Hello All,
My name is Shawn Henderson. I just wanted to take a minute or two to introduce myself prior to my starting the training. For the last two weeks or so I have been eagerly awaiting the start of this adventure. I connected with Martin a few weeks back with some questions regarding the program and I finally made the purchase last Thursday (as a birthday present to myself).
Knowing that the celebration of my birth anniversary may create some distractions, and given the fact that I really had no idea what I was getting into, I decided to put off the training until today. Which, as it turned out, was the best idea I could have had. Wine does nothing for your working memory as it turns out. 
I did do a couple of test runs over the weekend just to get a feel for it and I see that I may be in for some real challenges. I do however have a better idea as to “how” to do it. From my preliminary tests I am astounded to see that anyone could get to 4 or 5, let alone 7, 8 or 9 (which completely blows my mind). I’m optimistic though and any gains that I receive from the program will be received with gratitude for sure.
I’ve been reading a lot of the blogs and responses that Martin, Will, Shaun and others have written and have found them extremely informative as well as entertaining. I’m looking forward to logging my progress and sharing my experiences with you.
My purpose for starting the training is less concrete it seems. I don’t know what my IQ is – I took a test in 1st grade (38 years ago ! . . . ok – now I feel old and I scored 119. Not the brightest bulb in the pack but certainly not the dimmest either. From what I’ve read in these blogs it seems like there is a possibility that it could improve or decline over time so I can’t say with assurity where I’m at on that scale.
My goal is peace of mind – not that I am without it now – I just want to support it in a more profound way. I’ve found that my experience of life is much better when I am able to think clearly and with more fluidity. I figure anything I do to improve my body and mind must also benefit my spirit and I assume that my connection to whatever that higher conciousness is can only be improved with a more fully functioning mind and brain.
I work in the school system here in Maine in the maintanance department (not a job that stretches your brain on a regular basis). I am the volunteer director/president of a non-profit music venue that produces concerts once a month featuring some of the best singer/songwriters in the circuit. I also am the host of a radio show in Portsmouth, NH. I tend to focus on supporting the touring musician (I have live instudio guests in each week) and playing my favorite music.
I’m in a relationship now with a great gal (a teacher at the school I work at) and that is going well. I was divorced a little over 6 years ago, which definitely affected the workings of my mind. It would have been interesting to see how I would have gone through that time had I already been working on improving my mind.
Anyway – more info than you may need but in an effort to be part of this community – I thought I’d try to be somewhat all inclusive in my sharing.
I look forward to getting to know all of you a little better, and as I said before, sharing my progress and experience with Brain Fitness Pro.
Peace, Shawn
Hi there Shawn:
It’s nice to have that warm introduction from you. Thanks also for sharing that you found some posts of mine both entertaining and informative. After reading your introduction, I feal inspired to write an introduction of myself as well, using the same format as yourself. That is, to include more biographical information about my work, my background, my relationships, etc. I think that was a terrific idea!
Warm regards,
Shaun.
Shaun,
Thanks for feedback and compliment. I was looking forward to being involved in these blogs and I thought it would be best to introduce myself when entering the room, so to speak. I look forward to hearing more about you and tracking your bfp progress (which is very impressive from what I’ve seen so far)
Peace, Shawn
I agree with Shaun. A lovely idea of Shawn’s to write something about himself and his goals.
Shawn: A wonderfully open and engaging introduction. Thank you!
Interesting to learn about your passion for music. I am a singer / songwriter among other things; here’s a link to my music website http://www.martinwalkermusic.com. If it piques your interest, I’ll send you a CD.
Sure Shawn, I’ll see you there
Shaun.
Hi Shawn, welcome and thanks for the introduction.
As for your childhood IQ: it’s high and puts just under the 90%ile, but imo (just an opinion, mind you, I’m not psychologist) not worth putting much stock in. The heritability of intelligence has recently been shown to increase with age, so I’d suggest taking a “pre test” that might reflect your current functioning rather than relying on 1st grade results…The tests that Shaun listed he considered taking are pretty good online tests…however, they’re not comprehensive and may be way off if you have strength or a weakness in a certain area. The ones he looked into are:
Giqtest
international high iq test
iq comparison site advanced culture fair
I’ve taken all three of them and my scores landed pretty close (within about 8 points or half standard deviation). Likewise I took this test a few days ago which is pretty good and also landed me w/in that general range: https://www.iq-testing-online.com…the difficulty, as I pointed out on Erin’s site, is the pre/post measurement using different instruments…but know that the dual n back has the most solid scientific study behind it of any training system out there…
(I have looked at a lot of the other brain training methods and found their research wanting…not that cognitive improvement does not occur with these methods — it’s just not documented with the necessary scientific rigor. This brain training era were in now is in its “wild west” stage and a lot of claims are made to snag attention and credit card numbers…
The dual n back has different versions; I’d try them out to compare them to BFP and see what you think…in any event, I believe the dual n back is the best exercise you can do for your brain, whether you use Martin’s or someone else’s….I’ve tried others and don’t regret spending the money for
BFpro as it’s the best for me…but maybe not someone else.
Other than the tests, the greatest concern for all of us is to find our real life functioning improves (which are what tests are wanting to get at anyway). I think if you can get into a rhythm in the training…you’ll be in good shape at the end of 19 days and then great shape if you continue beyond, training a few days a week over a long span. Happy training…though it’s not meant
to be much fun but more hard core pain into gain.