I was pretty clueless about it until I happened to be invited to a special workshop intensive on how businesses are using it with great success.

Intrigued, I attended the workshop and was absolutely blown away by the possibilities Ai and ChatGPT provide.

Interestingly, when I asked my kids about it, they were (per usual) way ahead of me and gave me many examples of how kids in HS and College are using it. (Some good, some not so good!)

I’m actually in LOVE with it! I can take something I’ve written, put it in, and it will give me an improved version. So in other words, Ai (I call her “Chatty” which drives my kids wild!) will help you be a better version of yourself.

Let me show you how it works using the above paragraph for demonstration:

This is what I put in:

“Please rewrite this to make it better, still with my happy, positive tone of voice. “I’m actually in LOVE with it! I can take something I’ve written, put it in, and it will give me an improved version. So in other words, Ai (I call her “Chatty” which drives my kids wild!) will help you be a better version of yourself.”

And this is what she gave me back:

“I absolutely adore it! It’s incredible how I can input my writing and it will provide me with a polished version. It’s like having a personal writing assistant! I affectionately refer to the AI as “Chatty,” which always gets a reaction from my kids. With this amazing tool, you can enhance your writing and become an even better version of yourself.”

See how awesome she makes me sound? Now to tell you the truth, I would probably take what she gave me (in about 2 seconds I might add) and rework it to make it mine…well, let me show you.

My revised version:

“I’m actually in love with it! It’s incredible how I can input my writing and it will provide me with a polished version. It’s like having a personal writing assistant! I affectionately refer to the AI as “Chatty,” which drives my kids wild. With this amazing tool, you can enhance your writing and become an even better version of yourself.”

That’s so crazy, right?

She can also help you create a schedule, organize your time, plan your meals, and even work out vacation details.

Go to www.chat.openai.com you will see what I’m talking about.

Well, actually, what you’re going to see is a blank screen with a single open prompt line.

Here’s the catch. Chatty gives you NOTHING until you give her something.

She’s super smart…think Google on steroids…but she can’t do anything until you tell her which direction to head.

Just like our minds. We have to feed it the really good stuff, tell it what to think, thoughts that will serve us so that we will get the feelings and output we want. We really are a supercomputer designed by God to do great things.

But for today and our Ai discussion, if you want to get more details on it, I really like this woman who has put together all kinds of tutorials and helps on making the most of ChatGPT. She explains everything so well!

Even if this isn’t your thing at all, I’d encourage you to find something new to try. Whether it’s Pickleball (of course!) or crochet or a new recipe, get your brain moving and juices flowing by trying new things. I think you’ll be so glad you did!

Cheering you on!

Christy

The post Are You Trying New Things? appeared first on Christy Largent.

You can imagine. It’s heartbreaking.

This week his Veteran’s Home brought in a speaker, Heather McKay, MS, OT/L to train the staff on how to work with people with Dementia.  They also offered a special session for families.  My husband and I attended.

Heather did a thorough and thoughtful job explaining the deterioration of a brain beset with the disease of Dementia.  It’s horrifying to see the stark physical differences between a healthy 80 year old brain and the shrunken, deformed brain of an 80 year old Alzheimer’s patient.

Almost the first question after she finished her presentation was “How do we keep our brains healthy?”  Precisely!  How do we avoid the trauma our loved ones are going through?

Heather gave a list of 10 things we can do.  I did 2 Periscopes about it here if you want to see them.  For you readers…here’s what she recommended. (With my additional #1 mentioned first.)

1.  Cut the Sugar, Flour and Eat Whole Foods.  I must admit this is my #1 because I’ve read the work of Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. David Perlmutter and others who have done extensive research into the relationship between what you put in your body and how your brain works on that fuel.  Universally, their #1 recommendation is to eliminate sugar and grains from your diet.  It’s not easy, but a worthwhile goal for your best brain health. In the interest of full disclosure and transparency, I’ve struggled with my sugar/flour addiction for more than 10 years…I still haven’t found my own personal solution…I’ll keep you posted on that one.
2. Read.  Books.  Oh my! I did a little happy dance in my chair when Heather said this.  Sugar is hard. Books are easy.  Read chapter books.  Something like 80% of Americans read less than 10 books a year. How are you doing with your reading?  Situational memory is stimulated when you read, put down the book, do something else and then come back to the book.  As you “get back into the book” your brain works it’s situational memory activities and strengthens those brain cells.
3. Keep a Journal.  If you already do this, you’re on the right track.  If not, Heather suggested something simple to get started – create a “Done List” at the end of each day.  We are all familiar with “To Do” lists, and this is the same but in reverse.  Go back over your day and remember all the things that happened. Process them and plan ahead for the next day. Situational memory is activated and brain activity increased. All good.
4. Use Your Non-Dominant Hand.  Something magical happens inside your brain when you switch things up.  Simple things like opening the door or brushing your teeth with your opposite hand will trigger your brain to get busy and get working.
5. Work Crossword Puzzles.  My husband did the happy dance on this one. I cringed. Heather assured us that even those of us who struggle with these puzzles can start easy and work up.  I put “find crossword puzzle for babies” on my list.  I’ll get started on this right away. Really!
6. Find ways to add vocabulary to your knowledge bank.  Crazy, right? I think if you are reading good stuff, you’ll find new words.  Also, it sounds silly, but keep an old-fashioned dictionary at your desk and in between projects, pull it out and thumb through.  Then try to use a new word in a sentence or email sometime that day.  Oh, and I think crosswords work  for this too.
7. Games.  Do more of them.  Strategy and name and face games are best.  When you are struggling to remember a name of someone, let your brain run and try to remember it.  The brain is searching for a file (names are stored a different place than faces (images) are)…so let your brain search.  It can be frustrating, but the more you allow it to search, the stronger the ability will get. Make a game out of it and it will be even more helpful.
8. Exercise your body.  (You know this already!!)
9. Learn a foreign language.  Interestingly, the year I spent teaching english in Hungary I had the most vivid dreams of my life. Scientists tell us dreams are the way we process all the stimulation of the day. My mind was in overdrive during the day, and rebooting furiously during the night.  I’d say that year brought not only personal growth, but brain growth as well.
10. Learn to play a musical instrument.  Ok.  Put it on the list.

Bottom line as I run through these suggestions is for us to keep our brains working. Any time we bring something new to our brains they do a happy dance. And the more we do it, the happier they are!

I have a feeling I could write on each of these 10 individually – they are all so full of opportunity.  Each one of them is a choice. I was challenged to at least recognize that I have some control now over how my brain might turn out later.

How are you strengthening your brain? Shoot me a quick tweet or leave a comment here. I love hearing from you!

Love ya,

Christy

The post Top 10 Tips for a Super Connected Brain…and Life! appeared first on Christy Largent.

1.  Be intentional with your input.  What are you allowing into your mind?  From the newspaper you read first thing in the morning, to the talk radio at lunch, to the TV Shows you consume with regularity each evening, everything matters.

Garbage in = Garbage out is very true.  Instead of 3 hours of TV a night, turn the TV off and pick up a book.  Or better yet, turn the TV off and go for a walk while listening to a book on your mobile device.  www.audible.com,  www.audiobooks.com and your public library are all excellent resources.

One thing successful leaders share is a passion for learning. Creating a consumption plan, and inputing only what will cause you to move forward towards your goals is a huge step of intentionality.

One of the best things I have done this year is listen to www.dailyaudiobible.com (almost) every day.  Hearing truth spoken over me daily has inspired and grounded me during this year of change.

2.  Recognize the power of neuroplasticity.  Your brain can change.  In fact, the latest science shows that you can keep changing your brain until you die.  That’s great news for those of us on a growth trajectory.  Never underestimate what you can do when you tap into the power of neuroplasticity.

3.  Avoid negative input. This is a huge one!  Tom Ziglar, son of Zig Ziglar the great motivator and trainer, put it this way, “What you feed yourself determines your appetite”.   When you feed your mind negative input, you actually begin to demand more and more negative experiences.  That’s because we alway want to be right, so we create the negative reality that reinforces what we have told ourselves, all so we won’t be wrong.  Simple, right?

I challenge you to stop ALL negative self talk.  When you catch yourself saying negative things to yourself like, “I’m just always late”, immediately stop and re-frame the sentence into the positive.  It might sound like this;  “In the past, I was sometimes late, but now I’m becoming more and more on time.”  Do you hear the difference?  I challenge you to start reframing your negative.  I promise you’ll love the difference it will make in your life.

4.  Physically feed yourself the good stuff.  If you are frustrated with foggy thinking or forgetfulness, or if you don’t sleep well or find yourself depressed, the first thing you can do is modify your diet to a brain healthy diet. Dr. Daniel Amen in his groundbreaking The Amen Solution: The Brain Healthy Way to Get Thinner, Smarter, Happier and Dr. David Purlmutter in his mind-bending Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar–Your Brain’s Silent Killers along with Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health author Dr. William Davis have done extensive research into the effect of food on our brain chemistry.  These books will open your eyes to optimum health like no other books I’ve ever read.

Eating lots of organic veggies and grass fed meats with a little fruit will dynamically nourish your brain. Eliminate the grains, sugar, dairy and processed foods, and watch your symptoms clear.  A 30 day trial will give you amazing insight into your body.  I’d love to hear your results!

5.  Practice, practice, practice.  You know what you want, now get busy and practice to make it a reality.  The more you do it the right way, the better you get.  Just like Tiger Woods will only practice a correct shot, when you practice the right way of thinking, positive progress will become natural.  In fact, it will kind of be like…magic!

Question:  Which of these areas are the biggest challenges for you?  Which areas are the easiest? Please share with us your stories.

The post 5 Steps to Tap Into the Magic of Your Mind appeared first on Christy Largent.