Neuroplasticity:
I think the definition of neuroplasticity is being able to change your way of thinking. Neuroplasticity could also be described as a study of “growing your brain”. An example of this could be a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is where you are positive when trying to learn something, instead of having negative thoughts. It is said that people who have a growth mindset “succeed” more in life. On the other hand, a fixed mindset is believing that you will stay the same forever, as in your knowledge and talent will stay the same until you die. These people are more likely to not succeed in life.
Training Your Brain:
Just like training your muscles to lift 100 kilos or run a marathon, you can also train your brain. Did you know that your brain is also a muscle? With this, there are many ways that you can train your brain. Naming 2, you could practice juggling. Juggling has been scientifically proven to increase your brain’s speed and muscle memory. Muscle memory is very important as well. Doing the same thing, again and again, will develop neural pathways. For example, if you were a rugby player and had an accident, in which you were paralyzed then your neural pathways would be immediately severed. Of course with less severe accidents like breaking your writing hand, you would need to learn to write again, because you haven’t been using your hand as much as before, and it would feel more unnatural. Another way to train your brain is to read books. Your brain processes thousands of things each day so reading helps with your brains understanding. You could also do this by looking out the window in a moving car, (noticing all the “scenery” outside). When you train your brain you need to keep up the training otherwise you will forget things and fall back in progress.
Resilience/Grit:
Resilience is the ability to bounce back after falling. Again people who are resilient are more likely to “succeed”. Grit is similar to resilience and can be described as determination. For example, some activities that I think have developed my grit were camp. I had always looked forward to camp but never really figured out its true meaning. The reason we go on camp is because, as we are growing up we need to get ready to face the real world. The real world has many challenges and building our grit levels now, will help us in the future. Being resilient is also a good quality to have at a young age because you are ready for any challenges that you face.
Happiness:
“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light” -Albus Dumbledore. The meaning of this quote is that you can find happiness anywhere, but only if that is what you want/seek. There is a story of a man who survived the holocaust and found happiness. He chose to smile every day even when his family members were being shot and killed right in front of him. I believe that happiness plays a very big role in everyone’s life. The Japanese use something called an “Ikigai”. This is a 4 circled Venn diagram of everything to find your Ikigai (happiness) and it consists of sections that are named. They are called, what you love, what you are good at, what you can be paid for and what the world needs.
