443: Mental arthritis & how optimism improves longevity | Psychologist Elaine Fox, Ph.D.

Elaine Fox, Ph.D.: “In life we tend to get mental arthritis. We get a little bit rigid and set in our ways.” Elaine, a psychologist and author, joins mbg co-CEO, Jason Wachob, to discuss how to stay mentally agile as you age, plus: - What does it mean to be mentally agile? (~01:04) - How your brain’s flexibility wanes as you age (~03:29) - How social media impacts your mental agility (~05:08) - How to know if you’re mentally agile (~08:32) - How to balance routine & getting out of your comfort zone (~12:53) - The four pillars that underlie your agility (~15:38) - How to instantly understand someone’s personality (~18:35) - The link between exercise & self-awareness (~22:20) - A technique to understand your life story (~23:54) - The psychology of resilience (~29:02) - The science of intuition (~31:54) - How to make your intuition stronger (~34:39) - The fine line between optimism & toxic positivity (~38:55) - How optimism can improve your longevity (~44:36) - The best brain exercises to enhance mental agility (~51:50) - How diverse perspectives can strengthen your brain (~55:08) Referenced in the episode: - Elaine's book, Switch Craft: The Hidden Power of Mental Agility . - Take an OCEAN personality test . - The Psychology of the Stranger research . - A study on resilience and post-traumatic growth . - Elaine's study on adolescents and resilience . - Elaine's previous book, Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain . - A study on optimism and longevity . Take 25% off our nootropics with code BRAINCODE. Cannot combine with gift cards or other discount codes. Apply code at checkout. We hope you enjoy this episode, and feel free to watch the full video on Youtube ! Whether it's an article or podcast, we want to know what we can do to help here at mindbodygreen. Let us know at: podcast@mindbodygreen.com . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices