What the world needs now is Creativity

After my last post about "Heroes" I had some misgivings. I mean...coming out about Steven Segal being one of my alter-egos? Was that a good idea??

But then the good news...scientific evidence that alter-egos help us solve problems. Yes, as Professor Fredrik Ullen of the Karolinska Institute explains in his recent report there is a clear link between schizophrenia and creativity. It seems that certain psychological traits, such as the ability to make bizarre associations are shared by schizophrenics and healthy, highly creative people.  Apparently it's all to do with dopamine D2 receptors. "The research results have shown that the dopamine system of healthy, highly creative people is similar to that found in people with schizophrenia,"
So there you go a dual personality probably increases your creativity!  
But that's not all!! It gets better...
Creativity is seen as the most important leadership quality required for success in business over the next 5 years! 
That is the highly significant conclusion in a  new study conducted by IBM and reported by The Fast Company when the question of leadership qualities that would take us forward was posed.  1,500 corporate heads and public sector leaders from a mix of 60 nations and 33 industries were asked the question. About 60% of the CEOs cited creativity. The feeling being that creative leaders are more prepared to break with the status quo of business. Something clearly seen as an issue in the challenging years ahead!
So fellow OnWeGo 'ers we have been given a sign... and it's Creativity. How do we respond to this and retake our rightful place leading the world?
Well we've got a head start. We can do the alter-ego bit easy as you like. What about the dopamine? Apparently eating certain foods works wonders and can get our neurotransmitters connecting with wild creativity.

This is a great "shopping list" that I came across on Medhelp - Apples for their "quercetin.'  Bananas for tyrosine.  Beetroot for betaine.  Chicken for coenzyme Q10.   Cheese, with cottage cheese seen as a "must eat" food amongst experts for boosting mood and energy.  Eggs.  Fish particularly the "oily" varieties for Omega-3 fatty acids.  Watermelon...another favourite fat free and vitamin loaded producer of serotonin, melatonin, and dopamine.

Right. I've been munching on an apple and a banana so that's pumped up my dopamine.
Now... let's get into my alter-ego. Hmmm...this bat suit is getting a bit tight!
OK. Ready now  Time to practice a few bizarre associations!

Fly the flag....it's officially good for you

It's only 20 days to the World Cup and already the flags are flying! ....and just as soon as the first St George's Cross is seen flying from a car... we have the anti-flag flying fraternity flying off the handle.

It's the usual suspects and arguments that feature in this debate. The voices of officialdom who speak on behalf of minority interests who they claim find majority-interest symbolism offensive. Something that seems to have escaped my local Indian restaurant (Muslims from Bangladesh) who erect a christmas tree religiously each December.
And of course the good old BBC can see something to whip up here. Encouraging listeners to 'phone in and say where they stand on flying or not flying the flag?  Strange isn't it...that it is always those callers with strong....going on extreme feelings that get through!  And we listen to familiar widely opposing views. Are reminded of the flag waving stereotype, you know... the bull terrier tugging...pot belly vested...tatooed skin-head!   Funny that the cars I see are driven by young mums with kids...but no news in that.
Interestingly this subject of flag waving has occupied scientific research in the past...and with surprising results.
Whereas we tend to think of flag waving as a metaphor for stirring up nationalistic attitudes this was not the findings of research lead by Dr. Ran Hassin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Psychology Department, and summarised in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In a series of experiments Israeli participants were randomly divided into two groups and their attitudes were questioned on issues connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Before questioning one group was exposed to subliminal images of the Israeli flag. Their answers consistently showed attitudes that were politically central and moderate in marked comparison to the other group. Attitudes that were also seen to convert to actions in the form of election choice as measured by a post election survey.
So there we go. Flying the flag is good for you and makes you a better balanced person!
Which is great news! Because I've bought my St Georges Cross lapel badge. The creases from my 2006 flag have been pressed out ready.  I've bought wrist-bands for all the kids. Most importantly I've got my official England ball....a must have stressbuster to occupy my hands and feet as I watch the games.

So come on then lads. Get those flags flying. Practice your face painting.  Start working on those distended bellies .... we've only got 20 days or so to go!

Look for the hero!

I just watched a trailer for the new Stallone movie The Expendables. Brilliant! A handful of good guys overcoming all the odds and winning against overwhelming numbers of bad guys.

www.stuffucanuse.com

Can you imagine better role models for OnWeGo than Stallone, Willis, Arnie and Micky Rourke...showing that they can keep up with young sproggs like Statham and Li and play the full on all action hero!!

And why not? No. I'm not saying let's all learn martial arts and go and kick arse anywhere in the world. But I definitely am saying that we keep on doing what we do for as long as we can do it well.

Although thinking about it some more....what's wrong with heroes and alter egos?

As kids we certainly would have had heroes that at times would become our alter egos. When I pulled on the goal-keeper's jersey at Old Oak JM School I became Frank Swift the towering England goalkeeper. Being Frank helped me to get back out between those posts after each heavy defeat.  Because being frank... as Bobby Spink I was rubbish! 

And don't let on.... but Steven Segal became my alter ego when I took up Tai Chi 5 years ago. Left to my own devices I would never had endured the throws and punches we had to practice. 

Heroes or role models are great at resolving issues or making decisions. Not for you...but with you as your alter-ego. Next time you face a difficult decision ask yourself who would be good at handling this. Maybe you'd choose Stallone....Spike Milligan...even Simon Cowell?? Just step into their shoes and say "right...how are we going to deal with this?"
Having an alter-ego can keep you imaginative...and make you laugh. As was the case when imagining myself as a Sioux brave and wanting an appropriate name...Lynda came up with Sleeps with the wind. 
Heroes are also great for your self-esteem. Especially when you learn that you are one in the eyes of somebody else. As I did when hearing that Grandson James had chosen me as his hero in a school essay. OK he did keep some balance by mentioning my sun-burnt pate when playing golf! 
But perhaps as important for  your self-esteem is being a hero in your own eyes. Feeling good about yourself. Being proud of what you have achieved. And maybe most of all...Looking for new ways to make others proud of you.  
Right...must go. Got to bust a Colombian drug cartel before lunch!

The end of mankind as I know it!

To get a view of how the papers were covering the election I thought I'd scan some on-line newspapers. I started with The New York Times. I like to get an outside perspective on our news....and yes....I do like to mention in conversation "I read it in the New York Times!"
Anyway...after reading some objective as well as rather concerning opinion on the election and what lies in store for us afterwards, I switched to The Daily Mail On-Line.
Here the headline stories were....
Victoria Beckham voted World's most glamorous celebrity!
Abby Clancy leads line up of WAGs to launch World Cup shirts!
Alex Curran puts on united front with husband Steven Gerrard!
Queen of  the WAGS Coleen Rooney cheers on Wayne as he's named Man Utd's Player of the Year!"

Now let me be clear about where I stand when it comes to women! It is in awe! I love em! I admire and support them. Respect them and do my best to treat them respectfully. I enjoy all the opening of car doors stuff etc...although doing that used to seriously upset a feminist I was once dating.
But I just don't get this WAG thing? Why do the girls get more air time than the guys!

I do wonder if it's maybe a generation thing on my part? Being a 60's celebrant I know that back then it was all about the exploits of Bobby, Geoff, Martin and the lads on the back pages. What the wives were doing didn't make any of the pages. Although I guess there weren't too many £20,000 handbags to be found in the shops down the Barking Road.

So am I a social throwback to an age of chivalry and gallantry?

Prhaps there is an answer to that chivalrous era question in this 1943 publication of  Transport Magazine. It offers advice to managers on how to treat women recruited in wartime into traditionally men's jobs. The advice included these priceless gems:
"If you can get them, pick young married women......they usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious..."
"General experience indicates that "husky" girls...those that are a little on the heavy side, are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters."
"Give a girl adequate rest periods. You have to make allowance for feminine psychology...a girl is more confident and efficient if she can keep her hair tidied and apply fresh lipstick..."
"Get enough size variety in operator's uniform so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point cannot be stressed too much in keeping women happy!"

Hardly chivalrous gallantry was it?  Nope...Looks like I was the product of a pretty mysogynistic society.  I've just got to accept that emancipation has finally arrived. Aphrodite has given way to Coleen.
And she is happy to open car doors for herself! 

There's no substitute for experience...just don't go on about it!

We're making the news quite a lot at the moment....us OnWeGo wrinklies!
Well. "Making the news" is maybe hyping it a bit. Let's say we're being written about. In fact let's be really honest... they're sending out more of those warnings. You know?  The impending catastrophy warnings that liken us to  carbon emissions ...over-fishing ....recycleable plastic packaging!

Yes...heaven help the planet!  "In a further 20 years, half the adult population will be over 50 years of age!"
I came across that scary prophesy in this month's Professional Manager. To be fair it was part of an article dealing with the need for employers to come to terms with an ageing workforce. The author points out that currently 1.4 million people are working past the retirement age, and happen to represent the fastest growing group in the labour market. The point is well made that despite age discrimination laws being introduced, businesses are not really taking age management seriously enough.
The other piece came from Daily Finance and appropriately dealt with the financial implications. In this case quoting Age UK's figures that
 "an estimated 120,000 people were forced to retire in 2009, "draining" billions of pounds from the country's economy.
"Forcing older workers (65 - 70) to retire cost the UK economy £3.5 billion last year, including £2 billion in lost earnings."
Their main argument was to abolish the default retirement age in a bid to end forced retirement, claiming that 9 out 10 workers support this idea.
So lots of worthy bodies on the case on our behalf. Is there anything we as indivdual "wrinklies" can do to help ourselves?  One thing for sure. Don't over-do the experience thing!
I've learnt that lesson...being lucky to work with a group of young creatives. Always eager to present themselves as young and trendy (it is allowed.)  They are politically in-correct...bless 'em!  My senior moments are never allowed to go tactfully un-noticed. And I've learnt to avoid any "Uncle Albert During the war" remarks!

Experience emerged as the thread in responses to a question I recently posed to the C.M.I. Discussion group on Linkedin. Suggesting that there could be one golden talent by which dormant greys should promote themselves...the responses said "not so!"  Experience is seen as our edge but how we articulate it is key...particularly within a youger peer group. Have it available as a potentially useful in-sight that can be offered when sought.... but only after curiosity ...open-mindedness ...adaptability ...enthusiasm....have been shown first.

 

So here's the plan. We help employers forget about age...by not going on about our years of experience!

Because unless we continue to be attractively employable....it won't be global warming making the headlines in 20 years time...

"Supermarket chaos...pension day trolly grid-lock brings nation to standstill!"

"Bus company goes bust as free-pass passengers reach 90%!"

"Government turn to IMF to bail out pensioner's winter fuel allowance deficit!"

 

Relax the mind and get more out of it!

I often tell people that I do indolence very well!  Sit me down watching ducks on the river...leave me to listen to the waves on a beach and I'll happily evacuate the thinking parts of my brain!

I will admit that I have often felt a bit guilty about it. But not anymore!! ... and huge thanks for that go to the brilliant researchers at The University of North Carolina!
In a report published in the April issue of Consciousness and Cognition  the Research Team lead by Fadel Zeidan suggest that meditation leads to significant improvements in cognitive skills...with impressive results being achieved with single 20 minute training sessions over just 4 days.  Whilst meditation and enhanced awareness aren't a new concept...achieving results in this accelerated way is seen as a big break through. It makes the prospect of enhanced cognitive ability much more available to modern man (and me) who hasn't the time for "monastic" style meditation.
Reading this did stir up some of my own fanciful thinking (research would be a bit of a posey term to use) on this whole issue of deep thought. When you come to realise what a small amount of our brain we actually use, it does make you wonder that if we were to try a bit harder could we  access and use the "untapped" areas?  Of course there has been plenty of research to indicate that we can...and many of life's "deep thought" pheomena seem to point in the same direction. For example:
It appears that our subconsious memory is "millions of times" larger than the conscious part. Information, values, fears, beliefs, natural responses are all buried deep within it.
We know that we can "mine" those depths when brain patterns slow down through Alpha state into Theta state. So is hypno-therapy actually a form of facilitated meditation...both achieving similar outcomes?
Are the instances of faith healing we hear of simply examples of the intense concentration that occurs in prayer prompting the mind to trigger its own "miracle cure."  A very candid Harley Street consultant once told me "belief in recovery was 50% of most cures."
Is prayer itself just a form of meditation? Listening to friends talking about Buddhism and enlightenment makes me think so. With a little understanding (which I admit) of  Shamanism, "local" religions of the world, and Transcendental Meditation I see prayer, meditation and trance all closely aligned. So are spiritual belief and enhanced mental strength the same thing really?
And what about the "alleged" memory decline of advancing years? Is that nothing more than the mine getting deeper and fuller... and it just takes a bit longer to bring stuff to the surface? I reckon so...we just need to stretch the probe a bit further.
So as well as enjoying the regular fix of eggs for the choline, blueberries for the polyphenols and red wine for the resveratrol...all helping to keep the brain chemicals in good shape... let's have a serious crack at this meditation lark!
Who's to say what wonderous new talents and capabilities we might unearth?
And what about all that stored experience and wisdom?  So many gems...waiting to be mined!
Right then!  ... I'm off to meditate. Think I'll find some waves to watch. Better keep hold of my shoes...I forgot where I left them last time!! 

Grey and proud of it!

AOL did one of their Top 10 lists last week...this time on celebrities who were happy (or not) to be grey. Inevitably George Clooney was listed as the champion "grey." And of course Sir Tom Jones was there.  It was great when he simply said that he "got fed up dying it!"
And it prompts me to go on again about the theme of my last blog -staying young and trendy. Because when it comes to hair I've had my challenges.
I had to deal with thinning hair when only 19! But fashion was kind. It was the "mod" era and with my Perry Como crew cut I was right at the edge of that trend.
70's fashions were not so kind. Keeping abreast of the longer hair look with an ever widening centre parting made me look like Huckleberry Hound.  But I had to be "with it" ...and I loved the wonderfully smelling Cossack hair spray!  Can you have an iconic smell? Guess not!.
Then career progression and conforming with the "corporate executive look" intervened...and the ridiculous spaniels ears morphed into a "Tom Selleck" style moustache. This was good because facial hair was thought to divert attention from baldness. Not that I needed to worry because attention to my baldness was unselfishly diverted by the numerous Bobby Charlton look-alikes. These were the guys who parted their hair one inch above the ear and carefully laid a one-piece mat of lacquered hair across to the other ear.
But the onset of greying was difficult for me. And at the time...as a prematurely ageing member of a young man's world the Tom Selleck moustache had to quickly go. And yes...I experimented with substances as greying men do....I tried the Grecian 2000! But with concerns. Did it really look natural? And was I smelling to others as bad as the Grecian 2000 smelt to me? I gave up on it pretty quickly and decided that "premature greying...resulting from on-going chronic slipped disc pain" was how I was going to deal with it among my peers.
Then I had something of an "epiphany" when meeting a German couple on holiday. With shared interest on the subject Thomas told me "in Germany we have a saying...that you can trust the man with white hair!"
So having anguished about my hair....and succumbed to ageism... and  the admitted substance experimentation...I was shown the light (or the white??)
Now my attitude is.... Refuse to be embarrassed about your age. Be totally honest with yourself...because others probably see and respect that honesty.
Ok if you're a celeb' and need to de-age for a part that's fine.  But wacking on the black to look young just isn't cool. So cheers Sir Tom for championing "proud to be grey!" ....oh and I'd get rid of the beard too if I was you.
By the way.... has anybody noticed that very few leading politicians have white hair??