Taking out the trash is one of my chores around the house. It's not that my wife can't do it on her own; I enjoy doing it for her in the mornings before she gets up. There may be a post coming soon about doing little things to show others that you love/care for them. But this one is not that.
I keep the trash fairly picked up around my house. My wife and I feel like we function best when our house is clean so we strive to keep it that way. We take the trash out because it smells bad and it consists of everything that we did not need for the week. Our house is kept clean because the trash clutters and has no place where we live. The minds of professionals are very similar.
Think about what goes in to your mind on any given day. Now think about how much of that stuff is garbage that has no place in the mind of a professional. While the term "garbage" is somewhat relative, there are a few examples that come to mind.
We often listen to conversations that we should never be part of. I don't mean eavesdropping but the verbiage that takes place during such conversations. They are usually filled with foul language, ugly stories, and gossip. For whatever reason, our minds have become to used to those things that it becomes second nature to listen and partake in the conversation. But such things merely fill your head with negativity that will need to be sorted through and thrown out later. If you don't want to smell trash, stay away from the dump. These conversations to which I am referring are the same way and should be avoided.
Another example is what we read. The reason that magazines are so popular is because they often require little effort to understand, can be read quickly, and are visually appealing to look at. But even though there is some worthy content in magazine format, it is often sprinkled throughout a slough of advertisements and chatter that has nothing to do with the actual substance. The internet is a great resource in these situations. Articles are great things and I highly recommend them. Using the internet to find what you are looking for allows you to sift through the trash and only find what you are looking for.
A final example that comes to mind is what we watch. I never thought that I would understand why adults always say, "There's just not much good on TV anymore." Now that I have started thinking about what our culture finds as entertainment, I firmly agree. The biggest thing about TV is that it keeps you from doing more productive things. But we can get into that later. Understand that I do not believe that all TV is bad. My wife and I have several shows that we quite enjoy watching. The commercials are usually a waste of time. But the point is to keep tabs on what you and your family watches. Visual images tend to stick in people's minds much more easily than any other. If you remember that images are much tougher garbage to remove from your mind than anything else, you learn to be more cautious about what images you allow to get there in the first place.
The mind is an incredibly powerful tool. As a professional, yours is, quite frankly, too valuable to have its space wasted by garbage. Avoid negativity like a plague because it is certainly more destructive than any plague that has ever existed. Keep your mind clear and it will reward you with increased focus and performance. Keep your visual entertainment under close supervision so that it is monitored. It is far too easy to visually stumble upon something that you never wanted/needed to have in your mind. Take the trash out and leave it there. It has no place in your mind. Until next time, stay classy.
-Andrew
No comments:
Post a Comment