The connection between life-long learning attitude and holistic wellbeing

Article by Fiora Touliatou

Have you ever met older people that are active, enthusiastic and look much younger than their age? On the contrary, have you met younger people with a fixed mindset that seem older than their age? Ever wondered why?

According to science, when you keep your brain active and stimulated with new knowledge, you are helping it build new cells and rejuvenate old ones; you are literally keeping it young and healthy by challenging it into new learning experiences. Neuroplasticity (aka brain plasticity) is the scientific term that refers to this ability of the brain to modify and adapt in response to changes in the environment. When we enrich our brain with new information, we create new connections between its neurons and effectively enhance its cells. New information can be anything from sensory, emotional, movement oriented, intellectual. Learning enhances your memory, increases the power of neural circuits and can even form new brain cells. On the contrary however, when you stop learning and simply compromise to a life of habitual survival, that will cause areas of your brain to start shrinking. This happens because, when the brain detects which neural connections are not used frequently, shuts them down to avoid wasting energy on them, while it will divert all energy to maintaining and reinforcing only connections that are actively used. So if you don’t use it, you will literally lose it!

The human brain is a dynamic, intelligent and adaptive organ with power to rebuild and adapt. Thoughts and emotions are either negative or positive energy within us which can either create either blockages and restrictions or bridges and platforms. The choice is ours and neuroplasticity enables us to adapt, respond and evolve our brains to the changes around us. Do you want to form millions of new connections that will lead you to a new enhanced better version of yourself? Then refresh your experiences, keep moving, keep learning, keep changing, keep adapting to new environment and, generally, commit to life-long learning! This powerful self care attitude will keep you healthy not only physically but also mentally and emotionally!

You are literally rewriting and rewiring your brain every single day! Think purposefully, move purposefully, live purposefully!

Photo by WARLEY VENANCIO from Pexels

How to manifest new years resolutions into reality with effective results

Article by Fiora Touliatou

At the beginning of every year, most people are enthusiastic and setting their intentions with a list of new years resolutions, most common ones being related to fitness and diet. But somehow, this enthusiasm fades away and the resolutions are abandoned by mid-February. Why is this happening and how can we change it to achieve our goals and get the results we are dreaming of?

The quick answer to this is that we need to make the necessary changes in our lives. Although the first step is to write down our resolutions, this doesn’t mean our goals will automatically manifest into reality if we don’t work towards them. Real change starts from within and self-responsibility is essential. In brief, we need to change our mindset, our habits, and be consistent with our efforts and work towards our goals. Changing our mindset is number one on the list of success. The real catalyst to making effective changes in life is acquiring a growth mindset as opposed to the limited mindset that keep us in a circle of procrastination and self-pity. Once we acquire this, we have a powerful tool to achieve anything we put our mind into.

Growth mindset vs limited mindset

Growth mindset looks like this:

  • Learning new skills and acquiring new knowledge.
  • I can achieve anything I want.
  • There are no failures, only learning experiences.
  • When one way is not working, find another way.
  • Difficulties are catalysts that challenge us to help us grow.
  • Giving up is not an option, reset, pivot and keep trying is the only option.
  • Feedback is constructive and helps me grow and improve.
  • A positive attitude and constant effort determine the result.

The opposite of this is the limited mindset which is based on limiting beliefs, having a victim-mentality and blaming external factors for our failures. It basically looks like this:

  • I don’t have time or want to learn new skills, I want fast and effortless results.
  • I can either be excellent in something or not good at all.
  • My abilities are predetermined by my genes, my age, my race, my size, my education.
  • Failure proves to me that I am not good at something and I should give up.
  • Feedback is criticism and feels uncomfortable.
  • I don’t like getting out of my comfort zone.

How to acquire a growth mindset

Acquiring a growth mindset is a totally new skill on its own and it can be applied to anything you want to achieve. The first step to having a growth mindset is to have the will and enthusiasm to change. And afterwards working with different techniques such as:

  • visualisation,
  • positive affirmations,
  • reading positive news/information,
  • following motivational speakers or social media pages,
  • being surrounded by positive and encouraging people.

However, for more integrated and long-lasting results, having a life coach is essential to guide you to make the changes you desire. Life coaching can help one discover their inner power and inspire them to new ways of attracting the life they want.

Photo credit by Olya Kobruseva from Pexels