Issue #17: Get to Know Your Brain
Good morning. It's Wednesday, September 7th. Apparently today is National Beer Drinkers Day. If you're looking for a great IPA taste without all the alcohol - check out the Personal Record IPA from Athletic Brewing, in partnership with IRONMAN triathlon series.
Plus, we've got a few brain teasers that we promise don't require any math!
The number of neural connections (synapses) that power the human brain.
Tour of our Brain
Our brain has 120 billion neurons that form circuits to talk to all of our other organs and systems (e.g., heart, gut, immune system, etc.).
Regardless of the effort we put into managing our mindset and our emotions - it won't matter if we don't have a healthy brain and these neurons aren't firing the right way.
There are 3 main sections of the brain:
Survival Reptilian Brain - keeps us alive by unconsciously controlling breathing, heart rate, balance/coordination (brain stem & cerebellum) 🦎
Limbic Emotional Brain - manages our memories, emotions, motivation, and appetite (hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, basal ganglia) 😡
Logic Cerebral Brain* - controls learning, judgment, planning, and empathy (prefrontal cortex and all lobes) 📓
Detailed overview of the brain and how it operates:
We're constantly collecting information from the outside world through our 5 senses. Data first enters our Limbic Brain - which decides if it's safe or dangerous, then goes to the back lobes to compare against past experiences, and finally to our prefrontal cortex to decide how to respond to this information.
This is all happening at 268 mph! 🚀
*30% of the human brain consists of the "Cerebral Brain", compared to 11% for chimpanzees and 7% for dogs.
Why is this so important?
The health of our brain determines our mindset and feelings, which in turn creates a feedback loop that impacts the health of our brain.
This cycle can impact our entire quality of life. So how do we gain control of it?
The Tony Robbins 1-2-3
Building off what we talked about yesterday in Issue #16, our life is controlled by what we focus on and the meaning we give it.
If we slow down, then we're equipped to follow Tony Robbins' Decisions* to determine the quality of our life:
1. Where do you FOCUS?
Do you focus on what you have or what's missing?
Do you focus on what you can or what you can't control?
Do you tend to focus on the past, the present, or the future?
2. What does this MEAN?
Take a beat before you instantly react. We create our own meaning - if we take control of our minds. For example, is this a failure or an opportunity to grow?
3. What am I going to DO?
It's not the experiences that change our lives - it's how we process and respond to them. Determine how you're going to respond to the situation now and in the future.
Try taking just 1 situation in your life and run through this 1-2-3 exercise...how's it feel?
*From Tony Robbins’ recent book, Life Force
Speed Read
Health & Longevity in the News
Celebrate Negative Birthdays?: Dr. David Sinclair tweeted that human umbilical cord plasma injected into older subjects for 10 weeks reduced their biological age by almost a full year.
Food Better Than Drugs: New research shows that nutrition has a BIGGER impact on aging and metabolic health than three (3) drugs commonly used to treat diabetes and slow down aging.
Wearables that Measure Gas: Today's smartwatches/trackers measure pulse and body temp, but a new group says the future is a noninvasive technology to measure heart disease and diabetes from the gas emitted out of our skin.. active states. The jury’s still out on what this could mean for humans…I guess hibernate?
Wednesday Weights
This week the focus is on our back strength. This workout is for absolutely everyone!
Basic movements - you decide the challenge based on the weight of the dumbbells or the angle of the TRX!
Click HERE to view the workout on our YouTube channel.
Workout and video courtesy of Connor J. Obrochta. Check out all of Connor's workouts on Playbook!
Wednesday Logic Puzzle (LP)
Today's puzzle will help bolster your temporal lobe. ðŸ§
There are two words - your goal is to find a third word that is connected or associated with both of the original two words.
For example, if the words are PIANO and LOCK. The answer is KEY. (There are KEYS on a piano and you use a KEY to lock doors). Good luck!
SHIP — CARD
TREE — CAR
PILLOW — COURT
RIVER — MONEY
TENNIS — NOISE
Appreciate you all - see you tomorrow morning!
Check out the latest workout videos on our YouTube channel
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Why Thrive25
We’re 40-something dads that felt our bodies and minds start to slow down and we’re not ready for that. We found too much information on every subject. So we started Thrive25 to transform what we’ve learned into something useful for the rest of us to spend just 3-5 min a day to optimize our health & longevity.
This newsletter is for you and we truly value your feedback. Never hesitate to reach out to us at team@thrive25.com.
To health!
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The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your individual circumstances. Thrive25 Labs LLC does not provide medical, professional, or licensed advice. Please connect with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.