our minds is precious beyond measurement!!!!