If you're going to make a pivot over 50, having a healthy brain becomes even more critical because pivots require mental energy. They require focus, resilience, adaptability, and problem-solving. You're processing new information, navigating uncertainty, making decisions, learning unfamiliar skills. If your brain is dealing with brain fog, chronic stress, poor sleep, or nutrient deficiencies, those challenges can feel much heavier. That's why brain health becomes such an important foundation for bold life moves.
Welcome to RenewHer, a podcast for women over 50 ready to reignite their energy and explore what's next. I'm Genell Lemley, brain fitness coach. Here you'll hear real stories from women taking on new challenges after 50, along with brain health tips to boost focus, energy, and the mindset to move forward with confidence. Let's dive into today's episode.
Hey there. I'm so glad you're here. Have you ever wondered why I created a podcast about brain health and making pivots later in life? What does one have to do with the other? I ask because I've had a few women ask me that recently, and it's a fair question because on the surface, those two things don't always seem connected.
But the truth is the connection is stronger than most people realize. When you understand how the brain works, you start to see that making a change or pivot later in life may be one of the most powerful ways to reject and strengthen your brain. But that's not usually how it feels in the moment because when you're standing at the edge of something new, it doesn't feel like a brain-boosting decision.
When the idea of doing something new comes up, starting a business, changing careers, learning a new skill, taking on a bold challenge, there are generally two reactions. One part of you feels inspired, energized, maybe even excited by the possibility, but another part feels uncomfortable, uncertain, maybe even a little scary, and that part quietly wonders.
Do I still have the energy for that? Do I still have the capacity to learn something new? Am I too old to start over? And what's interesting is these questions don't just come from people who lack experience. They come from highly accomplished women. Women who have built impressive careers, led organizations, raised families, navigated challenges, and achieved so much.
And yet. When it comes to doing something new later in life, there's often hesitation, a quiet voice that says, " Maybe I should just stay where I am. Maybe it's safer not to rock the boat.” Even when something feels off, even when you're not fully fulfilled, happy, or energized by where you are. And this is where the conversation shifts.
Because this isn't just about confidence or motivation. This is about your brain. Because when you understand how your brain works, it becomes clear that every time you step into something new, make a change. It doesn't just challenge your circumstances, it challenges your brain. That challenge is exactly what helps your brain grow, adapt, and stay resilient because it has to learn, it has to stretch, and that's actually a very good thing. Your brain thrives on challenge. It thrives on novelty. It thrives on growth.
And I've been living this myself over the past few years as I've been building RenewHer Wellness. When I stepped away from the corporate world and started building this business, I didn't just change what I was doing professionally, I completely changed how my brain had to operate.
Every single day, I went back to school, well, not school per se, but I enrolled in online courses to earn my certifications. That meant studying again, taking exams, absorbing entirely new information about nutrition, brain health, and the science behind how our brain functions.
Then came the branding decisions. What's the name of my company? What fonts do I use? What colors do I use? What's my messaging? Who is my target audience?
Then came the technology, learning how to design my website, learning multiple software programs that I had never used before. Email platforms, design tools, scheduling systems, podcast software. I had to figure out how to record audio, edit audio, upload podcast episodes, create graphics for posts and newsletters and design content that people actually wanna read.
I remember sitting down the first time to create a post and thinking. Where do I even start with this? Then there was the writing itself, writing newsletters, writing articles, learning how to express ideas clearly and in a way that resonates with people.
And then there were the connections, building new relationships through LinkedIn, reaching out to people I'd never met before. Starting conversations with complete strangers who shared an interest in brain health. When I step back and look at everything involved in building this business, I realize I've been giving my brain a massive workout.
Every week I'm learning something new, solving problems I've never solved before, figuring things out that once felt unfamiliar. And that kind of activity is exactly what the brain thrives on.
And in the spirit of being authentic, there's something else I wanna share because I think it's important. There were moments in this process that felt messy and, honestly, sometimes still do. Moments where things weren't clicking yet, where I felt slow, where something that should have taken 20 minutes took two hours. Moments when I questioned, “Why is this so hard? Why am I doing this? Should I keep going?” And I think this is where many women stop themselves, not because they aren't capable, but because they interpret that discomfort as a sign that something is wrong.
But what I've come to realize is that this phase, this messy middle, is actually part of how the brain changes. When something feels unfamiliar, when it feels effortful, when it feels like you're not quite getting it yet, that's often the moment your brain is doing the deepest work.
It's figuring things out. It's adapting. And over time, what once felt hard starts to feel natural. That's not failure, that's growth. When you learn something new, you begin forming new neural pathways, new connections between brain cells, and those connections are what keep your brain strong and flexible.
That's called neuroplasticity. And it is one of the most powerful features of your brain. The ability to change, to adapt, to grow, to rewire at any age when you take on something new, learning new skills, entering unfamiliar territory, meeting new people, solving problems you've never encountered before. Your brain has to stretch. It has to build new pathways. It has to figure things out, and that process strengthens the brain.
Routine, on the other hand, doesn't require as much from the brain. When you do the same things the same way every day, your brain becomes very efficient at running those patterns on autopilot. There's nothing wrong with routine. In fact, it can be helpful, but when life becomes too predictable, the brain isn't being challenged in ways that can help it grow.
But when you challenge it. When you ask it to do something new, such as pivoting later in life, it interrupts that pattern. It wakes the brain up. It engages. It starts building and adapting again. And here's what's important. That ability doesn't disappear after 50.
In many ways, it becomes even more important to use. Because when you stop challenging your brain, you start to lose some of that flexibility, that sharpness, that adaptability. But when you lean into something new, you strengthen it. You reinforce it, you keep it active and engaged.
In addition to neuroplasticity, there's another important concept in brain health called Cognitive reserve. You can think of cognitive reserve as the brain's resilience bank account. The more we challenge our brains throughout life– through learning, curiosity, creativity, and problem solving, the more reserves we build. People with higher cognitive reserves often maintain sharper thinking and greater cognitive resilience As they age, their brains have more pathways, more flexibility, more ways to solve problems.
And making a pivot naturally requires the kinds of mental activities that build that reserve. It activates multiple regions of the brain at once. Your prefrontal cortex becomes highly engaged as you plan, strategize, and make decisions about your next steps. Your hippocampus is actively learning and story new information, and your basal ganglia starts helping you build new routines and patterns. As you move into this new chapter, it becomes a full brain workout.
There's also a chemical component to this. When we pursue something meaningful and challenging, the brain releases dopamine. Dopamine plays a major role in motivation, focus, and learning. It's part of the brain's reward system. It's one of the reasons people who take on exciting new goals later in life often say they feel more energized and mentally alive.
Their brain is literally being stimulated by progress and possibility. If you're going to make a pivot over 50, having a healthy brain becomes even more critical because pivots require mental energy. They require focus, resilience, adaptability, and problem-solving.
You're processing new information, navigating uncertainty, making decisions, learning unfamiliar skills. If your brain is dealing with brain fog, chronic stress, poor sleep, or nutrient deficiencies, those challenges can feel much heavier. That's why brain health becomes such an important foundation for bold life moves when you nourish your brain well.
Move your body regularly, get quality sleep, manage stress, and stay connected to others. You're giving your brain the support it needs to handle change. You're improving clarity, strengthening focus, increasing resilience. In other words, you're preparing your brain not just to maintain what you've built, but to create what's next.
If you are in a season of change or even thinking about stepping into one, there are a few simple ways you can support your brain through that process. The first is to focus on one step at a time. When we look at everything involved in a big change, it can feel overwhelming, but the brain responds much better to small, manageable steps. Each step builds confidence and reinforces new neural pathways.
The second is to protect your mental energy. Pivots require focus, so this is the time to be intentional about sleep boundaries and what you're saying yes to. Your brain needs space to learn and adapt.
And the third is to stay connected. Talk to people. Share what you're learning, ask questions. Connection not only supports emotional resilience, it also strengthens cognitive function. Small, consistent actions like these make a big difference in how your brain navigates change.
There's also another powerful reason pivots can be good for the brain, and that has to do with purpose. When we feel connected to something meaningful, the brain's emotional and motivational systems become highly engaged, particularly the limbic system. Purpose fuels motivation. It gives direction to our energy. It gives direction to our effort. Research shows that people who maintain a strong sense of purpose often experience better cognitive health.
They also have greater resilience as they age. Purpose isn't just good for the soul, it's good for the brain. Many pivots or changes later in life are driven by purpose. They come from a sense that there is something more you wanna explore, contribute, or create.
When I look at pivots through the lens of the RenewHer Framework, several of the pillars come into play. Discover is an obvious one. When we challenge ourselves to learn something new, we stimulate curiosity, and neuroplasticity.
Connect also plays a role. Many pivots require us to build new relationships and expand our networks.
Move matters because physical activity increases blood flow to the brain. It also supports learning and resilience, and rest becomes critical.
Sleep is when the brain consolidates learning and memory. When we support our brains across these pillars, we're much better equipped to navigate change and growth.
Perhaps the biggest risk for our brains isn't making a pivot. The bigger risk might actually be staying in a place where we're no longer learning, growing, or feeling engaged because the brain thrives on curiosity and challenge.
When those things disappear, our mental world can slowly start to shrink. Pivots expand it again. Now, let me pause for a moment and ask you something. Have you felt a pull towards something more, a desire to create, to contribute, to step into a new chapter? Something new you've thought about? Learning, exploring, or trying?
Or maybe taking a step in a different direction? Maybe it's writing a book, starting a business, changing careers, learning a new language, going back to school, or taking on a physical challenge you've never attempted before, but you've pushed that thought or desire aside because you started doubting yourself, asking, " What if I'm too old to start over? What if I'm not as sharp as I used to be? What if I fail? Or sometimes, what will people think?”
And yes, all of that can feel uncomfortable because your brain also wants to keep you safe. It prefers the familiar, the predictable, the known. So, when you consider doing something new, it may respond with doubt, with hesitation, with fear, but that doesn't mean it's a bad decision.
It often means it's a growth decision. Because on the other side of that discomfort is expansion, new skills, new confidence, new identity. What if that curiosity, that desire, is actually your brain asking for growth? Making a pivot after 50 isn't just a bold life move. It may be one of the most powerful ways to keep your brain vibrant, engaged, and growing for decades to come.
Because here's the truth, you're not done growing. Your brain isn't done changing. Your capacity to learn, adapt, and create something meaningful is very much alive. In fact, this season of life may be the most powerful time to step into something new because now you're bringing wisdom, experience, perspective, and intention with you.
Maybe the real question isn't, " Am I too old to pivot?” Maybe the better question is “What might happen if I gave my brain and my life the chance to grow again?” That's worth thinking about.
Thank you for joining me for this episode of RenewHer. If today's conversation sparks something in you, don't let it fade. Take even a small step toward your next adventure. If you've found value in what you heard, please subscribe, leave a review, or share this podcast with a woman who's ready to take her next bold step. Together we're building a community of strong, resilient women navigating what's next with courage and purpose. Until next time, stay energized and keep embracing what's possible.