Our basal ganglia (one of our brain’s memory systems) opens wonderful windows into past memories and events on one hand, while it can also shut down our ability to risk change and avoid adventures the next. Think of the brain’s basal ganglia as a backpack that contains everything we ever did or experience. It holds our best advances and our worst mistakes. When we reach for an object without much effort or step up stairs without having to think about each step, we can thank our basal ganglia’s built in memory for movement.  The opposite is also true, when we face criticism for faring poor ..read more

Have you slammed onto ruts or slipped into any boring routines lately? If so do get ready  for a fun new adventure that involves our magnificent working memory! Let’s say we’d like to learn a new technology such as Instagram, or accept an invitation to propose a digital innovation. Regardless of age, both cases  take more working memory, and both rely less on traditions or habits that pop up from our brain’s comfort zones. Ready to propel your life, learning and leadership to new heights as a senior? Or would a day of feeling good about our memory’s  resilient capabilities ..read more

Why ask, “How are we smart?” rather than ask, “How smart are we? Are you aware that we each come equipped with at least eight intelligences? Or did you know that IQ is fluid, and not fixed or stagnant? If we seniors are aware that intelligences grow with use, and regardless of age we’ll also likely not be surprised that we can grow and refine all or some unique intelligences daily. Sound like a worthwhile reason for adopting a growth mindset that engages fluid intelligences, and letting go of a fixed or stagnant mindset? HOW DOES A GROWTH MINDSET IMPACT OUR INTELLIGENCES? We likely remember ho ..read more

For Helen Keller, “ Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all.”  And it’s no surprise that Keller’s adventures tended to occur mostly outside in nature. When we think of seniors we know however,  do we think of risk, adventure and nature’s wonderland? Not so much, some seniors admit. Yet such risk is a key condition that fosters health, resilience and prosperity in our elderly years. How then could adventure and a dollop of risk help us to navigate with intention those darker spaces the world slips us into at times? Perhaps the last person who may see our ruts is ours ..read more

Healthy choices are to the amygdala, what healthy food is to the stomach! We ignore our amygdala to our mental and emotional peril. As our brain’s vital processing center for emotions, the amygdala connects our emotions to other key brain abilities, that regulate memories, learning and our senses. An untamed amygdala can create disruptive feelings and devastating symptoms. For a tiny sac of neurons,  our amygdala plays a big role. It can zap an ordinary day into havoc – like lightning strikes an iron rod. Long before we’re aware of it, our inner dragon moods can emerge from amygdala stora ..read more

Our brains respond to fear by shutting down and so if we hope to sustain growth we may wish to address fears that could be holding us back. Certainly fear of dementia is one barrier to a sound, healthy brain, and yet so are other fears such as our  failure to reach and sustain perfectionism.  Donny Osmond often tells the story of riveting anxiety he felt during the filming of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, where he feared his performance would be less than perfect and that fear imprisoned him in unimaginable ways. Only when Osmond let go of the need to be perfect, did ..read more

What if we imagine five qualities or habits we most admire in friends or family members. Then let’s consider one trait at a time from our list and become that characteristic. Since we tend to criticize in others what we lack or dislike in ourselves it only makes sense to start with inner growth if we hope to improve relationships with anybody. Let’s not be afraid of missed opportunities in past, or let’s not focus on any failure to relate well to somebody we care about. Even hatred or unforgiveness can give personal  meaning and purpose to growth if we consider growth mindset as a way to ..read more

Even when depressed and down we are all still unique, and we each deserve unique approaches to healing depression that give us hope for a better future. Not that it’s easy, and at times it requires medications, therapy or both to help balance chemicals that work against wellbeing. Especially critical is the ability to feel heard but not judged when we feel sad, lonely or depressed. In fact criticism can keep us defaulting back to fears that caused us to be anxious or down in the first place. Some seniors even run to embrace a project or event that appears much easier. We often hear or witness ..read more

A growth or fixed mindset define our senior years and determine whether we burn strong or burn out after retirement. In any day we experience both tamed emotions for growth, and untamed or fixed emotions. Emotional responses to challenges such as loneliness or isolation during a pandemic, will determine our mindset and leave us emotionally well or moody and emotionally impaired. Research shows we generate 60K to 80K thoughts daily. About 80% of these are typically negative (or fixed mindset thoughts). We cannot improve 80K thoughts. But what if we improve the first thought of our day in a way ..read more

Do we lie about our age, or do others find inspiration from our maturity and mindfulness that come with a few wrinkles? Perhaps more importantly – can we laugh and glance lightheartedly at age because it rocks for us? If predictable answers fly from our tongue like corn pops over heat, we may want to investigate and weigh a few growth mindset viewpoints? If friends describe us as gracious and see us as set in our ways, it may be time to step into adventures that come when we choose to feel alive and chase curiosity? Myth may have it that aging should be about gracious living, but rejuvenating ..read more