“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” These words struck me deeply two days ago. They “jumped” at me while studying Proverbs 4:23. The importance of, “above all else”, also dawned on me.
The preceding chapters had repeatedly highlighted the importance of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Everything from wealth to health and honor to long life were said to flow out of the possession of these “power-trio”. But then this verse says “above all”, we must guard our hearts. This struck a few thoughts in me. So I quickly grabbed my journal and wrote down the insights I got. I’d like to briefly share a few of them with you.
1. Your body is a dummy – “Heart” in this verse is synonymous with the “mind”. The body literally goes where the mind goes. We know this is true because the verse says, “everything you do flows from it.” We are to guard our minds because whatever we let in affects everything about us. Therefore, we must be conscious about feeding and nurturing our minds with valuable materials, since we will never get to any level that we don’t first reach in our mind.
2. The illusion of constancy – You’re either growing or dying. Nothing grows without effort. If the quality of your life is determined by the quality of the output of your mind, then we must not leave the quality of that output to chance. Our mind needs to be “serviced”. Reading or listening to biographies, novels, personal development materials, etc, are some ways we can accomplish this.
3. Periodic maintenance – Everything that works needs to be maintained. That’s the nature of life itself. We are advised thus: “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Renewal happens periodically. At some interval – daily, weekly, monthly, annually, etc – we must consider the output of our minds. This is probably why it’s good practice to keep a journal. Wherever you are in life today, your mind got you there. After all, “as you think, so are you” could also be said thus: “as you are, so you think”
If we desire to be exceptional, or even more than average, we must not leave the state of our minds to chance; as above all else, everything we do flows from it.
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Ugo is an energetic and dynamic youth leader and the president of the nonprofit NEU Gen Leaders. He is the author of 2 books – Secrets of Academic Excellence and The NEU Era. He can be reached at [email protected].