Coach Bill / Dad, Entrepreneur Special Educator, American Political Scientist, Writer, Musician.

The world is filled with 'good enough' results and 'ok' hearts.  Having an 'ok' heart is far better than having a troubled heart in constant turmoil and rising above the norm of what is expected simply is not required and not needed, in most cases. In fact, we can do less than spectacular on a daily basis and lead lives with healthy measures of happiness and fulfillment which by average standards are acceptable to ourselves and our communities. Just like a computer being programmed with code, our brains get coded from an early age with messages that shape and mold its line of thinking and ultimately our actions. It is quite true that the plasticity in our brain is malleable and that we are free to re-code our thought patterns, how we view ourselves and how we approach the world with our thought process. Brain plasticity means that we become our thoughts and feelings with our actions reinforcing or weakening the power behind these thoughts and feelings.  ...

A surfer lets go of the need to control outcomes in the water knowing that he is in something bigger than himself. All he can do is ride his board as gracefully as possible. With some experience he situates himself at the right spot at the right time, and have the ride of his life. Analyzing wave patterns and their timing, riptide channels, sea floor contour and how the wind interacts with the wave, an experienced surfer takes it all in and moves in sync with all the patterns. Suddenly, the surfer and the water are one, and not two separate entities, yet still retaining their original nature. Two, yet one. The natural algorithmic practice of positioning oneself in tune with breaking waves is a practice of letting go and letting that which is natural physically and mentally move us. Repetition of such a lifestyle activity does go deep into the grain of one and changes you from the inside out. Outside the water, our brilliant minds make connections left and right. This generaliz...

Image: Neural Synaptic Connection Kids and adults with strong right hemispheric strengths but weaker effective application of left hemispheric traits and characteristics are commonly known as having attentional deficits.   This mental balance impacts critical thinking and normal decision making. By bringing in natural activities tailored to the individual we can create the conditions for 'synaptic neural connections' or bridges between the right and the left hemisphere. By doing so consistently... you develop these hemispheric and executive function skills bridges. This can mean faster processing speed for you or your child, if you are a parent. Caveat: Rewiring your brain takes time. Be patient and focus on enjoying the experience, not some end result. The development of executive function skills needs for an adult individual or a child in a family needs to fun and practical to be effective over the long haul.  This is why I promote the natural development of our executive fu...

The development of your child's executive function skills may happen quite naturally given the right conditions, but if you are not well-versed in the language, it can amount to the blind leading the blind. A parent may actually help strengthen their child's executive function skills at a given point, yet a lack of knowledge on what to tone on a consistent basis will often times render splotchy results. Consider the idea that identifying effective metrics guides parents to hit upon key skills thus catapulting the child's skill strength on a whole. Below are some thoughts and activities on how to begin to approach this. My thoughts first... I think it use to be easier to raise kids because kids did not have modern day distractions that literally turned off their ability to self-monitor, be able to sustain their attention, or have goal-directed persistence. In fact, I believe that this is more and more an increasingly challenging balancing act for parents and dire...