Monday, January 3, 2011

Resolved: To strengthen my brain

It's time for New Year's Resolutions. Oliver Sacks, the renowned neurologist, suggests that we include strengthening our brains on our list of improvement efforts for 2011. Click here to read the full article.

Sacks describes the plasticity of the adult brain - its ability to create new neurons and form new connections. While his examples describe major impairments, the general concepts apply to making changes in your everyday life as well. In fact, effective coaching builds on the links between brain physiology and the process for changing the way we think and behave. There are three steps in the process: Insight, to discover the course you want to take; Focus, to concentrate your attention on the new perceptions and actions you want to adopt; and Practice, to repeat that concentrated attention to lay down and reinforce new neural pathways.

Change is hard, but you can make it happen. So resolve to strengthen your brain and take full advantage at its capacity to change at any age.

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