Age withers the human machine. It slows down the body and dulls the brain. As young as 35 your major organs start to decline. YIKES! For life-long achievers and supercharged entrepreneurs this can be a disheartening and brutal truth. There are two choices. One, surrender, join AARP and start drinking Ensure®, or two, you can fight it with the same passion that helped you be on your “A” game throughout life.
I’m taking option number two and will remain a relentless warrior against time.
For my body:
This means not looking at exercise as a chore, but an enjoyable event that is guaranteed to make me feel good. I love playing tennis, power walking and hitting the weight room, jamming to my favorite tunes. And it’s never to late to start. I was a total fitness slug and over weight until about the the age of 32, and didn’t start playing tennis until 40.
If you hate the thought of exercise, find some activity you enjoy. There are a lot of fun things you can do to burn calories that don’t require Spandex®. And if you think you are creative now, add 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, and your creative output will significantly accelerate. Research shows the creative boost from exercise can last for least two hours afterward. However, there’s a catch: this applies to the already physically fit. For those who rarely exercise, the fatigue may just make you want to nap and have creative dreams.
For my mind:
I just discovered Lumoisty, online brain training program. They have been running banner advertising on CNN.com. The video ads are extremely well done and advertising works, they converted me into a buyer.
The idea is quite simple. As your brain ages, it naturally looses some of it cognition performance. Your memory gets fuzzy, your attention span shrinks, and your problem solving skills get slow or even disappear. Their online games help you get mentally fit again. Like a muscle, with brain exercises you can reactivate the napping neutrons and get your cognitive brain function back.
Lumosity has over 40 million users exercising their brains and seeing impressive results. Their research shows after 4-weeks of brain exercises, you can achieve a 10-20% increase in cognitive functions. Those functions contribute to a better and happier life.
I signed up over the weekend, and I started today. It was challenging. Some of my scores were pretty pathetic. It took around 30 minutes for four exercises. The cost for an annual subscription is $5.82 a month. They offer family plans, too.
All of the brain exercises are designed like games you play on your digital device. After taking a quick test, Lumosity designs a custom brain training program based on your current functions and your areas needing improvement. They recommend, to achieve optimal results, you exercise your brain 2-4 times a week. They also offer reminders, so you don’t become a slacker. The personalized dashboard shows your progress, which is very cool. I’m going for the three times a week plan and will keep you posted.
I can definitely see the logic behind it.
Use it, or lose it!
