Jesse Payne - Change Your Brain, Change Your Life (Before 25): Change Your Developing Mind for Real World Success

Contents

Foreword

Your brain is involved in everything you dohow you think, how you feel, how you act and how well you get along with other people. Modern neuroscience teaches us that your brain is the organ of intelligence, character, personality and every decision you make.

When your brain works right, you work right; when your brain is troubled, you are much more likely to have trouble in your life. With a healthy brain, you are happier, physically healthier, wealthier and more successful, because you make better overall decisions. When your brain is not healthy, for whatever reason, you are sadder, sicker, poorer, less wise and less successful, because the organ that makes your decisions and runs your life is not working at its best.

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life (Before 25) is an extension of my original book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, first published fifteen years ago. I asked Dr. Jesse Payne to write it because of his ability to communicate with younger people, and as you will read, he has tremendous personal resilience and character. Jesse and I developed a high school curriculum around brain health that has changed many teenagers lives.

The information and stories in this book are powerful and truly life changing. If you really learn to love your brain, the actions to take care of it do not become a hassle. Rather, they are just something you need to do out of love for yourself.

As you read this book, I can guarantee that you will never look at your brain or the brains of others the same way.

Daniel Amen, M.D.

Introduction

I was twenty-one years old, sitting in the office of Dr. Daniel Amen, a medical doctor, a world-renowned and award-winning psychiatrist, a New York Times bestselling author and...the father of my girlfriend.

Even though I am more than a foot taller than he is, I felt intimidated as he reviewed the scans he had just taken of my brain. I had been dating his daughter for a little more than a year, and apparently, agreeing to having a detailed scan of the brain was a requirement for anyone who had dated one of his daughters for any significant amount of time. He said it was to make sure that everything looked okay. Riiight.

It was like a twisted version of the scene in Meet the Parents when Robert De Niro sweats out Ben Stillerexcept this was very real. Plus, this wasnt a lie detector test. This man could actually peer straight into the inner workings of my brain.

As he gazed down at the images and data from my scans, I saw his forehead wrinkle as he frowned ever so slightly. Hmmm, he said. This was not a good start. I see that you can be pretty stubborn and argumentative at times. Does this sound about right? he asked.

I knew that my response would shape the rest of this conversation, and possibly the future of my relationship with the girl I had fallen in love with. And yet instinctively, before I realized I was doing it, my arms folded across my chest. No. I wouldnt say that Im stubborn at all. My reply had an undeniable tone of defensiveness.

A hint of a smirk appeared at the corners of his mouth. Are you sure about that? he asked.

Ugh. My brain had betrayed me.

It was the first time I saw a connection between my brain and how it was related to my thoughts, feelings, actions and behaviors. More important, it occurred to me in that moment that if my brain determined my behavioral tendencies, perhaps the power went both ways and I could have some control over how my brain worked. The prospect gave me hope for my future.

Before I met Dr. Amen or his daughter, my life had not exactly been a stroll in the park. My mother and paternal grandmother were illegal immigrants from Mexico, and my parents were both high school dropouts. As a child, I endured physical, emotional, psychological and even sexual abuse. My mother suffered a nervous breakdown when I was four, a result of her struggle with schizophrenia, delusions and hallucinations. My parents divorced when I was eight, and I spent much of my childhood moving from place to place, living on welfare and food stamps. I still remember the day my mother kidnapped me from my father and led police on a high-speed chase through the streets of Fresno, California. My father, for his part, struggled with ADD, depression and anxiety until he gave up and committed suicide.

Yet, while I saw many people in my life lose their way, I never did. Somewhere inside of me, a fire always burned. I knew that I wanted to better myself and my situation. I wanted more out of this one life I was given here on Earth.

I can remember when I realized as a young child that applying dedication, perseverance, critical thinking skills and hard work to every challenge I faced was my ticket to a better life. As I watched many of my friends and family succumb to drugs or wind up in jail, I put my head down and studied hard. I worked on building strong personal relationships and developing innovative, creative outlets for my talents. I knew all these things would allow me to live the life I wanted for myself, and for my future family.

It worked, too. I graduated from high school with honors, and I was the first person in my family to receive a college degree. I went on to receive a masters degree and ultimately earned a doctorate degree from USC. Today I am healthier, wealthier and happier than I thought I could ever be.

Ive tried to dedicate my life to helping young people realize they do not have to be held hostage by their circumstances. As clich as it sounds, I have tried to show others that if a poor Mexican boy with crazy parents can make it, anyone can.

Im not saying any of this was easy. I too often found myself fighting the urge for rebellion and chaos. It was hard to resist the temptation to have fun in the present at the expense of the future. It could be a challenge staying focused on the right things and what was best for me. But by using many of the strategies I outline in this book, I was able to rise above the tougher side of life and achieve my dreams.

After that fateful day with Dr. Amen, who would later become my father-in-law, I began to work with him in the Amen Clinics, where I eventually became the director of education and human resources. I worked closely with Dr. Amen to create the Making a Good Brain Great high school course, which is now in more than four hundred schools across the country. The course teaches teenagers to better understand their brains and to do less harmful things to them. And Ive spent the past six years teaching brain science to students in high schools and colleges around the country.

My hope is that this book will empower you to harness the amazing capacity and potential of your brain, which I have experienced firsthand both personally and in my research. The young, developing brain is a marvel to behold, and if you take steps to care for it now, you will lay down the foundation for success in your future. The most exciting part of this is that just about anyone can work hard to change their brain and change their life. I am a living testament to this. I didnt use my past as an excuse. I became empowered to change my brain, change my life and become the outlier of my circumstances. You, too, can learn how to change your brain and change your life. Lets get started!