The human mind has unlimited potentials. Mind power is the second strongest power next to the spirit. We can change the quality ofour lives by harnessing the power of the mind. However, for us to harness the full potential of our minds there must be deliberate effort to
develop it. How well we are able to develop our minds determines
how it will work for us. Developing the mind takes effort. It
demands a certain level of discipline; which is the reason many
have been unable to utilize the full potential of their minds.
For you to develop your mind and unleash its full potential, you
have to;
(1) Increase Your Knowledge Base: It is the quality of the
knowledge you possess that determines the quality of your thoughts.
There is hardly any thing you want to know that is not enclosed in
a book. The quality of the books you read has the capacity to train
and transform your mind. Many especially the young ones spend
more of their time on TV programs with little or no intellectual
content. Reading exercises our mental skills and challenges our
thinking ability. Invest in books that have the potential to challenge
your views and thoughts. Don’t just read soft sell magazines. Read
deep and wide!
(2) Think Independently: To have independent thinking ability
means that whatever opinions you hold is one that has been well
thought out and investigated. It means having the ability to make
your own decisions. It means not accepting general opinion or age
long tradition just because it is widely accepted. As long as we are
depending on safe solutions, prejudiced judgments and fixed ideas,
our mind will be closed to discovering our own truth. Don’t accept
anything you are told without putting your mind to work. Find
time to think, reflect and imagine. Learn how to take your mind on
a journey. If you don’t use it, you will lose it!
(3) Practice Non-Sentimental Thinking: Look for solutions and
outcomes to a situation from as many perspectives as you can before
making conclusion. If something is not working out, try and change
your thinking style and come at it from another angle. Ask
questions! Anything you don’t know is as a result of a question
you’ve not asked. Have a thorough understanding of any situation.
Conclude on an issue based on objective observation rather than on
pre-conceived notions and prejudices.
(4) Watch Who You Associate With: Choose your associations
carefully. When move with eagles, think like eagles, move with
ducks, think like ducks. Stay away from people who constantly have
negative outlook on life. This kind of people will drain your mental
energy. Your relationship is your responsibility. Move with
great minds. If you are wondering how to know one, Eleanor
Roosevelt has an answer, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds
discuss events; small minds discuss people.”
(5) Be deliberate about your Knowledge Stream: Don’t give
attention to any stream of information that will degrade your mind
and poison your heart. Your thought life controls the rest of your life.
What you think is what you are. For the human mind, there is no
distinction between reality and imagination. Everything in the
mind is real. That’s why you must be very deliberate about the
content of your consciousness. To keep from thinking what’s wrong,
you have to think what’s right.
“Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a
habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and
you reap a destiny.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson .