January 2021 Update

Here is my first neurorehabilitation status update, that is part of my resolutions for 2021. Going forward this is how it will work: Dividing the month in two, roughly, from February onward, I will start the month, after a couple of weeks’ preparation, with a status update, as well as naming the two books that will go head to head for a chance to feature in the subsequent review, approximately 2 weeks later. 

What about that update? This “lockdown” is not as impactful for me as I’m sure it is for many of you. It is not without challenges, though, for me. I, for example, don’t get a chance to further improve on my records in Athlevo, and I do miss the occasional eating-out, that we enjoyed. 

I feel I must mention the second book from January, as it relates to my rehabilitation. SAL; It makes an excellent companion book for Ultralearning. Even though, it’s worth mentioning that, the former was published some 2 years prior; giving Ultralearning’s author plenty of time to --being kind-- be inspired to document many examples of Ultralearning. There is some overlap between the two and, even though SAL has slightly more practical guidance and advice, I’m sure Ultralearning is the book for anyone interested in this sort of thing, and it’s a good read.

This ultralearning or accelerated learning is going to be prominent for me in my rehabilitation. It is recommended to have a regular interval for –when I say ‘learning’, you must think ‘rehabilitation’-- learning. That is what I try to do. I have two major Ultralearning projects ongoing. They are, in order of importance, walking and German. For my walking, I try to get an hour –the same hour each day, if possible-- to walk with the help of the Gehbarren; as well as some hip-strengthening exercises, I usually follow this up with an hour on the Rosetta Stone learning platform for German, which I have gained access to, through work, to supplement my weekly one-on-one virtual lesson. So far, so good; maybe it’s maturity or maybe my brain had some sense knocked into it, but I have been keeping my new year’s resolutions so far, and there’s no sign of that changing.

Just a point on something that I first encountered in professor Robert Sapolsky’s book, about stress,  and again in SAL, ‘learned helplessness’ . Learned helplessness, TL,DR; is simply to take for granted that things are going to be done for one. I have been fortunate to be accompanied on this journey by Claire Fastner, who will not allow me to take shortcuts, and prefers that I try to do things for myself. I can’t recommend this type of caring highly enough, tough love is where it’s at.