{"id":30168,"date":"2013-02-05T21:02:38","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T03:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artofmanliness.com\/?p=30168"},"modified":"2021-09-25T15:52:32","modified_gmt":"2021-09-25T20:52:32","slug":"dont-waste-your-20s-train-your-brain-for-lasting-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/dont-waste-your-20s-train-your-brain-for-lasting-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Waste Your Twenties — Part 2: Train Your Brain for Lasting Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Business<\/p>\n

In Part I of this two-part series we explored the first once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of the twentysomething brain<\/a>: its propensity for deep passion, a keen curiosity about others and the world, and fearlessness in the face of risk. But these qualities are only advantages if they\u2019re used in the way they were designed: as the motivation to take intentional, <\/i>forward-looking ventures \u2013 ones that lead to greater learning experiences, personal development, and independence. Taking a risk to see what it\u2019s like to shotgun a beer won\u2019t get you any closer to your ideal future.<\/p>\n

Rather, at the same time you\u2019re launching your passions, you should also be taking advantage of the second great opportunity of the twentysomething brain: the chance to take an active role in shaping the development of the executive part of your mind.<\/b><\/p>\n

If your twenties are for launching, and your thirties are for building, then this is the opportunity to train your \u201cbuilder,\u201d the prefrontal “CEO” to which you\u2019ll be handing over the reins to your \u201cstart-up\u201d post-twenties. Moving from your twenties to your thirties is indeed very much like launching a company that you know you\u2019re eventually going to leave; at the same time that you\u2019re getting things going, you also need to train the guy who\u2019s eventually going to take your place, giving him the skills and abilities he\u2019ll need to steer the ship once you\u2019re gone. The quality of this training will greatly determine the future success of the endeavor, i.e., the rest of your life.<\/p>\n

Synaptic Pruning in the Orchard of Your Brain<\/b><\/h3>\n

\"Vintage<\/p>\n

Yesterday we talked about a hugely important process happening in your brain in your twenties that\u2019s crucial for young adults to understand: the simultaneous revving up of the intense, emotional, risk-taking limbic system, and the maturation of the steady, rational, impulse-checking prefrontal cortex. But how exactly does the prefrontal cortex mature?<\/p>\n

The majority of our brain development happens in two stages: overproduction and pruning. First, the brain overproduces millions of synapses, more than it could ever use — it over-prepares for what\u2019s to come. Then it organizes and prunes this abundance of neural pathways, getting rid of those not in use and strengthening and stabilizing those that are — much like an arborist prunes dead branches off a tree.<\/p>\n

It has long been known that this overproduction\/pruning process occurs during an infant\u2019s first eighteen months of life. The brain ramps up production of cells to prepare the tot for learning an enormous amount of information about language and the world around him in a short period of time. After age three, it begins slowly pruning away the pathways not in use, so that the human brain is 95% developed by age six.<\/p>\n

What scientists have more recently discovered is that a second <\/i>round of overproduction and synaptic pruning begins in adolescence and extends into a person\u2019s mid-twenties<\/i>. This time, the brain\u2019s overproduction of synapses is not centered on things a baby needs to know like language and motor skills, but rather on the abilities essential to navigating adulthood \u2013 rational thought, reasoning, impulse control, goal-setting, and planning. Synaptic pruning is the process through which the maturation of the prefontal cortex actually happens \u2013 the way in which you train your \u201cCEO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Use It or Lose It<\/b><\/h3>\n

So how exactly does synaptic pruning work?<\/p>\n

While the completion of the prefrontal cortex\u2019s maturation will happen for everyone, not everyone\u2019s corti will \u201cset\u201d in the same way. The development of your brain is not simply shaped by age<\/i>, but also very much by experience<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Your brain does not prune its excess synapses in a willy-nilly fashion. What gets retained and what withers away is determined by what gets utilized and what is allowed to lie fallow.<\/p>\n

As Meg Jay, author of The Defining Decade<\/i> explains:<\/p>\n

“In a use-it-or-lose-it fashion, the frontal lobe connections we use are preserved and quickened; those we don’t use just waste away through pruning. We become what we hear and see and do every day. We don’t become what we don’t hear and see and do every day. In neuroscience, this is known as \u2018survival of the busiest.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or as neuroscientist Dr. Jay Giedd puts it:<\/p>\n

“If a teen [or twentysomething] is doing music or sports or academics, those are the cells and connections that will be hardwired. If they’re lying on the couch or playing video games or watching MTV, those are the cells and connections that are going to survive.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Basically, what this means is that the education, experiences, and relationships you choose to pursue in your twenties will determine the course of your brain\u2019s synaptic pruning process.<\/p>\n

This means you need to be intentional about tuning your prefrontal cortex for optimal performance in the decades to come! What training do you want give to your prefrontal CEO? What skills and abilities do you want to train your brain to deftly perform for the rest of your life?<\/p>\n

Some folks downplay the importance of the twenties by saying it\u2019s simply a dress rehearsal for what\u2019s to come. But if that\u2019s the case, you need to ask yourself what role it is you\u2019re preparing to play. If you\u2019re eventually hoping to nab the role of loving, loyal husband, does rehearsing by having only casual hookups prepare you for that? If you\u2019re hoping to win the part of independent business owner, what kind of practice are you getting for that role right now?<\/p>\n

Strike While the Iron Is Hot, and the Metal Is Pliable<\/b><\/h3>\n

\"Vintage<\/p>\n

This final development of your brain is akin to getting a wiring upgrade \u2013 after it\u2019s completed, the prefrontal cortex will run faster and more efficiently. But what you gain in speed<\/i>, you lose in flexibility.<\/i><\/p>\n

This makes the period before the wiring job is complete a time of enormous opportunity. While your brain is still flexible and malleable, you can \u2013 and must \u2013 take an active role in shaping how the wire is laid. Never again will it be so easy to shape yourself, learn new things, and become the man you want to be.<\/p>\n

Now don\u2019t get me wrong, brains are \u201cplastic\u201d throughout our lives. We can always change our habits and behaviors, whether we\u2019re 20 or 60. But once the adolescent brain finishes developing and \u201csets,\u201d changing our course becomes harder to do. The plastic of the adolescent brain is more malleable, while the plastic of the older brain is of a harder variety \u2013 it takes more kneading and heat to mold it.<\/p>\n

Or think of it this way: up through your mid-twenties, molding your behavior is like making trails through a grassy field. Once your brain is finished developing, it will want to take the path of least resistance \u2013 the trails you\u2019ve already made, the neural pathways that you\u2019ve already forged. Creating a new trail, post-twenties, will mean hacking a path through a field that has transformed from gentle grass into a dense, weedy jungle that requires a great deal more effort to plow through. It\u2019s doable, but difficult.<\/p>\n

\"Gray

Throughout adolescence and into the mid-twenties, gray matter is pruned as neural pathways not in use “atrophy,” while those being utilized are consolidated and organized more efficiently. As the graphic alludes to, addictions that begin in adolescence get wired into the brain as it “sets,” making them hard to shake off in adulthood.<\/p><\/div>\n

This is why researchers have found that after age thirty, your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and personality become relatively fixed and stable. There actually isn’t much debate among experts on this point: some say almost no<\/i> changes are possible after thirty, while other say small <\/i>changes are, and that\u2019s about the extent of the divide in viewpoints. What they all agree on is that the majority of who you are is crystallized by age thirty, and as Jay explains, “Our personalities change more during the twentysomething years than at any time before or after<\/i>.” In our thirties, we simply \u201ccontinue with, or correct for, the moves we made during our twentysomething years.”<\/p>\n

The reason there are thirtysomething men (and women) who are still head-scratchingly immature, is that they figured they could spend their twenties drifting and partying and then one day when they turned thirty things would magically come together for them and they\u2019d be ready to shift into another gear. But when their brains \u201cset\u201d \u2013 the plastic hardened — the things that were going on in their lives at the time \u2013 waking up on someone else\u2019s floor and working at Starbucks \u2013 had been etched into their corti.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t want to be the guy who\u2019s living like he\u2019s twenty-three at age forty-four (even when he himself is tired of that life and is ready for a different stage) sculpt your prefrontal cortex in your twenties by seeking out experiences and commitments that will exercise and challenge your ability to plan, set goals, and discipline yourself. Stretching yourself now will solidify the best neural pathways, strengthen and season your prefontal cortex, and create a cognitive foundation that\u2019s prepared not simply for a few years of fun, but for a lifetime of happiness and satisfaction.<\/p>\n

Listen to my podcast with author and psychologist Meg Jay:<\/em><\/h3>\n