Clear Thinking Requires Training

I view the mind as a muscle that requires regular training to keep strong. One way to train your mind is by learning new things. But I always thought that learning ends when your education ends. For some, that’s when they leave high school, for others, it’s when they get their bachelor’s or master’s degree.

During our time in school, we learn new skills, ideas, and theories that change the way we think and operate in the world. But once we’ve established a way of thinking, we hardly change it. We prefer to entertain the same thoughts because they give us a sense of familiarity. We’ve learned that novelty is a scary thing—so we do everything to avoid it.

We’re creatures of habit who prefer relaxing our mind instead of straining it. “I need to relax and watch something on Netflix,” is something I hear almost everyone, of all ages, say these days. I’ve said it myself as well.

That makes me wonder what we need rest from From the repetitive tasks we do at work From the familiar thought patterns we have If you really think about it, we hardly strain our minds unless there’s a specific reason—like a test or exam we have to take. Otherwise, we often think, “What’s the point” Well, the point is to train your mind just like you train your body to keep fit.

You don’t go to the gym for four years and quit for the rest of your life. So why don’t you exercise your mind the same way you do your body What’s more, the mind is the single most important tool you have. And if you want to use that tool properly, you must train the mind. Stoic philosopher Epictetus put it best “The life of wisdom is a life of reason.

It is important to learn how to think clearly. Clear thinking is not a haphazard enterprise. It requires proper training.”

The problem is that we don’t know how we must get proper training, as Epictetus put it. For most of my life, my thoughts were out of control. I never thought about thinking. If you asked me to draw my thoughts, it would look something like this;

That mess you see up there is how the inside of my mind looked like. It was pure chaos. Just a mush of positive, negative, sad, happy and, above all, confusing thoughts. I always thought to myself, “Why can’t my brain stop? Where’s the pause button?” Looking back, I didn’t know how to use my brain as the wonderful tool it is.

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