How to think and marshal energy for great results

I frequently refer to intellectual muscles in this column and receive comments and questions from those eager to think more and grow faster. I often say this is the age where the mentally strong not only get by, but become prosperous.

Most high-performing achievers have highly developed mental faculties because they consistently hone them by the information they take in, specific activities and the company they keep. Each one of them is as important as the other and all of them, when properly applied, result in courage, creativity, wisdom, happiness and prosperity. Let’s look at the following:

1. Reason: Watch two persons engaged in an unpleasant verbal exchange and you soon realise that they argue on different wavelengths. One will be using physical might while the other will be calculating and keen to evaluate the situation to take the best possible action. The most basic characteristic of reasoning is not shouting back, however, angry one may be. It is with your reasoning that you think.

2.Perfect will: The ability to intently concentrate on one desire and ignore or run over all obstacles in your path until you reach the goal. Most people give up on their dreams mid-point simply because they have never strengthened their will.

The good news is that just like there are physical exercises to strengthen the body, there are mental exercises to strengthen the will and all of your other mental muscles. Even greater news is that mental exercise won’t make you sweat, pant or ache as much.

3. Perception: The way you “see” will, to a large extent, determine your attitude, position or state of mind. It’s your point of view. I’d like to insert a caveat on this: bear in mind that you perceive situations with your mind based on your predispositions.
Your predispositions make you relate situations to your unique experiences, preferences and conditioning. Think about the glass that is either half-full or half-empty depending on the predisposition of the person looking at it.

4. Memory: I often hear folks saying they have a bad memory. They forget names, faces, phone numbers and even appointments. The truth is that there is no such thing as a bad memory. Everyone would ideally love to have an excellent memory, and we all have a perfect memory. We have just never developed it. Unlike riding a bike, if you don’t use your memory, you lose it.

5. Intuitive factor: It is your feeler mental faculty that picks up other people’s vibrations, feelings and attitudes of mind. And as you hone this particular faculty and tune it, you will be supremely aware of what other people are thinking.

You may by now have noticed that most people say one thing while they mean quite another. Husbands know this very well; “Honey what’s wrong?” “Hrrrrmph! Nothing!” comes the response from the wife. Ha! That’s even worse than a tirade of accusations because with that, your intuition picks up another vibration — you know you’re sleeping on the couch tonight!

Sharply honing your intuition gets you to the powerful position where you pay more attention to the other person’s vibration through their body language, tone of voice and facial expressions than the words. Your intuition holds the ability to empower you to literally read people.

6. Imagination: This is the most marvelous, miraculous, inconceivably powerful force that humanity has ever known. Mobile phones, air travel, Internet banking and even the gizmo I am using to write to you now were once mere figments of imagination of some very creative souls who were most probably written off as unstable. Enough said.

These faculties are in your conscious mind. They are your creative faculties. As a matter of fact, it’s these that separate you from the animal kingdom. Think about this; the only thing about a man is his mind. “Man” here denotes both men and women.

You see, your mental faculties give you creative ability. They build the image of your goal whatever it may be and you can sit back totally relaxed to enjoy beautiful images of whatever you want. It’s with these marvelous intellectual factors that we create. When an idea comes, reason with it. Ask yourself if you want to use or reject it.

Every idea is either moving you in one direction or another. It’s either a creative or disintegrating idea. Simply, any information coming into your mind will either move you towards or away from your goal. Choose to become a goal achiever. Exercise your higher mental muscles to enjoy your superiority as a human being.

Ms Ruligirwa-Kamara is an expert on attitude and human potential. Email: [email protected].