As we age, our continued health depends upon our ability to keep our brains engaged. We can maintain a healthy brain in many ways.
Anyone who thinks they’re incapable of learning new skills past a certain age couldn’t be more wrong. The expression “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is, to say the least, misleading. In any case, it doesn’t apply to human beings.
Here are some tips for keeping one’s thinking sharp, as the years go by:
Read books—much of what one can learn can be obtained from books. The great thing about books is that often you can get them free from the library. Or, if you buy them, they’re usually less expensive as ebooks. You can often buy them in audio form and listen to them as you engage in routine tasks.
Finding the time to read isn’t as hard as many people think. Set aside some time at the end of the day to read for an hour or so. Before you know it, you’ll have finished several books.
Take adult education classes—if you live near a community college or university that offers adult education options, take a class. This is how I started writing novels. Many years ago, I took a community college class on writing mystery and horror novels. I got so much out of that class, including contacts with others with whom I ended up forming my first writers group.
Thus, taking a college class can, not only provide a great learning experience, but lead to meeting other people and forming new friendships. Relationships with others also help keep our minds open and give our lives greater pleasure.
Take online skill-building classes and webinars—in the Internet Age, there are an almost bewildering number of options, as far as skill-building courses go. So, if you aren’t situated near a community college, it’s no longer an obstacle to learning new skills through course work.
I, myself, have begun taking many free webinars and low-cost courses through various platforms.
In fact, I teach an online course in mystery writing on Udemy. If you’d like to take a look at the curriculum, just click here.
I also take courses on Udemy, as well as SkillShare. The latter has a very frugal annual plan. Just click here to get a premium membership for only 99 cents.
Bonus tip: Keep a daily journal. Journaling is a great way to keep track of projects, enshrine memories, and get your thoughts organized.
If you’re interested in keeping a journal, I hope you’ll check out my video on my plan to publish them.