The canker of mental laziness

In a contemporary world where economic and socio-cultural hardships have besieged society, one would have thought that people would strive to be innovative and to find lasting solutions to their problems. Instead, society has become flooded with too many people who always want the quick way out. For most of us especially in countries where the population is relatively young, much of the development that we have come to witness were already existing even before we were ever born. This is because there were people who decided to go beyond everyday regular routine patterns of thought, but rather decided to push their mental prowess into an all different level that have produced revolutionary results, thereby improving conditions for we the latter generation. So what could this mental laziness of a topic be at all? I personally define mental laziness as a state of mental rigidity where the individual is not motivated either internally or externally to go beyond the scope of his regular patterns of thought. Africa is said to have more problems than any other continent around the globe. Therefore we need to strive to be a people who would always think a step or two ahead of our problems. The main point here is that, many people in Africa are poor not necessarily because they are physically lazy, but due to the canker of mental laziness. They work hard instead of working intelligently. We are not entirely to blame though; because we live in a society where people and loved ones are often willing to help and therefore there is an inherent predisposition towards mental laziness. Most people are quick to call for external help with the slightest challenge that they face in various domains of life. Students would always call for a lecturers help when they are confronted with a little something that was not taught in the class. Such a student is not ready at all to use the full capacity of his brains. Indeed it is said that the average intelligent person uses only about 5-10 percent of brain capacity. However, it appears as though others use only about .05 percent and yet, they feel so comfortable with it. Everybody graduates these days and is expecting a call up in a company. How about we follow the example of people like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Larry Page and Sergy Brin of google, the now famous Kalybos just to mention a few. These are people who share one thing in common. They did not come from fabulously rich homes but they decided to think outside the box. The thing is that, old ways would never produce new results.
5 Signs That You Are Mentally Lazy
• You always get so tired even though you do not have too much workload.
I know you are somebody who does not joke with your work at all but you admit that your stress level does not tally with your workload and you also don’t have much to show for the work you have been so committed to for years now. The problem is that you invest too much physical strength where you should be applying some critical thinking. Always strive to challenge yourself to find more effective ways of carrying out your job assignments without creating too much stress for yourself. Of course this is the way you always do it. But be flexible in your thoughts a bit so that it can help you discover new and better ways of carrying out your tasks.
• You always settle for small achievements without striving for more.
Yes you are the first person to have attained a masters’ degree in your family. But that is certainly not all you can do for yourself. Instead of being full of yourself, let your success rather catapult you to achieving even greater heights in life. In our society, achievements are often accompanied by merry making and uncontrolled celebrations. However, I urge you to instead of overly rejoicing, take some time to sit down, take an inventory of how you made this achievement and explore what other potentials that you can harness to push you to greater heights. This way, you would attain bigger things that would all seem to you like you were dreaming.
• You are always quick to ask for help at the slightest confusion.
I know you think that you have a myriad of friends and loved ones who are always willing to stick their neck out and offer you assistance whenever you call on them. But why don’t you attempt finding the solution yourself sometimes? Trust me this feeling is much greater than knowing you have many loved ones. Be determined to think thoroughly through your problems before you pick up that phone to make the call and I am sure you would arrive at some great solutions beyond your wildest imagination. Even when you have to call, let it be that you have arough solution and you are only calling that friend to help you fine tune it.
• You always find a way to avoid mentally demanding tasks in your workplace.
Are you the kind of employee who always prefers to ran errands for your boss rather than take an inventory of your weekly sales? Or are you the type that is always avoiding presentations and coming up with one excuse or another? If so, then I am afraid you must just be a victim of mental laziness and you have to do all you can to come out of this situation. Yes it feels smart to always swerve the mentally demanding job, but getting that new job you have applied for is definitely going to be difficult for you. Challenge yourself today and take some demanding tasks. You will be amazed at the extent to which you have limited your potential all this while.
• You hardly take decisions with them backfiring at you.
This point appears a bit controversial because some may resort to the analogy that that man plans but God disposes. But the truth is that most of the time, the decisions you took were poorly coordinated and you did not take enough time to think them through. Be careful especially when you are deciding under pressure. Take time to look at the issue from a very broad spectrum that is sure to cater for all dimensions of possibilities. To avoid making “I never saw that coming” your anthem, sit down just like you do when eating and devote your time to think through your problem without checking your phone or doing any other thing that could break your chain of thought. By this method, you are almost sure to find your thoughts flowing freely, thereby increasing your probablility of making the best decision.
In sum, you first have to admit that you show traits of mental laziness as posited by this paper. However, go beyond just accepting your faults and try practicing some of the remedies that have been prescribed by this paper. Decide to go beyond the mediocrity that plagues the modern Ghanaian society and be motivated to think out of the ordinary. Push your mental abilities to its fullest potential. And believe you me when this is done effectively, the world better prepare for you.
Authored by:
Tetteh Nathaniel Guamah
(MOTIVATIONAL/PUBLIC SPEAKER)
+233244903748