The quote below from Sylvia Boorstein gave me a little chuckle…
“Your mind is like tofu – it tastes like whatever you marinate it in.”
But it also got me thinking. We have the option to choose what we surround ourselves with and the thinking that we expose our minds to.
And yet, most people are soaking in the bland, tasteless broth of mediocrity.
Despite having access to more information, ideas, and inspiration than ever before, so many of us are stuck in mental ruts, consuming the same mindless junk day in and day out. What gives?
With the sheer volume of podcasts, articles, TED Talks, and books at your fingertips, there’s no excuse for being boring. You have all the tools to be interesting, to spark conversations, to grow. But here’s the kicker: most people don’t use them. Instead, they marinate their minds in shallow, predictable nonsense. Social media is filled with influencers sharing their latest lunch or bathroom selfies, but where’s the substance? Where’s the push to think differently, to spark something new?
As Harvard professor Linda Hill put it, “You can’t think of something new unless you are being pushed to think in new directions.”
But guess what?
Most people are too comfortable with their sameness. They coast through life, feeding their brains with low-grade, forgettable content because it’s easier than seeking new, thought-provoking ideas.
If you’re not actively choosing to fill your mind with fresh perspectives, you’re basically saying you’re okay with being boring. Darren Hardy calls it “garbage in, garbage out,” and he’s right. He says, “If you want your brain to perform at its peak, you’ve got to be more vigilant about what you feed it.” Here’s what Hardy suggests we need to do… Flush out the garbage!
Replace it with strategies for success, stories that inspire, and ideas that challenge you to think bigger. That is what makes you interesting. Not the party snaps, not the small talk, but the ideas and knowledge you bring to the table.
While chatting through this idea with a team member she exclaimed that if she had to pick a condiment in the marinade to describe me she said it would be “fish sauce.”
And while most people would think that fish sauce is rather pungent and something that often gets pushed to the back of the fridge she explained that, “fish sauce is an ingredient that brings a marinade together. It’s something so important that you notice when it’s not there, and it’s not something you find everywhere.”
Because not only do we need to be mindful of what we are marinating our own minds in, but also what the ingredient is that we offer to others.
So with your own expertise, how are you helping others marinade their minds and uplevel their thinking?
Some things to consider for this week.
- Do you need to audit the media you are consuming so that you are creating a tastier, richer marinade?
- What ingredient are you in the secret sauce?
I’d love to hear your answers to these questions.
Janine x