Brain HQ and I are going steady, but it’s complicated.

By Valerie Driscoll, Lead Coach and Coaching Program Developer for Apollo Health

Brain HQ (BHQ) winked at me from the Apollo dashboard for quite some time before I took the bait and the offer. Sure, I knew that BHQ was smart and intuitive, slick, and attractive, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for the level of commitment required. I’ve had relationships like this before, which promise great results but also require some level of suffering: Spanx, cold showers, and squats come to mind. But finally, I caved, and it has been quite the roller coaster ride. BHQ has the power to make me elated, celebratory, irate, and despondent, all within our rather short meetings times a week. What a catch!

We have blossomed into a very secure relationship, but it isn’t always easy; sure, we had that initial phase where everything was all starry as we cruised through first-level stuff, but the shiny graphics and enticing engineering soon gave way to a darker side: sure, BHQ is often cheerful and complimentary, but will also wreck a perfectly good time with trying to improve me. No matter how well I have done picking out the odd seabird among its brethren or finding my way through a very confusing subway system, BHQ’s not content, always wanting more, more, more, often insisting that we go next level or even worse, try something totally NEW! BHQ can also be sneaky — yesterday, for example, busting into my Face Facts binge while then suggesting we do some Visual Sweeps — which I absolutely believe NO ONE CAN FIGURE OUT, despite being assured that 70% of the rest of humanity already has, and I can do better. What. A. Jerk.

But I know most of it is really my baggage because BHQ actually forces me to face the fiercest of critics: myself. I push to be better and better to the point of tears while also hating to admit any weakness. This awareness translates well to other areas of my life where this tendency pops up.

Even though BHQ likes to play games with my heart and my head and always lets me know just where I stand, the games have given me much insight. For example, I now understand why …

I absolutely cannot understand football or hockey. (BHQ’s game Target Tracker ranked me in the 55th percentile), but if stuff isn’t moving around, I can focus like a maniac (Freeze Frame/ Mixed Signals – 97%.)

I thought the INXS song was titled Soup and Salad Bar and NOT Suicidal Blonde (Sound Sweep, 55th percentile — up from 40^th, and Auditory Ace, 60th percentile.)

I LOVED Organic Chemistry! (Right Turn – 93rd percentile.)

I am both a good navigator AND a good driver — just not both at once — and never ask me to memorize the directions (Navigation – 90th percentile; Divided Attention – 80th   Memory – 76th percentile.)

I can remember most of the major plot points and stars of the TV show Dallas circa 1980, but I will always lose playing poker. (In the Know – 95th percentile; Card Shark – 77th percentile.)

As much as BHQ frustrates me and sometimes pushes me to my edge, I realize we have a great partnership, one I nurture by taking better care of myself with good food, sleep, and other support. If I do not, the resulting crankiness causes the relationship to suffer. I now find myself making small but steady changes in order to score better with my baby. Whenever BHQ tells me I have gone up a percentage point, my heart goes pitter-pat.

Still, like all good relationships, sometimes we need a break — and I am occasionally known to flirt with Lumosity and Wordle, but I invariably get bored and come back to my main squeeze. I think it might be love.

Jealous? Don’t be — you have your own BHQ hanging out in your dashboard, just waiting for you to click. If you are an Apollo member, your relationship won’t be exactly like mine, but if you do it right, you may fall in love, too.