Fitness for the Mind

For a long time, it was believed that as we aged, the connections in the brain became fixed. More recent research has revealed that, in fact, the brain never stops changing—through learning. Post career, you may not use your brain as much as when you were working and juggling home life. Therefore in retirement, it requires an effort to exercise your brain. You have to make a proactive effort to find ways to engage your mind.

For example, research has discovered that learning and speaking a foreign language provides constant brain exercise to the frontal lobes, the area of the brain right behind the forehead that focuses our attention, helps us ignore distractions and make decisions. In fact, being fluent in two languages not only enhances our ability to concentrate, but may also protect against the onset of dementia and other age-related cognitive decline.

What do you enjoy? What did you never have time for before retirement? Make a list, such as:

• Visit museums
• Study wine
• Learn to master chess
• Follow the progress/statistics of a professional sport that you never fully understood—such as the complexity of baseball
• Take golf lessons
• Read the complete works of particular authors
• Write long letters
• Do puzzles and/or crosswords
• Master ping pong, foosball, pinball
• Learn how to play your grandchildren’s favorite video games