In 2003, I wrote my popular research based article (titled “When You Grow Old, Your Brain Does Not”. It has since been republished via syndication on many websites. If you believe your mental abilities will diminish because you’re aging, think again.
Do We Really Become More Prone to “Forgetting” As We Grow Older?
In yesterday’s post, I narrated the events in which my Nokia phone got stolen in a taxi I took from the Seme border into Lagos.
I noted that recent instances of “forgetfulness” (e.g. 2 incidences in Cotonou, in which I left my Blackberry smart phone behind in public places, but was lucky to have it returned to me both times) made it possible for the eventual theft of my other phone – a Nokia double SIM handset for my two MTN business lines.
A friend who read that article via the link auto-shared on Facebook, however made an interesting contribution that got me thinking about an article I wrote 7 years earlier.
He expressed the opinion that aging, and not necessarily work pressure, was often more responsible for such seeming increase in forgetfulness, or absent mindedness.
According to him, from the age of 40 upwards, this diminishing ability to retain stuff in one’s memory becomes more obvious. Regardless of one’s brilliance, he said it would happen.
Then he offered suggestions/tips on how to cope with it.
I saw the point he was making…
However, I knew from my demonstrated abilities even alongside persons half my age, that my experience was different.
What I know about aging, and how it affects the brain, is something I have often used so effectively, that it’s gotten many clients to compliment me, and younger persons to marvel.
This is NOT an attempt to brag or exaggerate. Just a simple statement of facts.
People Need to Know The Truth About The Brain, and How Aging Affects It!
While working in paid employment, with a large corporate manufacturing multinational, I reported to an expatriate Senior Manager, who was about 65, if I recall correctly. One of the things he was well known and respected for, was his amazing ability to remember/recall anything and everything said in meetings, written in reports, emails or discussed verbally.
For an “old” man, he had an exceptionally sharp mind and brilliant memory. You could not say one thing to him this week about why your department failed to meet the brewery target, and get away with changing ANY fine detail next week, if the matter came up again.
But he was not the only one. During the seven (7) year period I spent in that company, I worked with a number of over 50 to 60 year olds, at various levels in the organisation. Some were colleagues in the brewing department; others were junior staff/process operatives who were assigned supervisory roles.
A few were highly skilled technicians with specialties in areas where the company struggled with manpower. This made it necessary for this last group to constantly be on demand on site – leading to near round the clock duty runs on some busy days when plant problems required their presence.
What struck me was that they often delivered performance at par with what the rest of us who were younger.
I was then LESS than 30 years old at the time...
You could rarely fault them for “forgetting” things. Indeed, many times, WE depended on them to remind us of what was to be done, how etc.
As evidence of their abilities despite aging, some of them, upon formal retirement, got formally engaged as external consultants or on contract basis to serve the company in the same role they played before leaving!
The company’s decision makers wisely assigned younger, less experienced hands to formally undergo coaching at the hands of these “veterans”. This equipped the former to step into competently step into the latter’s shoes.
The above observations led me to do some SERIOUS investigation about retirement, aging, and how it relates to work performance.
I read stories and dug up research findings.
What I discovered was shocking.
And it changed my thinking about aging, as it relates to the brains ability to perform it’s key functions – an important one being memory recall.
I could not keep what I learnt to myself.
The knowledge enabled me liberate myself psychologically, in terms of how I believe aging would affect my brain power.
And I felt others needed to know, that what we were being told about aging was mostly untrue.
That was why – in 2003 – I wrote my article titled “Your Company May Be Losing Money By Retiring Employees When They Clock 60 Years – And Above!“
In 2007, I decided to publish it online as a PDF – downloadable from the members-only section of my website. That version – with the contents remaining basically the same – was re-titled “When You Grow Old, Your Brain Does Not“.
My article has since been republished on others websites, by owners – indicating its message resonated with readers.
I Now Invite YOU, to Read The Article Yourself: One of the things you’ll learn about is “Brain Training”, and how it helps to keep the brain “fit” no matter what age a person arrives at!
Read it, and have your eyes opened to the amazing power your brain will continue to possess even when you enter your late nineties!
Below: Screenshot image of the cover of the PDF version of the report. To get a copy, signup to join my mailing list. An auto response containing download link and instructions (for 10 reports, one of which is this PDF on Aging) will be dispatched to the email address you provide.
