I want you to remember, you don't have to be good at something for it to be good for your brain. You simply have to be willing to begin
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, and welcome back. In my last Brain Note, we talked about why your brain resists change and how uncertainty can make your brain want to stick with what's familiar. But today, I wanna look at the other side of that. What happens in your brain when you actually decide to try something new?
Because trying something new isn't only about what you're doing, it's about what you're asking your brain to do. And it turns out that's a pretty good thing. Think about something you do all the time. Maybe it's driving a familiar route, making your morning coffee, or getting ready for your day.
You don't have to think about every step. Your brain has already learned the pattern. That's one of the things our brains are really good at. They look for patterns and develop habits, so we don't have to use a lot of mental energy on things we've already learned.
But when you do something new, you can't rely on those familiar patterns in quite the same way. You have to pay attention. You have to take in new information. You have to figure things out. And that's one of the benefits of novelty. Trying something new gets your brain engaged. Instead of simply running on autopilot, you're asking your brain to be present and process what's happening, and that leads to one of the biggest benefits of trying something new: You're learning.
This is where we talk about one of my favorite concepts in brain health: neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is your brain's ability to change and adapt in response to what you experience and learn. And when you learn something new, you're asking your brain to do something different. Your brain isn't simply storing information, it's changing.
You're creating and strengthening connections between neurons, helping your brain build and strengthen new pathways. Think about learning to play the piano. At first, your brain has to figure out where your fingers go, what notes you're seeing, and how those things work together. Or maybe you're learning a new language. Your brain is taking in unfamiliar words and patterns and figuring out how to recognize and use them. Or perhaps you're learning a new sport, taking up photography, starting a business, or learning how to use technology you've never used before. In each case, you're asking your brain to learn something it didn't already know how to do, and that's neuroplasticity at work.
But there's something else happening when you learn something new. When you're doing something you're already good at, you're operating from a place of competence. You know what you're doing. You know how to solve the problem. You know what success looks like.
But when you try something new, you become a beginner again, and being a beginner can be uncomfortable. You make mistakes. You don't know what you're doing. You may have to ask questions. You may have to try something several times before you get it. But every time you figure something out, your brain gets new evidence.
I can learn this. I can figure this out. I can make a mistake and keep going. I can do something I couldn't do before, and that's bigger than the new skill itself. You're not only learning the new skill, you're learning that you can learn. And I think that's especially powerful when you've spent so much of your life being the person who knows what she's doing. Trying something new gives you an opportunity to practice being uncomfortable without being incapable. Those two are very different things.
And here's something I think is important. You don't have to become an expert for your brain to benefit. You don't have to master the piano. You don't have to become fluent in Spanish. You don't have to run a marathon. The learning itself is the workout.
You might be wondering, okay, so my brain is creating and strengthening neural connections. Why should I care? Because those connections are part of how information moves through your brain. They help different areas of your brain communicate, and they support the things you rely on every day, things like learning, memory, attention, processing information, and problem-solving.
So when you learn something new, you're not only learning that particular skill, you're giving your brain an opportunity to build and strengthen the networks it uses to think and function. And that's one reason learning is so important for brain health.
We can't control everything that happens to our brains as we age, but we can give them opportunities to learn, adapt, and stay engaged. And keeping our brains actively engaged in learning is one of the things we can do to support cognitive health as we get older.
And there's another benefit to trying something new that I think is really important. You're practicing adaptability. When you're doing something you've never done before, things don't always go according to plan. Something doesn't work the way you expected. You have to solve a problem. You have to adjust. You may have to try a different approach. You have to figure out what to do next. And every time you do that, you're practicing your ability to adapt.
You're teaching your brain that when something is unfamiliar or doesn't go as planned, you don't necessarily have to stop. You can pause. You can figure it out. You can adjust. You can try it again. And that practice can serve you far beyond whatever new thing you're learning because life doesn't always give us a roadmap.
Things change. Plans change. Circumstances change. And the more experience we have with saying, "okay, I don't know exactly what I'm doing here, but I'll figure out my next step," the more comfortable we can become with uncertainty and change. You're not only learning something new, you're practicing how to adapt.
There's one more reason I love trying something new. You never know where it might lead. You might sign up for a class because you're curious and discover a new passion. You might try a new activity and meet people you never could have met otherwise. You might travel somewhere you've never been and come home seeing your life a little differently. You might start something because you think it's going to lead in one direction and discover an entirely different possibility.
And sometimes the new thing doesn't work out. That's okay, too. You may discover that you don't actually like it, but you've still learned something about the activity, about yourself, and about your willingness to try.
Now, there's something I want you to remember if you're thinking about trying something new. It may not feel good at first, and that's normal. You may feel awkward. You may feel slow. You may compare yourself to people who've been doing it for years. You may wonder whether you're capable. But what if we stopped interpreting that discomfort as evidence that we're not good at something, and start seeing it as evidence that we're learning?
Being a beginner doesn't mean you're failing. It means you're beginning, and your brain is doing exactly what it needs to do when you're learning something new.
So let me leave you with a question. What is something you've been curious about? Not something you think you should do, something you've actually wanted to try. Maybe it's learning to play an instrument, taking a dance class, learning a language, trying a new sport, taking a solo trip, starting a creative project, starting a business, or maybe it's something much smaller. It doesn't have to be a huge life change, and you don't have to decide that you're gonna become an expert. You don't even have to know where it's gonna lead.
What if you simply gave your brain something new to learn? Because your brain isn't finished learning. It isn't finished changing. And it isn't finished adapting. So the next time you're tempted to think, "I'm too old to start something new," or, "I'm probably not going to be very good at this," I want you to remember, you don't have to be good at something for it to be good for your brain.
You simply have to be willing to begin.
So what will you try next?
Until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep discovering what's possible.
Thank you for joining me for this episode of RenewHer. If today's conversation sparked something in you, don't let it fade. Take even a small step toward what's next. If you 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