W.I.N. Wednesday: Overeating for the mind

In his 5-Bullet Friday newsletter on April 9 Tim Ferris shared the following “Quote I am Pondering” as one of the 5 bullets:

“Like our stomachs, our minds are hurt more often by overeating than by hunger.” (Ut stomachis sic ingeniis nausea sepius nocuit quam fames.)
— Petrarch

As I pondered that quote it struck me that in today’s world of always available, never ending information, it is like going to a massive buffet and stuffing yourself so you “get your money’s worth”.  It is common for people to belly up to the buffet of information available 24 hours a day. People are constantly scouring the 24-hour news cycles on the TV, their computer and their phones. They are continually scrolling through multiple social media feeds and trying to read as many books as the high profile people who read a book a week or a book a day. 

Fast forward over 600 years from Petrarch’s time and Gary Larson captures the same sentiments in a Far Side cartoon that shows a student in class raising his hand and saying, “Mr. Osborne, may I be excused? My brain is full.” 

The problem is that too often we fail to pause, savor the information we are consuming, let it digest, and reflect on what it means, how it links to what we already know and how it can be applied in our lives. Imagine a fine dining experience where you savor each bite, enjoy the flavor created by each of the intentionally selected and carefully prepared elements of the meal accompanied by the fine wine you are pairing with the food versus the buffet experience where we often do not even take time to enjoy the food, we are just trying to stuff in as much as possible. 

What about you? Are you selective about your sources of information? Do you carefully select what to ingest? Do you treat information like a fine dining experience or an all you can consume buffet? I know I catch myself sometimes sliding into the buffet mindset and having to force myself to pause, savor and digest the information I am consuming. 

What’s Important Now? Be cautious of overeating for your mind. 

Take care.

Brian Willis

www.lifesmostpowerfulquestion.com. Maximizing human potential through Life's Most Powerful Question - What's Important Now?

www.daretobegreatleadership.com The online Dare to Be Great: Strategies for Creating a Culture of Leading workshop was created to help aspiring leaders and frontline leaders on their leadership journey. Subscribe to the weekly blog while you are there. 

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