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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is that it is quite possible to learn

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Speaker 1: new things in middle age and beyond. Old dogs can

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Speaker 1: learn new tricks, and choosing to do so can have

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Speaker 1: all sorts of positive benefits. This week, we are talking

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Speaker 1: about ways to take care of our brains. If we

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Speaker 1: want to take our days from great to awesome, being

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Speaker 1: on top of our mental games can help a lot.

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Speaker 1: Our brains are the most important productivity tools we have

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Speaker 1: now and in the future too, so we want to

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Speaker 1: keep these tools as sharp as possible. This brings us

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Speaker 1: to today's topic. Learning skills is basically like hiring a

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Speaker 1: personal trainer for our brains. That was my takeaway when

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Speaker 1: I recently read Tom Vanderbilt's new book Beginners, The Joy

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Speaker 1: and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning. Vanderbilt realized that he

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Speaker 1: was carting his young daughter to all sorts of activities

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Speaker 1: so she could learn new things, but he wasn't using

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Speaker 1: any of this time to learn new things himself. It

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Speaker 1: was as if he assumed that learning was only for

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Speaker 1: young people. So he decided to try learning several skills.

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Speaker 1: Some were practical, like learning to play chess so his

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Speaker 1: daughter had someone to play with. Others like surfing and

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Speaker 1: jewelry making and singing in a choir or solely for enjoyment.

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Speaker 1: He discovered that we get really comfortable in adult life,

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Speaker 1: and it is a jarring but ultimately good experience to

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Speaker 1: be really bad at something for a while. The good

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Speaker 1: news is that with concentrated practice we can get better

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Speaker 1: quite quickly. That progress is motivational. It also turns out

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Speaker 1: that learning new skills can keep our brains sharp. We are,

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Speaker 1: in essence, training our brains, so when we learn new things,

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Speaker 1: we forge and strengthened brain pathways, which improves cognitive functions

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Speaker 1: such as concentration and problem solving. Putting our brains through

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Speaker 1: this sort of training can reduce the chances of cognitive problems.

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Speaker 1: Just as lifting weights keeps our bodies strong as we age,

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Speaker 1: learning new skills is the mental equivalent of pumping iron.

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Speaker 1: So why not resolved to learn a new skill in

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Speaker 1: the new year. Probably one of the best ideas would

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Speaker 1: be something that you'd find fun but you never thought

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Speaker 1: you would have time for make the time. Ideally, it

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Speaker 1: would also be something that you could do in a group,

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Speaker 1: because building friendships around an activity is a great way

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Speaker 1: to bring more like minded people into your life. So,

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Speaker 1: for instance, you might join a choir that welcomes beginners.

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Speaker 1: Everyone can sing. Almost no one is actually tone deaf,

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Speaker 1: despite what people think. Most people just haven't practiced singing

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Speaker 1: Beyond singing the occasional happy birthday at office parties, learning

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Speaker 1: new songs and performing them with a group will be

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Speaker 1: a ton of fun. Or maybe you want to learn

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Speaker 1: a creative skill. You could sign up for an online

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Speaker 1: knitting club that welcomes beginners and learn from people there

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Speaker 1: how to make beautiful creations. You could take up tennis,

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Speaker 1: treating yourself to a few lessons with an instructor. Maybe

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Speaker 1: you could give your spouse or a friend or a

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Speaker 1: relative tennis lessons as a gift as well, and then

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Speaker 1: the two of you could start playing together regularly. What

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Speaker 1: a great way to strengthen a relationship while learning new skills.

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Speaker 1: Or it could be something totally random, like Tom Vanderbilt's

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Speaker 1: jewelry making. If you are stumped, find an institution in

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Speaker 1: your area that offers adult education classes. There are often

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Speaker 1: community centers or commercial enterprises dedicated to night school offerings.

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Speaker 1: Peruse the catalog. You will be amazed at what there is,

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Speaker 1: and probably something will leap out at you. Now, you

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Speaker 1: don't need to think of this as a lifelong commitment.

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Speaker 1: You could try that choir for six months and then

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Speaker 1: decide it is not for you. You could take one

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Speaker 1: class on basket weaving or floral arrangements or metalworking and

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Speaker 1: decide that you don't like it. That is fine now,

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Speaker 1: you know. But aiming to learn new tricks as an

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Speaker 1: old dog or even a middle aged dog, can get

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Speaker 1: your brain working. You start thinking in new ways. You

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Speaker 1: notice things you never noticed before. Even my home renovation

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Speaker 1: project has me looking at windows and countertop edges and

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Speaker 1: carpet trims in new ways. When we keep our brains strong,

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Speaker 1: they can keep working well for longer, and ultimately that's

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Speaker 1: the tool many of us lean on most. So why

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Speaker 1: not figure out what new skills you would like to

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Speaker 1: try in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening,

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Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. At before Breakfast pod.

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Speaker 1: That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p O D.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.