Copyright Forbes
The trade winds are shifting. The light is softer now, and there’s a new stillness in the air. In Hawaii, autumn doesn’t arrive in a leafy blaze of colors, but you sense it in the lengthening shadows and see it in the rising swells off the north shore. Something is changing. Autumn has always stirred something in me. Maybe I’m just feeling that old back-to-school rhythm. It’s time now to get serious and let go of summer ways. This is a season for reflection and change, for sharpening pencils and sharpening the mind. Transformation is happening both around us and within us. And the mind, as it turns out, is more capable of transformation than we ever imagined. A Mind That Can Rebuild Let me tell you about Mora Leeb. Before she was born, she had a severe stroke, and nobody knew. Then, when she was a toddler, constant seizures shook her. To treat her, surgeons had to take out nearly half her brain. You’d expect maybe this wouldn’t turn out so well. Instead, she grew to become a vibrant, active teenager. Her story is a powerful example of neuroplasticity: the brain’s ability to rewire, recover, and grow. Mora’s story reminds us that our intellectual growth isn’t fixed. Our brains aren’t static. No matter our age or background, our minds are still capable of stretching in new directions. Intellectual Wellness is one of the nine dimensions in the Well Method that I explain in my book The Art and Science of Well-Being. The Well Method helps people reach wholeness in mind, body, and spirit. When I speak of intellectual wellness, I don’t mean intelligence as it’s usually measured. I mean something broader: curiosity, discernment, and the willingness to think differently. We’re never done learning about our world, and about ourselves. As I explain in the book, intellectual wellness calls for a renewal of the mind. The mind is the first domain addressed in the Well Method because intellectual wellness can influence every other aspect of our well-being. When our thinking becomes clearer, we make room for emotional growth, healthier choices, and deeper spiritual reflection. Stretching Our Thinking We often assume learning slows with age. I’ve seen the opposite. I’ve watched people well into their later years light up with fresh ideas, take on new challenges, and stretch their thinking in ways that surprised even them. Continued learning achieved through activities such as reading, reflecting, or simply staying curious does more than refresh the mind. It keeps us grounded, connected, and full of purpose. I try to cultivate this kind of lifelong curiosity in myself and encourage it in those I coach. What matters most isn’t how much we know but how we think. In this world of quick takes and loud opinions, intellectual wellness helps us sort through the clutter to see what’s useful. We can pause, think deeply, and focus on what truly matters. That was a shift I had to make myself. For years, I chased the next solution for myself, my family, and my work. I’ve come to see that a nimble mind doesn’t have to be a noisy one. Clarity doesn’t come from overload. It comes from stillness and focus, from stepping back to see the wider angle. Staying Open, Staying Sharp I invite you to walk alongside me each month as we explore one of the nine dimensions of wellness—from intellectual, emotional, and spiritual health to the physical and creative aspects of human flourishing. As you can see, they overlap in many ways. Intellectual wellness is more than mental, for example. It’s a spiritual orientation, too. It asks us to stay open and listen more carefully to the world around us, to the voice within, and to something greater than ourselves that speaks to the heart. Next month, we’ll shift to Emotional Wellness: how we experience and regulate the range of human feeling, and why that matters so much for our relationships, health, and sense of self. No matter which dimension we’re exploring, it starts with keeping that pencil sharp. Like autumn itself, this is your season of change—of letting go, rethinking, and preparing for what’s ahead. That’s a good rhythm for the mind, too. You don’t need a classroom to grow. You just need to keep your mind curious and moving forward.
