Your Brain Is the Last Advantage You Control. Use It.
Thrive After 45 Hits Its Own Midlife Reinvention - After Writing About the Brain's Potential, It’s Time to Build An Edge.
I started this Substack to write my way through midlife, science, and a start-up.
I am an educator at heart and enjoy helping people.
I am fascinated by the science.
But I also want to figure things out for myself, so I write.
I especially appreciate working with executives who still possess a spark of ambition.
Their challenges are unique and real.
Our world is under-infrastructured for midlife reinvention or leadership longevity.
Maybe they’ve been retrenched, sidelined, or feel there must be more to life.
I like working with folks who want to Thrive After 45.
Here’s the Truth
I’ve evolved, and so will this newsletter
Thrive After 45 is not just about understanding the brain,
Though that’s central to everything I do,
Or about simply discovering what’s next.
It’s about this:
Your brain is your last unfair advantage in the age of AI.
But only if you train it.
- Michael Netzley, PhD
I can’t say it enough.
Actions strengthen your brain.
Use it or lose it.
Forget hacks. Skip the hype.
More blueberries won’t raise your game (but do eat them!).
Change your behaviour, strengthen your brain.
Through my coaching,
The exec ed and writing with IMD, and
My SkillsFuture course,
Everything has led to a Playbook.
It’s a playbook for improving brain performance,
Making behaviour changes that sharpen your mind and keep you at the forefront,
Rewriting the stories you tell yourself about yourself at midlife, and
Using behavioural design to Thrive After 45.
It’s a quest to see how good you can be,
Rather than merely managing the deficits we perceive.
I wrote the Playbook for people who want to stay in the game,
Who seek leadership longevity,
But who are ready to win differently.
A confession
I have navigated midlife myself. It wasn’t always easy.
I recently described the day when I rediscovered what fantastic after 55 feels like.
I seek scientific-level clarity about how to feel that way every day.
The insights matter in a world that’s changing at lightning speed.
Thanks, AI.
We all need to keep up,
Stay relevant, and
Feel confident that our work remains meaningful.
The common narratives around ageing and “reinvention” just don’t get us there.
I admit that I get a bit snippy and impatient with the pretty stories.
Organisations claim to value experience,
but invest little in tapping into the value of that experience,
Or helping experienced employees perform at their peak.
An Aspiration
I’ve been saying it for years,
Ever since I discovered the research at Stanford, Harvard and the Centre for BrainHealth, to name a few.
Another sit-on-your-bum class offers diminishing value to executives.
Many (not all) move through stages of adult development,
The executive brain is in tension between decline and compensation,
That executive brain has potential to excel at business-critical thinking, and
Executives can fuel that higher-order thinking with a lifetime of experience.
We must think about executive development as unleashing that potential.
Now, a world changing at the speed of AI gives us an added layer of complexity.
Thrive After 45 Going Forward
Like so many colleagues I have worked with this year,
I don’t want to spend my best years selling “programmes” that have little impact.
I want to make a difference.
And science is the way.
So if you’re 45+ and still want to evolve, lead, and contribute,
Then the Playbook is for you.
Less find your why.
More: Train your brain. Change your behaviour. Build your edge.
Welcome to the real second half.
Stanford Just Sounded the Alarm on AI and Entry-Level Jobs:
Why 45+ Professionals Hold the Real Advantage
New research shows AI could wipe out up to 20% of entry-level roles—ouch!
Read the paper here.
Here’s the encouraging news for you, readers of Thrive After 45.
The AI isn’t yet coming for experienced professionals.
In fact, if you’re 45+, your hard-won judgment, strategic insight, and adaptability might be the strongest edge you’ve got.
And it’s not just experience—it’s your brain.
Neuroscience shows that after 45, certain cognitive abilities offer the potential to improve or even peak.
Cognitive abilities like managing complexity, pattern recognition, strategic thinking, innovative thinking, and collaboration are your go-to strengths.
The problem is, most of us were never taught to invest in those brain functions.
Know more.
Pick up a skill.
Hack your productivity.
We trained our bodies. We built our careers. But we never trained our brain.
Then listen to an influencer who tells us to eat more blueberries.
In the age of AI, your brain is your last unfair advantage. But only if you train it.
This isn’t about surviving change.
It’s about intentionally evolving to that next level, performing differently with cognitive strengths that can emerge later in life, and adding the insight or value that AI cannot.
“The future belongs to those who can out-human the machine.”
— Mark Schaefer, marketing futurist
If AI is replacing the bottom of the ladder, then the top needs to get sharper.
And you? You’ve never been better positioned to lead.
Before You Go…A Tip
