Road Improvements
The Science of Neurobics?
By Mark Matteson
Tempus Fugit is Latin.
In fact it is an abbreviated quotation from the Roman poet
Virgil (70 – 19 BC) who in his ‘Georgics', book III, line
284, says: “Fugit inreparabile tempus” ("Irretrievable time
is flying”) to point out that time passes rapidly and
relentlessly. As for its meaning, it is: “Time flies (or ‘is
flying')”. I was enjoying a stimulating conversation with my
good friend, Chuck Orton on a recent trip to the east coast
to consult with a client. Chuck declared and truly believes,
in our children’s lifetime, medical science will allow our
children to live to be 120 years or more. Imagine. My kids
saying in the year 2088, “Oh he’s just a young fella, only
97!”
In the book “Keep Your Brain Alive” by Lawrence Katz, Ph. D.
and Manning Rubin, (83 Neurobic Exercises to help prevent
memory loss and increase mental fitness) they contend:
Mental decline usually results from the thinning out of
number and complexity of dendrites, the branches of nerve
cells that directly receive and process information of other
nerve cells that forms the basis of memory. Dendrites
receive information across connections called synapses. If
synapses aren't regularly “Switched On”, the dendrites can atrophy.
This reduces the brains ability to put new information into
memory as well as to retrieve old information. They go on to
say science now believes Old neurons can grow dendrites to
compensate for losses.
In other words, as we grow older, we can engage in Mental
Workouts or Neurobics to keep the brain alive. The key lies
in two simple exercises:
1) Experience the unexpected
2) Enlist the aid of ALL of your senses in the course of a
day.
If you have ever been around a loved one that was declining
due to Alzheimer’s, you know the symptoms. Long term memory
is intact, but short term memory and abstractions are
difficult. The decline continues until...
In my seminars and keynotes, I often talk about choosing to
stretch comfort zones as a way to prepare for external
change thrust upon us. Here are 10 ideas to consider to
“Keep Your Brain Alive” and dramatically stretch your
comfort zones:
-
If you are right
handed, occasionally write with your left hand.
-
Get dressed with
your eyes closed.
-
Listen to music you
don’t normally listen to while smelling a particular
aroma.
-
Drive a different
way to work.
-
Shop at the Farmers
Market instead of the grocery store (better yet, go to a
“Whole Foods” or “Trader Joes” in your area, it’s a
unique and enlightening experience).
-
Say YES to every
request for a day (If you normally say NO). Saying YES
is an act of courage and optimism. Life is too short to
argue about which movie to see. Seize the first idea by
others and go with it. You will be pleasantly surprise at
the results.
-
Stay up all night
and work until you begin to fall asleep at your PC/MAC.
Each of us has vast reserves of energy we rarely tap
into.
-
Plan your day in
15-20 minute increments and stick to your plan no matter
what (an exercise in discipline that demonstrates to us
how much time we actually waste in a day).
-
Invest an entire
day without a plan. Trust your imagination. Pay
attention, be mindful. Really notice everything that is
going on. Go with the flow.
-
Guys, let your wife
choose the movie or have the remote control for an
evening (I can hear the groans now!) Yes, it means you
will go see “Atonement” instead of “There Will Be Blood”
or “Rambo 117.”
I suggest you put these
on 3 x 5 cards and put them in an envelope. Once a week for
10 weeks, pull one card out and just do the exercise, no
matter what. You won’t believe what you will learn and
experience.
The following is what I call “Life’s Creative Circle”
AGE LIFE’S CREATIVE CIRCLE
0-1 Years “Nothing”
1-3 Years “Minimalism or Me, Me, Me”
3-5 Years “Fantasy”
5-10 Years “Imitation Initiation” (Copycats)
10-15 Years “Art Grows Up”
15-20 Years “A Need to Change the World!”
20-25 Years “The Beginning of Political Awareness”
25-30 Years “Evolving Maturity”
30-40 Years “Hell Bent on Success”
40-45 Years “Imitating Success”
45-50 Years “Trying to Keep Up With the 25-Year Olds”
50 Years “The Watershed” (A turning point/milestone)
50-60 Years “Re-Inventing Yourself”
60-75 Years “A Gentle Decline or Astonishing Success”
(Ray Kroc or Colonel Sanders Syndrome)
75-85 Years “Youth Regained!”
85-100 Years “Inhibition Lost, Don’t Give a Darn, Me, Me, Me
Redux”
If we are fortunate to make it the last state of this cycle,
we are privileged to spend our children’s or grandchildren’s
inheritance, say what we want, walk around with a perpetual
smile and generally reflect back upon a life well lived.
Life IS short. When I do book signings, I write the same
thing in each book. It’s more for me than you. “Enjoy the
journey. The best is yet to come!”
I really believe that. I hope you do to. I wonder what Chuck
thinks about this month’s e-zine. He is going to live a long
time. He is a comfort zone stretcher.
Some Words of Wit and Wisdom
“It’s better to fail in originality than succeed in
imitation.”
Herman
Melville, author of
Moby-Dick
“Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of
enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill
“Early to bed, early to rise, work like crazy and advertise”
Dr. Scholl
“To become a champion, fight one more round.”
James Corbett
“We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are.”
Anais Nin
“Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than
going to a garage makes you a mechanic.”
“If everything seems under control, you are not going fast
enough.”
Mario
Andretti
“I find television extremely educational. When someone else
turns it on, I go into the other room and read a book.”
Groucho Marx, Comedian, 1950’s TV Star
“Some people take no mental exercise apart from jumping to
conclusions, skating on thin ice, and flying off the
handle.”
"People tend not to realize that they can create money for something
simply by refraining from doing something else."
Alan Weiss
One for the Road
In 2007 I was asked by Charlie Tremendous Jones to become a
board member of
Executive Books.
Other board members include world class speakers: Mark
Sanborn, Don Hutson, Bill Bartman, Ken Blanchard, Laura
Schanz, among others. Laura recently sent all of us “Lincoln on Leadership
” by Donald T.
Phillips. It’s a wonderful blend of lessons from Abe applied
to modern day business. It's a great book for any modern day
leader. Here are some of his lessons and principles:
-
Some of his inherent abilities were natural, others were
consciously developed over the course his life. He learned
to express himself and demonstrate to others beliefs and
thoughts. Most importantly he refined his ability to
persuade, direct, and motivate others. His developed his
wit, gift for storytelling, and a penetrating and far
reaching voice (as opposed to being born with it) through
study and practice.
-
When he wasn’t at the telegraph office processing
information from the front, he walking amongst the troops
establishing human contact.
-
He was the embodiment of good temper and affability, a
kind word, an encouraging smile and a humorous remark for
nearly all.
-
If followers learn that their leader is firm, resolute and
committed in the daily performance of his duty, simply
spending time with his subordinates, developing respect,
Lincoln learned trust soon followed.
-
If you are to win a man to your cause, convince him you
are his sincere friend. You can catch more flies with a
teaspoon of honey than a gallon of gall.
-
Lincoln would listen to the issue, consider the solution
then tell a well chosen story or fable that echoed the point
or solution at the end of it, explaining the connection to
the receiver.
-
He would always assume responsibility for a failure, even
taking the blame in the relentless press of the day. When it
came time to receive the credit that was due him, he always
gave it away, usually to a general in the field.
-
If he was upset with someone that had let him down, or
under harsh criticism often unjustly, he would write a
letter, a scathing rebuke, then simply put in a drawer and
never send it. This allowed him a cooling down period of
objectivity, yet provided an outlet for the emotion.
My favorite Lincoln story gives us an insight into his
ability to find the humor in the toughest of times. After
suffering through one incompetent General after another,
finally Grant began to win battles. Lincoln’s response to
critics of General Grant, when the rumors swirled around
Grant’s drinking, Lincoln replied, “Find out what kind of
whiskey Grant was drinking and send a case to the other
Generals.” Pausing, he continued, “I can’t spare this man,
he fights!”
Hug your Valentine this month!
Watch "The
Road" Buddy!
Check out my
movie list to
make you Laugh, Cry and Think
Matteson Avenue
has an archive of all the ezines of past.
Launch
new goals this year
Laugh more this year.
Learn more this year by reading a book a month on the
Reading List
Leave a legacy this year -
Freedom From Fear Forever
has a great message!
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