{"id":890,"date":"2018-02-01T14:57:23","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T14:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.innertalk.com\/blog\/?p=890"},"modified":"2020-11-14T21:36:37","modified_gmt":"2020-11-14T21:36:37","slug":"maximizing-brain-power-for-the-young-and-not-so-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innertalk.com\/blog\/2018\/02\/01\/maximizing-brain-power-for-the-young-and-not-so-young\/","title":{"rendered":"Maximizing Brain Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I want to share with you another aspect of my own voyage to discover how high it up. As I have discussed with you in the past, one of my own fears (phobias) has to do with cognitive abilities and the aging process. For me, maintaining a sharp mind is a vital part of staying young and healthy while the years continue to slide past. However, in the fall of last year, I was becoming more and more aware that my cognitive abilities were far from being razor sharp\u2014I was frequently walking rapidly into a room only to forget what I was there for and my mental abilities just did not seem to be there. Our youngest son had just started university, and while it still feels like only yesterday when I was in his shoes, I knew full well that my brainpower was now lacking. Scary! \"Embarrassed<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Brain<\/p>\n

Emotional Aspects<\/h2>\n

Now, I do of course know that stress, fears and other emotional kinds of issues can really impact mental abilities. There were other things going on in my life (in addition to becoming an empty nester), so the first thing I did was pull out some of the InnerTalk titles for dealing with these issues, such as Freedom from Stress<\/a>, Serenity<\/a>and Freedom from Fears<\/a>, in addition to Cognitive Enhancement<\/a>. In a very short time\u2014just a matter of days\u2014I felt the gears in my mind quietly click back into place. However, the entire experience did highlight to me the importance of not taking some things for granted. Staying Forever Young<\/a> is possible, but quite frankly it takes more work and effort than it did when we were young!<\/p>\n

Degrees of Focus<\/h2>\n

There are two different ways that I work with the InnerTalk\u00a0<\/a>programs. When I have a real<\/em> issue, then I just focus on it. I will find one InnerTalk program that I think fits the bill, and I will play it 24\/7. When I play programs this extensively, I can tell after the first 24-hour period if that particular program is hitting the nail on the head, if it is off center, or even missing completely. I can then decide if I wish to continue with the first program of if I would be better served choosing another program. Most of the time, the first program is perfect for me, but sometimes it can be a few-step process for me to really figure out the root cause of the issue and therefore the best way to approach it.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there can be issues that are not desperately<\/em>important to me, but rather they are just things that, if fixed (or simply maintained), would provide me with that inner feeling of satisfaction. I normally think of this as ‘keeping my level of positivity topped up’<\/em> in a particular area. For these kinds of things, I will often put a number of different programs into my automatic CD changer, or into my iPhone’s play list\u2014just working my way through the entire list of programs rather than focusing on one title for a block of time.<\/p>\n

Use It or Lose It<\/h2>\n

Well, once I had dealt with the major issue as it related to my cognitive abilities, namely the stress, I decided it was important not to allow such a slippage<\/em> to occur again. Bad habits can form in any area, but I wanted not only to move out of the negative territory of lazy thinking, but rather to also move into the positive territory and actually expand on my mental abilities. And of course, we are all aware of the ‘use it or lose it’ <\/em>message, and this applies as much in the areas of cognition as it does in physical exercise. As such, I decided to go for the ‘kitchen-sink’ approach, and use every tool I could think of.<\/p>\n

My Kitchen Sink!<\/h2>\n

First of all, I filled my CD changer with titles aimed specifically at boosting brain-power\u2014Genius Power, Concentration is Easy, Powerful Memory, Cognitive Enhancement, Creative Writing, <\/em>andAccelerated Learning<\/em>. Each morning, when I came into the office, I simply turned on the CD player, and then all day long, these titles would simply play one after the other. In addition to this, I knew that using a headphone program once or twice a day would provide me with a huge boost. The headphone titles I thought that would compliment my goals included, Power Imaging Creativity is Natural<\/em>, OZO Inner Peace<\/em>, and Echo-Tech Stress<\/em>. I was doing everything in my power to instill an ‘I Can’<\/em> attitude into my psyche!<\/p>\n

As I said, our younger son had just started at university and while I had felt that those days of academia were well behind me, I decided not to give up on myself so quickly. After looking around a little, I decided to do a Coursera course offered by the University of Edinburgh, An Introduction to Philosophy<\/em>. Eldon has often talked about his passion for philosophy but I had never studied it so I did not really know what it entailed. I have to confess that, at first I did pretty badly and had to take a number of their mini tests several times before I could even get a passing grade. However, I also discovered a passion in myself for this subject, so much so that I told Eldon, “I don’t care if I suck at this. I am enjoying it so I will carry on doing it!”<\/em> If you have never studied philosophy, or if you did it in school and hated it, I would highly recommend this course. From a spiritual standpoint, this is a great way to really think about issues and in the process learn more about your self.<\/p>\n

Where There’s a Will<\/h2>\n

Time is often a huge issue for me as I almost have too much to do in too little time. When I started my course work, I really wasn’t sure how I was going to manage to fit it in. But playing the InnerTalk programs all day long in the office really must have filtered in a ‘can do’<\/em> attitude, because when it came to it, I found it pretty easy. Usually, when I would first get up in the morning, I would peruse the news or Facebook while having my first cup of tea. Now though, I will turn on my laptop computer and watch a video and take notes\u2014and the entire process is easy and fun. Of course, Coursera does make it easier too as most of the videos are only about 10 minutes long and you can pause, replay, or just come back to it later\u2014it is very flexible.<\/p>\n

Well, I completed that course and got a respectable passing grade, so I went to find another course. This time I chose Intellectual Humility<\/em>, again offered by the University of Edinburgh. I find the divisiveness in the world so distressing that I was interested in finding a solution. This time, I not only completed all of the mini tests with high grades, but I also went on to the advanced (much more technical) readings, and passed the course with 100%! I was happy! I had learned a lot, my brain training was in positive territory, and quite frankly I felt good about myself. Just because the years are clicking by, does not mean that my mental acuity has to suffer\u2014it just took a pro-active approach. And it actually got even better than that as, because of my grades and participation, I was invited to become an online mentor for the Intellectual Humility<\/em> course! \"Happy<\/a><\/p>\n

Join Me<\/h2>\n

Normally, when I discuss an issue of this kind, there is usually an album or library of InnerTalk programs that I can recommend to you. This time though, the process I put myself through was designed for personal use, so we don’t have an official album put together to offer to you. However, I will not let such a small detail get in the way. If you wish to work through the same process, you can get the complete package of programs outlined above (Maximizing Brain Power<\/a>) at the same kind of price we introduce our albums at\u2014so that is 9 programs, a $251.55 value for just $99! The Maximizing Brain Power<\/a> package includes:<\/p>\n