Your mind will give back to you exactly what you put into it. –John Maxwell
When I was in college, I toyed briefly with the idea of pursuing a degree in Management Information Systems. It was a blend of a business and technology degree – two things I love! I explored it, but ultimately went a different direction. Yet those two fields have always been ones that interested me, and I’ve read widely in both.
There’s an old term from the early days of computer programming – GIGO. It stands for “garbage in, garbage out.” When programmers would make a mistake in their program, they would not get the results they wanted. They put garbage (error) code in – and they got garbage (error) out.
Our minds work just like those computers.
Speaker and writer Charlie “Tremendous” Jones said “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.”
Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.
What we put into our minds determines what comes out.
When I read about great leaders, about pivotal moments in history when significant decisions were made, about catalytic moments, I am inspired and challenged to become a better leader. When I spend time with leaders who are further along the leadership journey than I am, when I listen to and learn from them, I am inspired and challenged to become a better leader.
And when I don’t do those things, I am not.
Garbage in. Garbage out.
Value in. Value out.
Do you want to grow? Choose wisely what you read and who you spend time with.
What’s the #1 way to guarantee you won’t grow? Don’t choose wisely what you read and who you spend time with. To a very great degree, we choose what we will put into our minds.
Let’s be intentional.
To grow into the leader I want to be, I have to choose the road that gets me there.
What are you choosing today?
What are you reading today?
Who is speaking into your life today?
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