If You Can Still Do These 4 Things In Your 70s, You're One Of The Sharpest Minds Of Your Age Group
How to keep your mind sharp, even if your body isn't.
MariaDubova | Canva Buddhism says that there are three levels of wisdom:
- Received Wisdom: A person with blind faith can only achieve this level of wisdom. They only receive it, but don’t understand it.
- Intellectual Wisdom: Understanding the received wisdom converts it into intellectual wisdom. This is when you know exactly why something works.
- Experiential Wisdom: When wisdom gets encrypted into your subconscious and changes your behavior without you having to make a conscious effort, that’s when you become truly wise.
I love reading. But I feel like reading only makes me intellectually sharp, not experientially sharp. Reading makes my conscious mind privy to more knowledge — but since 95% of your mind runs from your subconscious, an overinformed conscious mind doesn’t help all that much. I’ve come to realize that true wisdom and sharpness as we age — true change in life — comes when your subconscious mind is rewired.
If you can still do these four things in your 70s, you're one of the sharpest minds of your age group:
1. Write
Writing is reading’s daddy when it comes to increasing your intelligence. People get it wrong.
They think that a non-fiction writer knows everything they write about very clearly — before they write it. It’s intuitive for non-writers to think that clarity precedes the written word. However, in reality, the reverse is true.
Clear thinking does not lead to writing. Writing leads to clear thinking.
For instance, a few months ago, I wrote an article about mental strength. It’s natural to think that I would have known everything I wrote in that article before I sat down to write the article. But that’s not true.
I knew maybe 40% of the content already. But the very act of writing about the topic made me discover and learn the remaining 60%. Writing about any particular topic leads to more intelligence due to the following reasons:
- It forces you to research the topic. Writing induces reading.
- Some lessons come from within you — and these stick with you for a very long time.
- Writing helps you better understand your thoughts.
That’s why writing is reading’s Daddy when it comes to growing your intelligence.
How to incorporate this into your life: Write online on any platform you like — Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium, Quora, etc. Do it only for a few hours every week — I promise it’ll still be the greatest thing you can do for your intelligence.
You don’t have to do it for money. You don’t have to do it for fame. Just do it to become a better thinker.
2. Have new experiences
Mauricio Graiki / Shutterstock
This is what Steve Jobs would want you to do if you want to grow smarter. Here’s how Steve Jobs defines smart:
"A lot of it’s an ability to zoom out. Like you’re in a city and you can look at the whole thing from about the 80th floor down at the city. And while others are trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B by reading stupid little maps, you can just see it all out in front of you.
You can make connections that just seem obvious, as you can see the whole thing. But the key thing is that if you’re going to make connections that are innovative, then you have to not have the same bag of experiences as everyone else does.
Or else, you’re going to make the same connections, and then you won’t be innovative. So, get different experiences than the normal course of events."
It’s pretty simple. Everything you do in life — every input you take — builds your subconscious. Now, if these experiences that you have look similar to other people’s experiences, your subconscious will also look similar to theirs. And if your subconscious looks similar to the average population, you’ll have ideas that are similar to theirs. And evidently, those ideas aren’t that good.
To be a better thinker, you need to have ideas that are different from others. To do that, you need to build a subconscious that’s different from others. And to do that, you need to have unique experiences that the majority of the world does not have.
Studies indicate that engaging in unfamiliar and mentally challenging activities, rather than just routine tasks, is key to enhancing cognitive function in aging adults. Continuous learning, whether through formal education, skill development, travel, or hobbies, can lead to enhanced mental acuity, improved memory, delayed cognitive decline, and increased life satisfaction and social connection in seniors.
How to incorporate this in your life: Chase new experiences. It’s as simple as that. For instance, when I was 18, I went to a 10-day silent meditation retreat where I learned the technique of Vipassana.
And it changed my life in several ways. One of those ways was that it taught me a neurologically sound way to rewire my subconscious as I wanted to.
No other experience could have taught me how to do that — because Vipassana is an experience not many people have had. The more unique your experiences are, the more unique your thinking will be. Hence, chase as many unique experiences as you possibly can.
3. Learn
Doing things can teach you what words never could. Try this: Read every book ever written on writing better. Buy every course you can. Hang out with every successful writer and absorb all of their knowledge. Do this for a thousand days — but don’t write even a single word in this period.
And then, on day 1001, write an article. I bet that article won’t be that great. Even after all this learning.
Simply because reading or watching videos about how to do something can never teach you as much as actually doing that thing. That makes sense, right? Reading without taking action is like taking a classroom lecture on swimming better but then bunking the actual swimming session.
Here’s exactly why doing teaches you what reading never can.
- One: Reading only gives you knowledge — and knowledge is not necessarily intelligence. When you read, you just make your conscious mind privy to more information. However, true wisdom — or true intelligence is when that knowledge is wrapped into your intuition — into your subconscious mind — and it changes you as a person. Reading and secondary learning can never do that. Only action can. Practice makes perfect.
- Two: Words are great — they allow you to spread ideas. However, many nuanced lessons in any field can never be put into words. These are super small, nano lessons that are heavily anchored to the present moment of taking action. They cannot be extrapolated into words. Such knowledge is not transferable through words. It can only be learned through experience.
Staying mentally active can help delay the onset or slow the progression of age-related cognitive decline. While engaging in activities is beneficial, research also mentioned that it's important to maintain a healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet, adequate sleep, and managing chronic conditions.
How to incorporate this into your life:
Garyvee’s advice is golden: "You can only read so much. You have to do. I’m extreme. Maybe I’m different. I don’t learn that way. I don’t read anything, and that’s not right. But, is it right to read all of them? Shoot. How many books from these experts do you need? Do stuff. Learn. Put in the work."
Tell yourself that you’ve read enough. You’ve bought enough courses. And commit to action.
- If you’re a writer, stop spending more time reading about writing than time spent writing.
- If you want to launch a startup, stop reading all these books on startup lessons. Instead, launch one.
Take action every day. It’s the only true form of learning.
4. Play a musical instrument
Caftor / Shutterstock
This could be your go-to full-brain workout. Technology has truly revolutionized our understanding of the world. In recent times, neuroscientists have used fMRI scans and PET scans to see which parts of the brain light up while doing different activities.
Activities like math and reading light up particular, isolated areas of the brain, as one would have imagined. However, when scientists looked at the brains of people while they were playing a musical instrument, they were stunned.
Practically all areas of the brain lit up — all at once. Neuronal activity was observed in both hemispheres of the brain in multiple areas. And this is why TED-Ed went so far as to call playing music as brain’s equivalent of a full-body workout.
Subsequent research has proven that playing musical instruments leads to higher cognitive ability due to enhanced neuronal connections in the brain. That’s why MIT even suggests parents who want smarter kids teach them music, instead of coding.
Studies suggest that learning and performing music engages multiple cognitive domains, such as memory, attention, and motor skills, effectively acting as a full-brain workout. This can lead to a cognitive reserve that may help protect against age-related cognitive decline.
How to incorporate this into your life: Learn a musical instrument. If you don’t have a lot of time, I recommend the Ukulele because it’s easy and beautiful.
I have a Ukulele too — and I call it Lorelei. I play it almost every day, at least for a few minutes. When I’m trying to write or outline an article — and it feels as if my brain isn’t working, I take a quick 10-minute break to play my Ukulele.
And sure enough, the ideas start flowing. It’s as if playing the ukulele jumpstarts my brain. It’s a truly amazing hack. I cannot recommend it enough.
A quick tip: Never keep your instrument inside a cover. Yes, it might catch some dust. However, not keeping it in a cover makes a huge difference because it removes the friction of you having to take it out of the cover. And you’ll be surprised at how much more you’d play your instrument — just by keeping it more accessible.
Another tip — use my hack and warm up your brain by playing your instrument prior to whenever you need your cognition at its best. You’ll feel a real difference in how efficiently your brain works later.
Akshad Singi, M.D., has been published in Better Humans, Mind Cafe, and more.
