There’s a popular idea that most of us only get about ten good summers at the end of our lives.

But there’s another set of golden summers we rarely talk about — the first ones.

In this reflection, I explore the idea of the first 11 golden summers: the brief window when your child is small, when you’re their hero, their safe place, and their favourite person in the world.

I talk about time, presence, and the quiet truth that many of the most important moments in parenting don’t announce themselves as special — until they’re gone.

This isn’t a message of guilt or perfection.

It’s an invitation to notice what’s already here.

And for parents whose children are older, it’s a reminder that history is not destiny — meaningful moments can always be created.

If this resonates, I hope it encourages you to choose presence a little more often, while the season is still here.

We’re often taught to focus on what we want — more money, more freedom, more connection — and to believe that if we visualise or strive hard enough, it will arrive.But there’s a problem with that approach.Chasing outcomes can quietly train the nervous system to live in tension, striving, and scarcity. Also, humans adapt quickly. The moment we reach a desired state, the mind moves the goalposts. In this episode, I explore a different idea: instead of trying to attract the future, what if we prepared ourselves for it?Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, and lived experience, we look at why state matters more than goals, how identity shapes behaviour, and why calm, coherent systems tend to meet opportunity with less friction.This isn’t a rejection of manifestation — it’s a grounding of it. Less wishing. More becoming.FInd me on:https://www.instagram.com/bradhookhttps://www.tiktok.com/@tikkkl

What if your brain is deciding before you do?

What if you’re not seeing reality — just your best guess?

What if time, memory, morality, and even your body are more flexible than you think?

In this video, we explore 10 real scientific experiments that quietly rewrote how we understand the mind, perception, and reality itself.

From the famous Libet experiment showing that the brain prepares actions before conscious awareness…

To studies revealing that perception is predictive, memory is rewritten every time you recall it, and even plants can respond to sound…

These experiments challenge the idea that you are a fully conscious, fully in-control observer of the world.

This isn’t science fiction.

It’s peer-reviewed neuroscience, psychology, and biology.

And once you understand it, you may never see yourself — or reality — the same way again.

🧠 Experiments explored in this video:

– The brain that decides before you do

– Why perception is prediction, not observation

– The placebo effect that works even when you know it’s fake

– How a rubber hand can become “your” hand

– Plants that grow toward the sound of water

– Humans’ hidden magnetic sense

– Trauma that passes between generations

– How breath changes the experience of time

– Why memories are rewritten, not replayed

– How magnets can alter moral judgment

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