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We want as many people as possible to throw off their Old Brain thinking and regain their Young Brains! It's kind of like a mission.

So, we've decided to give away 20% of our book 'You Can Be As Young As You Think' online.

If you've come here having run through the Brain Age Test iPhone app, or if you are a regular reader of this blog, all you have to do is click here to download your free partial e-book.

Tip for easy reading: once file is opened, change from SCROLL to BOOK view (left hand bottom) and place in FULL SCREEN mode (top command bar).

Click now and start on your journey to a youthful mindset.

And don't forget, that the whole book can be ordered online from Amazon here

Job restructuring? Good

Friends came to lunch yesterday. Our conversation must have been a carbon copy of thousands of other lunchtime chats being held at dining tables around the world. Our subject, of course, the recession. More precisely, the fact that the husband had been given an ultimatum recently.

You see, after 20 years in the same company, working at the same site, for the same management, his workplace was closing. All the company's affairs were transfering to another factory, 300kms away. His choice? Stay and be made redundant - or follow and be promoted. So he's following.

But here's the thing. Two months into his new job, he's been revitalised. New management and new responsibilities sees this 52 year old alive with new ideas and plans. I'd already noticed when he walked in the house how much younger he looked - and I told him this. He denied it, of course, saying he felt more tired than usual. That's normal. He's started a new job and is, for the moment, doing a lot of weekly commuting to and from this new site. But he did look younger, somehow fresher and more vigorous!

And, later, he said it himself. According to his own impressions, "I feel ten years younger!"

Now, his wife is out of kilter with this rejuvenation. She's going to have to give up her beloved home and foresake her good job to follow him in the Autumn. The relocalisation fills her with dread. Where will they live? Will they find new friends? Will they lose old friends? Will they be able to rent their existing home for a few years - and find reliable tenants? And so on.

Whilst the husband has already moved on, his wife is still stuck in the past. He is working on his Young Brain. She is limiting herself by her Old Brain.

The good news is, and I told them this, that I have no doubt that once they are both in situ, their lives will both be transformed for the better. Truth is, here they were stagnating and both jobs were tolerated - not enjoyed. Friendships were comfortable, not lively. I've a strong feeling that in 18 months when we go down to visit for the weekend, they will be rejuventated, buzzing with ideas and living life with renewed fascination.

So, if your job is restructuring, if you have to relocate, if you lose your job - even in these straightened times, try to think of it as a formidable chance to turn over a new leaf and start something fresh. Your Young Brain will be nourished and the rewards could be great.

Are you unlucky in life? Do you want to be luckier?

I never keep my iphone in my pocket. Ever. Except yesterday when I slipped it into my trousers on the way to the taxi rank. Result, it fell out on the backseat and is now lost for good. What bad luck!

Yes, bad things happen to everyone - but are some people unluckier than others? Do some individuals attract more than their fair share of life's poo?

Surprisingly, my answer to this question is 'yes'. Some of us are more unlucky. Perhaps I need to explain myself.

I am convinced that we all have lucky and unlucky things happen to us. It's just that some people recognise good luck when it happens to them and make the most of it. For example, these Young Brains will see a $10 bill on the floor, bend down and pick it up. What luck! Incidentally, this once happend to me. I was at the races and a £20 note floated past my nose. I grabbed it out of the air and had a far better lunch than I'd been planning for!

But back to my point. Wouldn't everyone stoop to pick up free money? Astonishingly, no. Old Brains see the $10 and think that it must be a joke; that the note is false, counterfeit, a fake. This fact is only confirmed by the fact that it is still on the floor. If it had been real, someone else would already have picked it up!

Can you see where I'm heading with this? We are all lucky - it's just that some of us refuse lady luck when she extends us her privileges. And if Old Brains turn down the chance for a better lunch, what else are they refusing to benefit from? A job opportunity? A chance to make new friends? A trip to the seaside with the family?

I love the word 'serendipity'. It just sounds nice. But it also is nice. It means, roughly, the preparedness to accept luck when it happens. When you rejuvenate, you become luckier. You become a Young Brain and you suddenly find yourself recognising luck and letting it into your life. Almost immediately, you start to see boundless opportunities, whereas previously, you'd seen nothing - or nothing but fakes, false promises and probable falsehoods.

So, do you want to be luckier? Then shed your Old Brain attitudes. Go on. Bend down and pick up that opportunity which is in front of your very eyes.

Do happiness workshops make you happy?

I was invited along to a birthday party of an old university friend last week. As always, it was good to get out, catch up with old acquaintances and meet new people.

However, this was also a party with a difference, since my friend had arranged to kick things off with a happiness workshop. These are all the rage here in France ('atelier de rire') and increasingly used by businesses as a pick-me-up for staff.

The session involved us standing in a circle and being incited to do silly things, make animal noises, introduce ourselves in funny ways etc. The routines were inventive but most finished by asking participants to let rip with a real belly laugh.

If I'm fair, the session worked as best it could. The animator was excellent (a trained actor and business coach) and everyone participated fully and freely - in what some might have found embarrassing circumstances.

However, the problem with laughter workshops lays with their conception. Laughter is a spontaneous outflow of emotion. It's not something you can liberate by asking or inciting people to be happy. Forcing yourself to laugh artificially turns out to be rather depressing. For when you laugh in a genuine way, there's an upwelling of positive feelings which accompany the action. Laughing for the sake of it lacks that warm emotion and, in its absence, feels hollow and rather sad.

I wouldn't say the session flopped, since it broke the ice and strangers felt they knew each other by the end of the hour's workout; the party got off to a great start as a consequence. However, as in most things in life, the real deal is when people laugh in an authentic, genuine way.

If you have a Young Brain and associate with other Young Brains, chances are you do not need the rather artificial prompt of a laughter coach. Your life will be already filled with fun and the laughter tears will flow regularly and copiously.

On another subject, I've recently come across a couple of good blogs for older 'Young Brains'. Have a look at http://getreadyforretirement.co.uk and http://www.sixtyplussurfers.com

Everyday is a Young Brain Challenge

If staying young is one of your key aims, then you have to be up to the challenge every single day of your life. This is a massive commitment but it's the only way.

Of course, some days you will fall short of your goal. Everyone does. That just means redoubling your efforts the next day and the day after.

This thought came to mind the other day when I fell short. I called a friend and asked if we could meet to discuss his holiday to South Africa as I'd like to go there with my family. He happily agreed and asked where I'd like to meet for lunch. Instantaneously I sufggested a restaurant where we'd met a couple of times before. Only then did I realise how Old Brained this reaction was. So I stopped myself and told him I'd come back with when and where.

Not surprisingly, after 5 minutes on the web, I came up with a funky African restaurant to match our theme.

A week or so later, we met and had a wonderfully original meal full of unknown spices and exotic fish! Of course, I was happy to have come up with a Young Brain solution but was equally horrified at how easy it was to fall into stick-in-the-mud thinking. Truly, to rejuvenate, it's important to be on your guard - everyday.

Everyone wants to rejuvenate

The desire to be younger has, in some quarters, got a bad name. Some think this urge is about total vanity. Others think you should accept your lot and just grow old with dignity. Both are wrong.

Wanting to be young again has little to do with narcissism and everything to do with staying relevant and giving your all in the short time we have on earth. It's about welcoming change, being open to others, taking risks and having fun along the way. It's also about caring for your own personal growth so that you can help others more effectively.

A few weeks ago, Tim Drake and I presented the main findings of our two year analysis on personal rejuvenation to a high level business audience in Manchester. All were in agreement. Being successful in business, as in life, needs young thinking - it needs leaders to have Young Brains.

One company director, only 38 years old, spoke up. "I consider myself young, especially compared to others around me. I now realise that I, myself, have got older than I thought. There is definitely room for me to rejuvenate".

But it's not only business people who benefit from rejuvenation. Tim and I also spoke to a well-known millionaire who said to us: " I think the concept is brilliant. I have a relatively young brain but it is getting younger by the day now!"

Meanwhile, we have given our book 'You Can Be As Young As You Think' to two long-time BBC TV presenters, Mark Ellen (Old Grey Whistle Test) and Peter Duncan (Blue Peter). Both are Young Brains. And both agree with rejuvenation to such an extent that they've gracefully written respective recommendations on the back cover of our book.

So wanting to be young is not about egotistical vanity. People want and need to rejuvenate - be they business persons, millionaires, celebrities or, indeed, people like you and me.

Paradox is the friend of Young Brains

Yes, there is a great temptation for people to slip into defeatist, Old Brained, thinking especially in tough times like these. This has to be fought hard against.

One of the key issues in times of uncertainty is the ability to be able to cope with paradox and over-abundance of choice. Faced with this, Older Brains tend to give into the temptation to sink into a comfort zone where they pretend that uncertainty and complexity don't exist and where everything is black and white. And usually more black than white.

The point is that this leads to anxiety, negative thinking, and a general giving up on the world today. In abandoning the rich, multicoloured tapestry of life, they start to accept limitations and eventually death.

The reality is that we live in incredibly exciting and challenging times, and it matters a lot that we get into gear and want to make a difference. Getting back to Young Brained thinking - especially for young people - is crucial to re-energising ourselves to take on the challenges.

In doing so, complexity and paradox become accepted as an inherent part of a complicated and richly textured world.

Would you take the plunge?

Henry Allingham is no ordinary person. Not only did he fight in the First World War trenches and live to tell the tale but he was recently confirmed the world's oldest man. At 113, Henry says that the secret to a long life is keeping within your personal capacities.

Of course, knowing your limitations is wise advice. No point trying to swim the English Channel if you can't manage a short workout in your local pool. However, there are many aspects of life where pushing your limits is good council. For example, the chronically shy would do well to nudge themselves out of their comfort zone and talk to the taxi driver. From such small steps, great things come. Soon they could find themselves talking to a stranger in the local supermarket and, eventually, the day will come when they meet someone and make a new friend.

This is part and parcel of what we are talking about when we use the term 'Young Brain'. Young Brains are those people who push past their inhibitions and find new excitement out of life as a consequence - a new mate, a different place to visit, an inspiring career move.

I was thinking about all of this today. For the first time, I was asked to do a solo live radio interview. The BBC's Mike Powell was to ring at 2.40pm and question me about our book 'You Can Be As Young As You Think'. Of course, I'd prepared but my heart was beating in my chest when the phone suddenly rang. Here goes, I thought. It was time to extend myself beyond my previous limitations!

And the truth is that, with a Young Brain attitude, I was able to give a fairly good account of myself and, hopefully, give a nice boost to the book's sales.

Would you? Would you be up for a live radio interview in front of thousands of listeners? Or, would you rather keep within your current capacities?

Of course, I'm not saying rise to every challenge - remember the failed Channel swimmer - but when something is within reach, give it a go. Prove to yourself that you have a Young Brain and that, in the future, you will be a bigger person than you are today.

Gran Torino : the rejuvenation of an Old Brain

I've never had much time for Clint Eastwood but my mind has been changed by his latest film - Gran Torino. If you've not yet seen it, I'd recommend a night at the flics.

Clint plays a retired Ford worker and Korean vet, Walt Kowalski. He's just lost his wife and he's not happy. Not happy at all. The youth of today have no respect. His sons are arrogant and obnoxious. Gangs roam the streets and try to steal his cherished car - the Gran Torino. And to cap it all, the neighbourhood has been taken over by Asians.

Of course, the social commentary on American suburban life is a study in itself. However, the main focus is the old man and all his growling, grimacing and grinding teeth. He steps back from life and observes all this 'corrupt modernity' from behind a shield of intolerance, racism, closed mindedness and down right anti social behaviour.

Then comes the transition from Old Brain to younger brain. Slowly at first, he softens to his Hmong neighbours and lets himself be invited for a barbeque. It's hard for him but after he comes away saying that maybe he has more in common with this family than his own people. A young Laos girl calls him 'funny' - something he is vaguely insulted by - he has been called many things in his life but never 'funny'. The youngest daughter takes a shine to Wally ("stop calling me that!"). And finally he takes the 20 year old shy boy Thao as a surrogate son and decides to 'man him up', get him a job and encourage him to date a girl who has been making eyes at him.

By the end of the film, Walt has made a big step towards a Young Brain. Does he still have an acid tongue? You bet. But it's now reserved for the enemies of his Hmong neighbours. He has found a family. He trains the next generation. He gets a different cut at the barbers. He buys a fitted suit for the first time in his life. Some one who knew so much about death (during the Korean War) finally finds redemption and learns how to live.

Is anyone consigned to an Old Brain? Is being grumpy - and perhaps even hated - a destiny that people can do little about? This marvelous film reminds us that rejuvenation is open to everyone. Even Walt.