Learn to Live & Be Well

Explore practical tools, resources, and thoughtful content to help you create the conditions for flourishing

What is Executive Function?

Executive function serves as your brain’s command center; it helps you plan, prioritize, solve problems, manage your time, regulate your energy, monitor your progress, follow through tasks, and achieve important goals.

Think of your executive function system as your mind’s “internal manager”, also helping you make tough decisions, stay on track, navigate challenges, and make meaningful, sustained progress toward that which matters most.

At Higher Minds, we believe developing strong executive function skills and life management strategies are essential for self-leadership, creating the conditions for flourishing, and building a lifeway that you love.

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  • Academic Performance

    Executive function is crucial for young adults and people in higher education because it directly impacts their ability to succeed in demanding, fast-paced, goal-oriented academic environments.

  • Daily Functioning

    Developing strong executive function skills helps with managing responsibilities, making thoughtful decisions, and navigating the demands of daily life.

  • Lifestyle Balance

    In higher education and professional organizations, executive skills are essential for balancing deadlines, work or school priorities, and one’s personal life to ensure real progress and sustained success.

  • Adaptive Living

    In societies where independence and adaptability are valued, strong executive functioning supports the ability to thrive in diverse social, professional, and educational settings.

  • Future Readiness

    The workforce landscape is dramatically changing due to AI, making human and life skills that much more critical for career development and life management.

  • Neurodiverse Needs

    Different people’s brains function differently; ADHD and other learning challenges require additional support and guidance, especially with their executive function.

From the Stage

Selected talks, presentations, and meaningful moments of shared experience with live audiences.

2nd, 3rd, 4th Chances and More! Inspiring Organizational Alchemy

DisruptHR Charlottesville 6.0 – October 7, 2025 in Charlottesville, VA #DisruptHRCville

FAU 2018 3MT® Three Minute Thesis Championship Runner-Up - Wilson McLean

"The 'What is' and 'How to' of Creating Healthy Public Organizations: Development and Testing of the Public Organization Wellness Quotient (WQ)"

Field Notes on Being Human

A collection of stories, insights, and reflections from the lived experience of growth, struggle, and becoming. Check back regularly for new blogs, essays, and curated content focused on inspiring meaningful individual and collective change.

Blog
I Spent 20 Years Treating the Wrong Problem: Here’s What I Learned Matters Most
Wilson McLean
I Spent 20 Years Treating the Wrong Problem: Here’s What I Learned Matters Most
Wilson McLean

I spent 20 years fighting a harrowing drug addiction.

Turns out, I was fighting the wrong battle all along.

The real issue? Undiagnosed, debilitating ADHD and crippling executive dysfunction.

Everything changed the day I shifted my focus from "recovery" to building foundational life and soft skills like planning, organization, impulse control, time management, self-monitoring, and communication. 

The addiction didn’t just get “addressed” or “managed”. It slowly dissipated and eventually became obsolete.

I just published my full story and why this matters for anyone struggling with all the "dis" that drives addiction and makes daily life a total struggle.It All Begins Here

Read more →
Wilson McLean
Insights & Inspiration from the CCAB Kitchen: Soft Skills Aren’t Soft - They’re Foundational Human Skills.
Wilson McLean
Insights & Inspiration from the CCAB Kitchen: Soft Skills Aren’t Soft - They’re Foundational Human Skills.
Wilson McLean
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Wilson McLean
Driven by “Dis”: Illuminating Deeper Forces Behind Addiction
Wilson McLean
Driven by “Dis”: Illuminating Deeper Forces Behind Addiction
Wilson McLean

What if addiction isn’t the problem? 

What if it’s only a symptom of a much bigger internal struggle?

Tomorrow, I’m sharing a basic framework that completely changed how I approach addiction and, more generally, how I think about aspects of the daily human condition. 

It all comes down to three letters: “Dis.”

Read more →
Wilson McLean
Create or Consume? Creativity as an Antidote for Addiction
Wilson McLean
Create or Consume? Creativity as an Antidote for Addiction
Wilson McLean
Read more →
Wilson McLean

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Podcast Coming Soon!

Thoughtful conversations, scintillating stories, and practical wisdom to spark meaningful change and elevate your experience of being alive. Stay tuned for new episodes coming very soon!