How are Seniors Smart?

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When we revitalize our mindset based on an ability to reach more goals, fulfill higher potential, and bounce back after tough breaks, regardless of our age, our IQ grows. We literally change the chemical and electrical makeup of our minds.

Start with an awareness of our inner voice, and two opposing forces emerge, love and fear. Love is fueled by serotonin, the brain’s aha chemical. Fear is driven by the toxic chemical, cortisol, that  keeps us worrying that other seniors have more confidence.  Fear also prompts us to feel like quitting when things get tough.  And it’s likely  in charge when we’re having trouble trying to reach a new goal. Love, on the other hand and we step beyond barriers that stall us and we remain adaptable into our golden years.

Not that it’s easy to pick ourselves up after disappointments. So why choose change and growth as we age. A low sense of self-worth and frequent fear of failure looks similar across many different cultures. Love unconditionally and we change mentally and emotionally as we step beyond survival toward uniquely built, and personally shaped success.

When we love ourselves we grow multiple intelligences stronger with daily use. We  start by examining how we are far smarter than our inner fear allows us to see.

We alter the commonly asked question, “How smart are you?” to ask instead, “How are you smart?” Do you see how love leans us into an immense joy of growing grit and living grace as we age best.

One seventy-year-old, Nathan, fought horrific fear when he nearly failed his driver’s test. Rather than compare his poor performance to his neighbor’s recent pass and successfully renewed license, Nathan found creative ways to improve his own driving  skills. Since his senior friend Jack was still driving daily, Nathan asked him if several days a week he could drive along with Jack who drove grandchildren to school. He also asked for tips, read and reread the drivers’ manual and generally worked hard to improve his senior driving skills, one session at a time. As a result of his daily efforts, Nathan eventually passed his test and received his renewed license for another five years.

Nathan’s driver license experience reminds us all that the real work begins within each of us, in inner love and care, rather than from external challenges we all face.

Inner love equips us to become the person we’d like to see in us. If we enjoy being alone without feeling lonely we’re growing mindset possibilities for an intelligent life well-lived.

Dr Ellen Weber‘s Growth Mindset Materials and Recent Publications Below:

Grace Mindset Book – audio

Grace Mindset Book – paperback

The Teen’s Growth Mindset Workbook – paperback

Growth Mindset Interactive Materials Located at Weber’s TPT

Mita (Growth Mindset) Strategies in Class and Beyond

Student Assessment that Works – a Practical Approach