Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? We are conditioned to believe that after a certain age, men and women cannot improve themselves mentally.
With few exceptions, we are supposedly doomed to continue throughout life incapable of improving our intelligence, our creativity or our ability to take control of our own destinies.
However, modern medical research has shown that the human brain can be reprogrammed at any age.
Recent neurological studies and brain imaging methods clearly demonstrate the power and effectiveness of utilizing specific techniques in the reprogramming process.
Several studies by Dr.
Robert Benson of the Harvard Medical School confirm that such techniques can increase creativity, deep insights and peak professional performance.
This means that young or old, regardless of educational achievements, the human brain can develop new skills and increase its capacity to solve any problems it may encounter.
This is great news since most of us have challenges that we are trying to resolve, both in the business and personal realms.
But might it be possible that we have, within us, the power to solve more of these problems than we realize? The answer is an absolutely and emphatically resounding "yes"! There is, however one serious challenge to achieving this "reprogramming" and thus improving our mental prowess.
We must first learn how to enter a state of mental silence.
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Some of the greatest minds in history from Thoreau to Einstein to Twain incorporated a state of mental silence when creating and inventing.
It has been explained that once the mind is silenced, a cornucopia of possibilities and ideas come pouring into not only the creative, but the functional sides of the brain.
Researchers at Harvard, Yale, and MIT have found evidence that the practice of silence can alter the physical structure of our brains.
Using brain scans they found significant growth in those parts of the brain that deal with attention and processing sensory input.
Silencing ones mind however can be a significant challenge for many of us in today's world, as our senses are constantly bombarded.
From waking up to our screaming alarm clock, dealing with rush hour traffic, encountering constant predicaments at work, being subjected to a slew of communiqués via email and instant messaging, to an abundance of 24 hours news stations, we are kept in a state of constant sensory overload - and that is even before we bring our families into the mix! It's a fact that today most of us have hectic lifestyles.
It's also well known that most people are rarely able to quiet their minds - there is always self-talk, good and bad, in all of us, which prevents a clear perception of pressing issues.
The good news is that silencing the mind is quite achievable and can begin with a simple exercise called Thought Observance.
oBegin by sitting on a comfortable chair in a quiet part of your home or office.
To avoid breaking your concentration, make sure that all phones, pagers, etc.
are turned off.
oSit up with your back straight, but make sure your shoulders are relaxed.
oRest your hands on your lap, in any comfortable position and then close your eyes.
oNow observe your thoughts - merely be aware of your thoughts without trying to change them or judge them.
After a few minutes, move your attention to the top of your head and sit quietly.
oWhen you are done, open your eyes slowly and sit still for a minute or so before rising.
Practice for at least ten minutes every morning, and evening as it is a good first step towards initiating the process of silencing the mind, bringing out its potential and ultimately retraining your "old" mind into doing some "new" tricks.