There is a saying that you can not teach an old dog new tricks. I have heard this my entire life and it really never made any sense to me. All these poor old little dogs think that they can’t learn a new trick! So sad.
I am here to tell you that you absolutely can teach an old dog new tricks! We have the ability to learn new things at any age. Would you like to learn and grow? Welcome to neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity: the brain’s ability to change and reorganize itself throughout life, forming new neural pathways in response to experiences and stimuli. (source: GOOGLE AI)
This is fantastic! This means that the brain can literally reorganize and rewire itself. We need to have the will and desire to learn and we can. We will need to focus our attention on new things and make it a habit. I am sorry the whole learning things by osmosis just really doesn’t work for many of us.
Here are some ways to help neuroplasticity along:
- We can try new activities. The more new things that we do the more the brain will need to start to fire in different ways. This will jumpstart the process.
- We can do mental training. Mental exercises are good for keeping the mind sharp. Mindfulness and meditation are great ways to start teaching ourselves new tricks.
- We can start using our less dominant hand. When we do this the brain has to use more creative juices to do it properly. It sounds weird but it really works.
- Exercise more. Getting exercise is very good for the mind and the heart. The more we use the mind the more we can adapt to new things. If we don’t use it we can lose it. You’ve heard that saying, haven’t you?!
- Eat healthy diets. Stay away from sugars and junk. They just slow you down.
- Use time boxing. Timeboxing of 45 minutes to 90 minutes of learning should be a good and healthy time. Take breaks frequently, because then you could lose the ability to retain any new knowledge.
- Travel more. When we travel we see new and exciting things. This helps our brains wiring to create new ones. The neurons in our brains will start creating more pathways. (lots of brainy science to this so we’ll just keep it simple lol)
- Play video games. You don’t have to tell me twice! I love playing video games. This helps keep the brain sharp and alert.
- Memory games. Some examples: Chess, Crossword Puzzles, Bingo, Solitaire, Sudoku, and more.
There are a lot more ways to improve our brain’s ability to learn and grow, but this is a good start. Having great creative discussions with our peers is also very healthy for us. Creativity really helps dispel the whole old-school mentality that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
Change your thought process about what possibilities there are and you will quickly see that we can improve our minds. There really is no limit to what we can accomplish. Age has no relevance here. Do you want to learn something new? Then do it! Pour your heart into something cool and prove all those silly people wrong. Get inspired!
Conclusion
You are only limited by your own beliefs. If you believe you can or you can’t, either way, you are right. Don’t doubt your abilities to do great things. GO and conquer the day!
