Turns out you can. And it’s a pretty simple strategy:

Do. New. Stuff.

Because doing new stuff, putting yourself into unfamiliar situations, learning different skills and breaking free from routine WILL rewire your brain. And keep you young.

It’s called neuroplasticity. “The capacity of the brain to develop new neuronal connections.” And it would appear that the more new connections we forge, the brighter our brain becomes, keeping us curious, informed and … young.

Just think back to our youth, when information was flying at us at warp speed. It seemed impossible to keep up but damnit, we did our best and we just kept evolving and growing. Advanced education? Sure, teach me how to learn to learn without the threat of punishment. Have a baby? Huge learning curve, this caring for another human being thing. Sustaining a positive love relationship? Oh yeah, if you’re paying attention you’re learning something new every day. Changing jobs, climbing the corporate ladder, buying your first car or house … all very large lessons.

And then we reach our senior years. And so much of the learning stops.

I guess we reckon we’ve done it all and there is nothing left to study. Or we are comfortable in our routines and upheaval causes anxiety. We fear variation because we fear the unknown. Who knows? Maybe it all comes down to our ultimate fear of death – the great unknown. We decide that if we can control our everyday environment and keep it safe, predictable and manageable, we just might be able to cheat the Grim Reaper.

Highly unlikely.

Plus, the downside of overregulation is the disappearance of neuroplasticity. Cause baby, if you don’t use it, you lose it. And once you slip into intellectual inertia, physical stagnation is just a hop and skip behind. Suddenly you feel old.

My mother was an active walker in her early life but numerous health challenges rendered her far less mobile in her later years. That did not stop her brain from operating in overdrive. She learned how to use a computer at 70 because word processing was so much easier than typing and she was writing a book! In her late 70s she succumbed to the lure of the internet because emails were instant and Googling was fun! By 90 she was on Facebook because she had just published her third book and it seemed like a great promotional tool.

Her third book.  At 90.

She also played killer FreeCell every day and kept track of the games she could not conquer so that she could return until she did. After she had read the daily newspaper cover to cover.

My mother was a shining example of neuroplasticity in action and she was in full control of her faculties until a week before her death at 93, when the ravages of (much-needed) pain medication put her into dementia.

So what can YOU do to get those neurons reconnecting, reconfiguring, bursting with interest and keeping you young?

Do. New. Stuff.

New.

Different.

Unfamiliar.

Maybe even a little scary.

Travel. Eat foreign foods, meet exotic people and at least try to speak the language. Sure, that all-inclusive week on your favourite beach might give you the break you think you require, but if you want to rewire your brain to keep you young and vibrant, go somewhere totally new and experience a completely alien culture. With an open mind.

Learn a new language. (See above.) My 32-year-old son and I just started online Spanish lessons. Why? Because we want to. And because he wants to keep his momma young. And because I know a wonderful Mexican woman who is willing to teach us.

Play a musical instrument. Take singing lessons. Sign up for an art class or cooking lessons. It is never too late to follow your passions. Try writing something personal. Or reading a new author or new genre of book. Every time I write a blog I feel neuroplasticity. Because first I am compelled to learn, then analyze and then finally express coherently. It is always stimulating.

Do puzzles that challenge your intellect. Play brain games at advanced levels. Games that demand both mathematical and lingual engagement. I have carried on my mother’s FreeCell obsession (plus two other daily solitaire tests) and I play Scrabble against my iPad frequently. Some may look at this as wasted time at worst or leisure activity at best, but I look at it all as a workout. As important to my health as walking every day and eating fresh foods.

Which leads to mediation and mindfulness, also highly valuable tools in our quest for brain growth and reorganization. The more in touch you are with your brain, the more available your brain will be for you.

And that is exactly what you want if you desire a youthful mindset. To be young at heart. To feel fresh and vibrant and curious.

Familiar is easy. Routine is orderly. The usual is usually the same. Repetition teaches you nothing unless you are repeating something brand new, in the hopes of mastering it. Then just feel those neurons plasticizing (yes, I just made up that word)!

As we age, this is a choice we make every single day. And if you are one of those folks who proclaims, “Getting old sucks!” then go ahead … I dare you, just try something new.

Your older self will thank you for it.