2026 April 21 Brain basics and identity!

Hi, this is Jim Cranston from 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com, the podcast and website about reimagining your life. Thanks for joining me to talk about our best friend — our brain. If you like what you hear today, please leave a like, subscribe, tell your friends, and send me a message.

This week we're talking about how our brain works and how our self-perception and identity can affect it — and what we can do to make sure that effect is a positive one. Last week we talked about how our identity can be shaped by our own conscious decisions, to a certain degree, although it's certainly also influenced by what society and those around us tell us.

I want to start with an example from a good friend of mine, Jeff McKoy — therealjeffmckoy, as he goes by on Instagram and Facebook. Jeff is someone I got to know through some of the classes I took, and we've kept in touch over the years. He does some really good writing and speaking, and in a particular post I saw on Instagram, he talked about how he had built processes and systems, was wonderfully productive, wrote books — but then realized that productivity isn't really the same as progress.

He came to see that he was keeping himself so busy in order to avoid difficult thoughts and to try to gain control of his life and the thoughts in his head. That same sentiment applies directly to us and our identities as we move through life and as we age.

The question is: what are you doing right now — or not doing — in order to avoid something else? To avoid a conflict with your own identity? Because the only way to make progress and move forward in life is to face the difficult questions and the uncertainties, and still continue to move forward — but now from a perspective of power and self-love.

Thank you as always, Jeff. You always give me great material. You cover meaningful subjects, and someday hopefully we'll get you on the show to talk about all of it.

Today's main topic is closely related to all of that — it's about the mind and some of the ways our brains actually work. To be clear, this is just a very high-level look at some of the macro systems that enable us to learn and remember things, correct things we learned incorrectly, recognize patterns, and especially automate things — so we aren't forever relearning how to brush our teeth or print the alphabet.

Our brain is a pretty amazing functional computing device, and especially over this last decade, we're learning so much more about the brain and the tricks it knows how to do. It's a huge topic, and there's a lot of active research going on — scientists, doctors, psychologists, behavioral scientists — all of them are continually learning more about the amazing things the brain does for us every day.

This ties together with Jeff's insight and with our earlier discussions about identity and how we can change it. I've mentioned before — Vinh Giang — a public speaking and voice trainer. He's a fascinating person with some really interesting content related to this same concept. Instead of identity, Vinh talks about your voice. Similar to identity, people think they can't change their voices. "This is just how I talk. I can't speak louder. This is just the way I am." He'll take people through exercises that seem almost contrived, and once they go through them, they realize they can sound completely different than they thought they always had to sound — that how you sound can actually be a choice.

He uses the same kinds of techniques we use for training our brain to re-envision our identity: try a new persona, practice it consciously, notice it, talk to your brain about it. And eventually your brain comes to accept that this isn't some fake thing — it's an actual change, and now it becomes you.

So how does the brain actually do this? We can tell you the tricks, but it's worth understanding how the brain can pull them off.

Within the brain, we'll start with neurons and axons. The classic theory was that neurons held information and axons were essentially wires connecting them. But more recent discoveries showed that axons weren't just smooth wires — they actually contain bumps and breaks in the myelin sheath, which is a fatty substance that acts as an insulator. Those breaks appear to be purposeful, allowing communication in many places at once. The bumps seem to play a role in making things happen faster. And there's even emerging research suggesting that axons may make decisions on their own.

Even more recent studies — including a major imaging project that had breakthroughs in 2025 — showed that just one cubic millimeter of human brain tissue contains roughly 57,000 neurons and 150 million synapses. Synapses are the connection points between axons — the things that let different neurons talk to each other.

To put that in perspective: one cubic millimeter is about one-fiftieth of a single drop of water. About two millionths of a bottle of water. In that tiny, tiny volume, there are 150 million synapses.

It is the synapses, in conjunction with neurons and axons, that evolve over time to create learning. When a thought or action is repeated, the connection between those neurons strengthens — and that becomes memory. Learning a poem by repeating it. Every time you see green, you think "go." All the things you take for granted are connections getting more and more wired into your head. And when something isn't used often — your parking space number, the color of a car that drove by fifteen minutes ago — those connections weaken. That's called synaptic pruning. That's how memories fade.

This, along with other related mechanisms, is all referred to as neuroplasticity — the ability to learn new things, change opinions, adapt, and grow. It's happening in the brain all the time. It is not something we only do as children. If it were, you wouldn't have been able to learn anything in college, or figure out the radio in your new car. Throughout your whole life, you have neuroplasticity and the ability to learn new things, and to automatically clear out what you no longer need.

Neuroplasticity continues throughout our entire lifetime. Research by Becca Levy, PhD — whom I reference often — has shown that internalizing positive beliefs about aging, instead of negative stereotypes, can increase brain health by roughly 45%. Almost by half. And cognitive improvement in later life is common, not unusual.

That is worth repeating: simply by rejecting negative aging stereotypes and choosing a positive outlook instead, a typical older adult can increase their brain health by up to 45%. That's an amazing figure and an amazing concept.

How can that be? Because we are always teaching our brain what is true and real — through what we say to ourselves and how we perceive ourselves. If we say negative things about our health and our aging, our brain will work to make that come true. If we say positive things, the brain will work to make that come true instead.

Two important things to remember. First, our brain wants us to be right. It wants to keep us safe and to confirm what we believe. If we think it's going to be a good day, we'll look for evidence of a good day. If we think it's going to be a bad day, we'll find that too. Second, our brain only knows what we tell it through our interpretation of the world. See something and say "that's green" — the brain files it as green. The brain only knows what we tell it.

This matters enormously. When you're 20 and forget something, you laugh it off — you were out too late, whatever. When you're 65 and forget something, you worry about Alzheimer's or dementia or just "being old." But we forget things at every age. We've simply been trained to think that forgetting after 45 or 50 means something is wrong. We tell our brain that story, and our brain is listening.

Brain health is extremely important to our aging process, and so is our belief system — which is tied directly to how we define our identity. If your core identity was your career, then when that career ends or changes, you feel like you've lost something fundamental — like you've become invisible or meaningless. But if your career is just one small part of who you are, then when that big life change comes, most of your life is still exactly the same. You carry on with less stress, and your self-perception doesn't have to take a hit.

That gives you a more positive outlook on life and on aging — and that supports your brain health, which in turn protects all that wonderful learning and experience you've accumulated. And when your brain is healthy, you feel healthy. Your attitude is positive. And when your attitude is positive, you meet people better, you show up better, you feel better. It just ripples through everything.

The biggest takeaways: aging does not guarantee a failing brain. A great deal of Becca Levy's research — conducted across cultures and normalized to remove ageism — shows that when you remove the negative connotations of aging from the equation, older adults simply don't show the cognitive decline we see so commonly in the Western world. We still have tremendous cognitive capability as we age. We can still learn new things. We still have neuroplasticity. Not being willing to change isn't age — it's a decision.

Also very importantly: we always have direct input into how we view ourselves. That directly impacts our brain health, our overall health, and pretty much every aspect of our lives. That is something we can actively control — not everything, of course, but a great deal.

So keep a positive attitude. There's more to come on this, so stay tuned. No homework tonight, since we're still on the basics — but truly, stay positive. There are a lot more exciting things ahead.

One of the best ways to care for yourself is to care for others. Visit UKR7.com for links to organizations helping the people of Ukraine, and WCK.org for World Central Kitchen, which responds when disaster strikes. Both are wonderful international organizations — but there are always local charities and US-based causes as well. And sometimes, something as simple as a smile to someone can change their day in ways you can't even imagine.

As always, thank you for stopping by. If you found something interesting or useful, please pass it along, subscribe, and hit that like button. If not, drop me a comment and let me know what you'd like to hear.

Have a great week. Remember to live the life that you dream of, because that's the path to tru contentment. Love and encouragement to everyone. See you next week on 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com.