×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

Think your way to the top

Columnists
The greatest investment you can make in your life is to add value to your mind

The mind is too big for everyday purposes. It is the greatest gift that God gifted a human with. The mind is the centre of all inventions. It’s the crux of creativity. The mind separates a human from any other creature. The biggest part of our success is determined by thinking.

The vastness of our minds makes human beings unique and special. Each one of us is matchless and original. Zig Ziglar (2000, 23) in his book Steps to the Top says, “... man were designed for accomplishments, engineered for success, and endowed with seeds of greatness”.

Problems that are faced by most people are not natural, but they are man-made. They come from the mind. Success stories surrounding us are also a product of the mind. The worst thing that we are not taught fully at school is taking time to think and invent things. Most of what I learnt at school is irrelevant to my current realities. Author and speaker Bob Proctor once said that school gives us valuable knowledge. However, school never teaches us how to alter our paradigms.

Our minds have to be programmed properly so as to get positive results. Opportunities are all around us, but they are wrapped in what we have called problems.

In the book I co-authored, I said: “Most successful people were made in times of adversity, because in life you are paid for the problems that you solve and your contribution to society. When times are swiftly changing, what we need are people that would unleash their leadership prowess and produce the best out of every instance” (Book: Success Within Reach 2015, VI). 

What we have to do about our current situation in our country is not to cry and complain, but to create possibilities and see opportunities.

The difference with us from every creature is that we can think. The human being is the only creation which has the ability to invent. Your life today can gravitate towards success or greatness as long as you make your mind.

A lot of worthless things are happening around us and they are screaming for our attention. At the end if we do not take control of our minds we end up with people that are just experiencing what I love to call “mental activity”.

Just because a thought is in your mind does not mean you are thinking substantial or valuable things. What matters is not that you are “thinking”, but what you are “thinking about”. Think of that for a moment.

Look around you. There are things that need to be changed. At times the “employee mentality” has always been the worst enemy to our true success. School taught us to be good employees, but did not train us to be free to exercise our true purpose, passion, potential and creativity. The majority of the people are lazy educated beings, who act sheepishly on some else’s ideas. We need to learn to think and make a bigger difference.

Remember, most of your life is trapped in the domain of your thinking. To improve the quality of your life, you must first improve the quality of your thoughts

Change your focus

As I grew up in poor environments, one thing that I learnt is that it did not matter how much I thought or cried about my situation, the bad situation did not change. Instead I attracted like situations. The time I resolved in my mind that my life has to change for the better, my life took an instant U-turn. Problems are inevitable. People will always try to bring you down. To change the outcome of your life, change your focus and think right. Focus on what you want in life.

Never sit on your laurels

At times the greatest enemy to your success are your past victories and successes. If your victories of old still amaze you today, it might mean you have not achieved something today. Strive for great things.

Invest in your thoughts

The greatest investment you can make in your life is to add value to your mind. Read a productive book. Listen and view things that will expand your psychiatric dimension. Teach your mind to dream more and bigger. Aim higher. The problem with aiming low is that you will hit, but you are left with nothing else to conquer and that’s when your life begins to plateau. It gets so mundane and monotonous and there is less to enjoy from life.

Shun circumstances that suppress thinking

A lot can suppress your thoughts. Tell you what, at times even your boss feels very threatened about your inventiveness. Do it anywhere. Your history may scream at to you that it has never been undone. Your peers might sneer and jeer and think you are getting mentally demented. Think big anywhere! Great thinkers such as Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, where never easily accepted during their times, but their inventions speak for themselves.

Love challenges

People in general are afraid of change and new things. They would rather stick to old devils they know than try new things. When challenges come, they will not kill you, rather they are there to test your cognitive abilities. They train you to think in alternatives and possibilities.

Be a go-getter

In life, good things are deeper than the surface where most people spend most of their life time. The most expensive minerals are always hard to get. A greater life seeks for greater sacrifices from you. It does not matter how beautiful you are a great life always come to people with great imaginations, tenacity and those who fight for what they want in life.

Related Topics