Neuroplasticity led the author to abandon the idea that personality is a finished product, reframing anxiety and restlessness as reinforced behaviors rather than permanent traits.
Michael Merzenich’s research underpins that shift: gray matter can thicken or shrink, and neural connections are continually forged, refined or severed through repeated attention and practice.
That view also aligns with a 2022 Innovation in Aging review, which found adult personality traits remain relatively stable but can still change through environment, life events and deliberate effort.
The author says the practical result is a "living system" mindset—treating automatic responses as habits to examine, not identities to maintain.