While growing up, we were made to believe that the human brain usually stops growing after childhood. In fact, we even thought that once someone becomes an adult, their brain would be fixed and they will not change how they think or process information. Even in the place where I grew up, there was a popular phrase that said that "you cannot learn left-hand in old age." But when I grew up, I realised that it was untrue. I have come to realise that the brain can do so much more then we can even think of. There is what we call "neuroplasticity." This simply talks about the ability of the brain to reorganise itself, find new pathways, and adapt to new things at any age. Everytime you learn new things, you are rewiring and literally reshaping your brain.
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Think of the human brain as a large dense forest. When you think a particular thought daily, and do the same routine every day, it is like walking through a particular path in the forest. Over time, the path will become wider because of constant usage, and it will become even easier to walk through the same path. But still, it will keep you stuck in the same spot. But when you walk through other paths, you will also create other pathways there with time. This same thing happens with the brain. When you learn new skills, or learn a language, or learn coding, or how to play an instrument, or a new cooking style, etc, you are creating new pathway. At first, it may look difficult and tough, but along the line, as you keep practising and progressing in it, you will discover that it will become easier.
Continuous learning acts as the exercise of the mind. You will agree with me that when you start lifting weights, you will not see anything significant, but when you continue in it, you will begin to develop big muscles and all. In the same way, when you challenge your brain with mental activities like gaining new knowledge, solving puzzles, etc, you will keep strengthening your brain and pushing it even further. These mental activities will keep your mind very sharp, it will also improve your memory, and increase the rate at which you perform your daily activities. It will also influence how you act, the way you speak, and how you even relate with people.
There was friend of mine who wanted to travel to another country whose official language was different from the one he spoke. He humorously asked how he was able to learn a new language at his age. Well, he travelled nevertheless. He spent about 3 years in the country before coming back. Surprisingly, when he came back, he was already speaking the same language he could not speak fluently. By constantly practising it, his brain was rewired to learn the new language and even became perfect in it. As a matter of fact, he became so good that he was even teaching others the same language. This goes to prove that there is almost no limit to what the human brain is capable of. The more you learn, the more your brain is being conditioned to adapt more and learn more.
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Rewiring your mind will change how you respond to the challenges of life. When you commit to a lifelong learning lifestyle, you develop a growth mindset. Even when difficult situations come, instead of saying that you cannot solve it or that it is beyond you, you will tell yourself that you can overcome it. This shift in your mindset will remove fear from you, and make you to focus on possibilities instead. Even if you fail at an attempt, you will not see it as a dead-end, rather you will see it as a valuable feedback on what to work on and on where to improve on. You will even see mistakes and errors as one of the proofs that you are attempting and making progress.
You will agree with me that the world is constantly changing. As such, you will need to be constantly learning, not only to match with the rate at which it is changing, but also to serve as your defence against stagnation. When you constantly feed your brain with new information, you will remain adaptable and resilient. You will not be left behind in this highly evolving world. More so, you will become a flexible thinker, who can thrive in any environment.
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