Unlocking Brain Potential: How to Thrive After 45

Extendmyrunway.com

About the Guest(s):
Dr. Michael Netzley is an affiliated faculty member and executive coach at IMD Business School. He is the founder of Extend My Runway, a company that applies neuroscience and behavioral science to help senior leaders enhance their judgment and performance, particularly under pressure. With expertise in creating tools like the Executive Brain Playbook, Dr. Michael Netzley has worked with over 15,000 executives across various industries including banking, aviation, healthcare, and professional services. His insights focus on leveraging the brain’s potential to improve with age.

Episode Summary:
In this intellectually stimulating episode, Chris Voss welcomes Dr. Michael Netzley, a distinguished expert in neuroscience and executive coaching, to discuss the fascinating concept that our brains can improve with age. Contrary to the popular belief that cognitive decline is unavoidable after 45, Dr. Michael Netzley elucidates exciting breakthroughs in neuroscience that demonstrate how strategic investments in brain health and training can lead to enhanced mental capacities even in later years. His unique perspective is grounded in scientific evidence that reshapes our understanding of aging and cognitive development.

Dr. Michael Netzley dives deep into the neuroscience behind brain development after 45, explaining how maintaining brain health through a balanced diet, proper sleep, and regular exercise can help extend cognitive longevity. The conversation further explores the challenges and methods of adapting to the modern world filled with distractions like social media. Tune in to discover practical strategies and insights into sustaining brain health, leveraging life experiences for growth, and the surprising potential for peak innovation and strategic thinking well past middle age.

Key Takeaways:
The brain can get better with age if properly cared for through healthy lifestyle choices like a balanced diet, exercise, and adequate sleep.

Engaging in brain training exercises can significantly improve cognitive performance and adaptability in older adults.

Innovations in neuroscience suggest that people in their later years can excel at strategic and innovative thinking, challenging negative stereotypes about aging.

Avoiding activities such as multitasking and excessive screen time can preserve cognitive bandwidth for more critical tasks.

Dr. Michael Netzley’s work emphasizes the importance of sustained cognitive health and details actionable steps to thrive after 45.

Notable Quotes:
“Your brain is actually your unfair advantage in the age of AI.”
“The brain health trinity…improve sleep, nutrition, and exercise.”
“The truth is brain decline is inevitable, but the compensation can be stronger than the decline.”
“Considering the whole body issue is crucial as all these parts are more interconnected than previously thought.”
“We waste our most precious cognitive bandwidth on nonsense when it should be used more wisely.”

The Fox’s Tale by Jay Sherfey

https://www.amazon.com/Foxs-Tale-Jay-Sherfey/dp/1964462010

The Fox’s Tale is a fantasy story describing Jack Fox, a teenager, surviving in a dog-eat-dog world. He and his mother, Lilly, a physically disintegrating alcoholic, get by under the protection of Gracie Hargreaves: a success in the shipping business and lifelong friend of Lilly and others. Their town is Snakeport, often called the Snake, in a country known as the South. There is no central government and the law is whatever your strength allows you to command. Southern technology involves horses, wind, and gunpowder used in rifled muskets with firing caps. Consider this story a variation on the American Civil War in the 1860s mixed with the English Civil War in the 1600s with hints of Roman arrogance at their peak around 200 A.D. The North-fat, dumb, and happy-after coercing, bullying, and defeating the South in a war fought one hundred years earlier, steals southern children for the menial work needed to maintain an advanced culture with a centralized government. Northern technology is based on the projection of energy by its citizens: horseless vehicles, advanced medicine, advanced architecture, and other advantages. The war deprived the South of its projectors. The North takes what it wants in natural resources and slaves but pays well enough to find allies in the South. Not all Northerners are projectors In the North energy projection ability decides your vocation in life unless you are female. Women in the north are appreciated above southern men but not by much. Southerners in the minds of northerners were stupid, criminal, and incapable. Jack Fox changes everything.

Cheers to Monday: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead and Live with Less Stress and More Joy by Amy Leneker

https://www.amazon.com/Cheers-Monday-Surprisingly-Simple-Method/dp/1394388802

What if the secret to less stress is just three simple steps?

If you’ve ever woken up on a Monday already exhausted – or spent Sunday night bracing yourself for the week ahead – the problem isn’t you. The problem is stress. And there’s a surprisingly simple way to break free.

Stress is embedded in today’s workplaces – disguised as drive, rewarded as resilience, and even praised as passion. But chronic stress isn’t a strength; it drains leaders, divides teams, and damages entire organizations.

Cheers to Monday is the joyful rebellion against stress and burnout you’ve been waiting for. In this transformative book, Amy Leneker – a former C-suite executive and now a trusted leadership advisor to Fortune 100 companies and public sector organizations – reveals a liberating truth: stress isn’t the price of success – it’s the thief that steals it. And she proves it with sharp wit, refreshing honesty, and laugh-out-loud stories. You’ll get the same coaching and science-backed strategies Amy shares in boardrooms, workshops, and conferences around the world.

Learn how to:

See stress differently – and finally break the cycle of exhaustion, overwhelm, and self-doubt
Sort stress into five clear categories – so you know exactly what to do with each one
Solve stress with a simple framework to reclaim your time, energy, and focus – at work and beyond
Celebrate the shift – because reducing stress isn’t just a wellness strategy, it’s a joy strategy…and much more.
Cheers to Monday isn’t just a book – it’s a movement to transform how you lead, live, and work. It’s for every leader quietly falling apart, every team crushing goals while getting crushed in the process, and every human who’s tired of pretending they’re “fine.” Whether you’re just starting your career, climbing the corporate ladder, or reflecting on the legacy you’ll leave behind, this book gives you three simple steps to finally break free from stress – and reclaim the life you were meant to live.

About the author
You deserve to lead—and live—with less stress and more joy. Amy Leneker will show you how.

Amy is an optimistic, joy-seeking, recovering workaholic. She’s also a leadership expert, keynote speaker, and author of Cheers to Monday, the Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead & Live with Less Stress & More Joy (Wiley, 2026).

After two decades in leadership (including ten years in the C-suite), Amy stepped off the hamster wheel of hustle and onto a more meaningful path. Known for her warmth, wit, and wildly relatable stories, Amy has trained over 100,000 people around the globe to lead (and live!) with less stress and more joy.

She and her family make their home in the Pacific Northwest.