An Old Dog Can Learn New Tricks

I hope you’re in a flexible mood today because I want to talk about something that is super fascinating to me: neuroplasticity. What's that you say? Well, neuroplasticity is all about how well the brain can adapt and change. For a long time, we knew that kids were like sponges and picked up things rather quickly compared to older people, who took longer to learn things. “You can't teach an old dog new tricks” has been used a lot by people who feel like they can’t change. Today, I want to share with you how neuroplasticity can challenge this belief.

First, a quick and dirty explanation of brain growth. Our brains have neurons. As we learn things, these neurons grow and connect with other neurons, creating neural pathways. When we’re young, everything is new, so there is a lot of brain growth. However, after puberty, the brain actively kills off any neural pathways that we’re not really using (note: I have yet to find a use for calculus). This is done so that energy can be saved and used for things that we need to do, such as the skills we use for our work or parenting. 

So, what we find is that you put in a lot of energy to establish neural pathways for things you do regularly. If we compared it to muscles, it would be like a muscle you exercise a lot. For new things that you're trying to learn, the neural pathway hasn't been established yet, kind of like a muscle that you never work out. 

Now, it is true that it takes adults longer to learn compared to our younger counterparts. However, I think we usually use our age as an excuse to avoid the discomfort of learning something new. Sometimes, it makes sense to avoid it, but we'll save that conversation for another day.

Here’s the interesting thing. If you learn something new, your brain can and will still grow new neurons. You'll need to put in the work to maintain and develop it, which means you need to keep working on that skill.

I think where things go wrong for us as we get older is that we have competing skills and hinder progress in the new skill. For example, I eat with chopsticks. Growing up, I didn’t learn the “proper way” to use them and just did my best. However, in college, my girlfriend taught me the proper way. I couldn't do it at first and kept reverting back to my old ways. However, eventually, I got it, and that's how I use chopsticks today. There was an awkward couple of months where I basically couldn’t eat with chopsticks at all. Funnily enough, I can't go back to how I used to do it. It might take some effort, but I'm not sure it's worth the time and effort.

Here’s your homework assignment. Go to YouTube and search for The Backwards Brain Bicycle. The entire video is 7 minutes and 57 seconds. The guy will talk you through what I’ve shared today and show you how neuroplasticity actually works in real life. Then, I want you to write to me and share with me your thoughts and what you want to learn. The best response receives a free coaching call with me, where I'll support you in learning that thing! Over the next few articles, I'll be sharing more about how you can apply this to your life. Happy learning.

Coach Kev helps people find calm, clarity, and confidence in their lives while staying flexible in the brain. Contact him at kevinkoocoaching@gmail.com, or follow him on IG and YouTube @kevinkoocoaching