The United Negro College Fund used the slogan "Your Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste" for years. Because the slogan is used to solicit support for Historically Black Colleges or encourage a college education for African-Americans, many of us may fail to see the significance of the slogan in our daily lives.
Think for a minute, when was the last time you did something to stimulate or grow your mind. More often than not, we perform routine activities which do not require new knowledge nor engage our thought processes. Unfortunately, many of us will dream and will never go beyond dreaming. Few will enlarge their thinking.
Routine is good and necessary, but is it limiting your creativity? "You have done something the way for 10 years, why change now." Varying an activity can stimulate the mind and create new thinking. Example, train yourself to brush your teeth with the hand you don't normally use. This is a challenge that requires the mind to think!
Another way we waste our minds is not feeding it with new ideas. Example: failing to read a variety of books or conducting research on a familiar topic or hobby. You will be amazed at what you can learn by staying current on your hobby. We expect our doctors to stay up-to-date. The mind must be stimulated and trained to grow.
Ways you can grow your mind:
Enroll in a class. Many community centers and universities offer classes that range from a few hours to several weeks.
Read for approximately 20 minutes per day. Reading the newspaper daily can help build your vocabulary if you invest time in defining unfamiliar words.
Take up a new hobby. Try something new that you have always wanted to do, but never had the time.
Set aside at least 10 minutes per day to just think of ways to improve a routine activity. Try the best one, you maybe surprised at how well it works.
Visualize. The mind works in pictures. Create your desired outcome from start to finish, step-by-step. Produce and direct your own mind movie. Play it over and over again. I have used this technique before presentations. It works!
The suggestions above not only require that you use your mind to think, but that you use one of your most valuable and abundant resources, time. It is important to designate time to engage in activities that help your mind grow. Yes, "The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste." Start growing yours today!
