The human mind has unlimited potentials. Mind power is the second strongest
power next to the spirit. We can change the quality of our 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 .