Broom

Summary – Sometimes the mind requires tools

“To the man who only has a hammer, everything he encounters begins to look like a nail. — Abraham Maslow”

I remember this quote today while at work. I was walking around with a torchlight in my hand. Don’t ask why I’m carrying one in a bright daylight. I’m actually using it to see the inside of a troubled gearbox.

Suddenly, just like established by the quote, everything I see seems to be a bit dark and I need to use the torchlight to have a better view. Almost everything. And that’s when I remember the quote. How true..

You can try yourself, take one item and hold it in your hand. It can be a broom, or a book, anything. Hold it for 10 – 15 minutes and walk around the house. You will understand what I’m talking about. If you are holding the broom, you will start seeing a lot of dust on your floor. If you hold a book, you will want to read it after a while.

There are only two rules you must abide

  • You must forget that you’re doing an experiment. Just act normal but with an item in your hand.
  • Hold the items for at least 10-15 minutes. It will only have effect then.

Reading what I just wrote, one question come up to my mind. “What can I possibly achieve by doing this?”. Aha! There’s actually quite a few positive effect of applying this.

1) You will never forget what you’re going to do.
This sometimes happened to me. I walk into my room and I saw an empty bottle that need to be thrown away into the rubbish bin. I continue with my other things-to-do, and not long after that, I forget that bottle totally. I will only remember it when I enter the room again.

If only I take that bottle and hold it all the time while I’m inside the room. I’m sure I will never forget the task.

2) It makes you more alert and notice things.
If you are holding a broom, you will notice all the mess in your house more clearly. The same goes to if you’re holding a pen. You will start getting inspiration on what to write. For some children, they will redesign the whole room with cartoon character on the wall. 🙂

Conclusion – our mind is an amazing thing. You want something from it, just give it a tool to work on, and you will get it.

  • You want a painting, hold a pen with a blank paper in front of you. Draw away.
  • You want idea for your blog, just put your fingers on the keyboard and type.
  • You want to cook something, open up that fridge and see what’s inside.

The thing we do will not be a masterpiece immediately. The painting will not be another Monet, the blog post may not be noticed at all and the food may not be featured in Food Channel, but you are already stimulating your mind to work towards what you want

That’s a very very good start 🙂

– I wonder –
What do you like to hold today?

———- Personal Note ———–
Holding the broom can be tricky sometimes. One can easily replace the idea of the broom to a holding a guitar. * Guilty 🙂

Photo Credit – Jam343

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This post has 13 comments.


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  1. 05 Aug 08 9:41 pm

    i would really like to hold the lecture notes, but it always seems so far away from me, until the very last minute. :p

  2. 05 Aug 08 11:57 pm

    You are sooo right, Wilda! Btw, this article reminds me of “The Law Of Attraction – Secret”. I have put the Porsche Cayenne on my wall since last year but nothing happens. Nak tukar kereta pun tak de.. bayang Porsche Cayenne lagi ler..

  3. filantera
    06 Aug 08 12:01 pm

    hahaha yeah this is right….holding the h andphone all day will surely make a lot of sms sent:P

  4. 06 Aug 08 1:21 pm

    sy pegang dn tenung daging ayam lebih lima minit lamanya tp masih bingung nk masak apa dgn daging ayam tu.. kari ke, rendang ke atau sekadar sup..

    lain kali nk pegang dn belek dulu bk resipi sebelum pegang apa2 daging pun! hahaha

  5. banji
    06 Aug 08 3:32 pm

    wilda – it’s like the lecture notes has a pair of feet right? miraculously staying away from us 🙂

    So how do you plan to get a hold on them this time?

    AkakPokPek – The Law of Attraction.. 🙂 I haven’t read the law fully to understand it yet, but I will have to disagree that only strong desire will get us somewhere. It is a prerequisite though, but it alone will not work. We need to work on it. Just my 2 cents

    When I was studying I put Cartoon posters on my wall. A Goku to be exact hehe

    Filantera – And of course the bill will skyrocket. I guess some thing should never be in our hand.. all the time

    Norashburn – isk, daging tu sure sejuk sebab baru keluar freezer. camne la pegang sampai 5 minit 🙂 Jadi akhirnya apa kesudahan kisah Ayam tu?

  6. 06 Aug 08 6:38 pm

    kalau pocket pegang daging, sure dah jadi goreng kunyit dah
    hahahaha,
    for this i’ve just place my finger on the keyboard.
    one post already finished.
    But will not be posted anywhere soon.
    much much study is needed 🙂

  7. 06 Aug 08 7:10 pm

    DaPocket – aren’t we all? heheh penggila goreng kunyit. Dare I ask, what is it you’re going to study?

  8. Gale P
    15 Sep 08 9:45 pm

    I thought you were going to say more about holding specific thoughts in your mind produces more of the same, or having a certain attitude in life be your destiny if you aren’t or are careful. Hate sees hate and breeds hate. Love sees opportunity for it and loves, etc. If you walk into every room of your life with a goal or dream in your head, then you will have goals and dreams happen all around you. Of course, this means more work on your part. I haven’t figured that part out yet!!LOL I think I’ll go get a broom….

  9. banji
    16 Sep 08 12:05 am

    Gale P – It is generally the same idea. Only in this specific case, instead of holding specific thoughts we stick to an item of choice.

    I once heard a saying that the mind is one of the wildest creature on earth. One moment it’s at one place, the next micro seconds, it’s somewhere else.

    However, an advance application of the concept is exactly like what you have mentioned. By replacing the items with an idea in mind. Thanks Gale P for sharing your thoughts

  10. 09 Oct 08 10:53 am

    You get what you focus on….and I love the idea of taking the broom and walking around the house for 15 minutes. yes, all those dust bunnies will get picked up. I work with husbands and wives to have better marriages. I’m thinking about the parallels here. When put the marriage to the forefront of your mind and walk around with the vision of a happy marriage all the time, then you are staying aware. You are actively asking yourself what can I do to be a good husband or to be a good wife – to make my spouse happy? And like the broom and the dustbunnies, you become aware of those and you act.

    Sometimes the broom might hit the lamp and knock it over or trip the little one as they walk by, but all in all, the actions are related to what is in hand and so even the mistakes are made with the end result in mind.

    Thanks for the thoughts. My blog is at http://howtomakemywifehappy.com – perhaps you will let me quote you?

    Laurie Mueller

  11. banji
    10 Oct 08 10:23 pm

    Laurie Mueller – That’s an excellent application of the theory. When we really put one item up front conciously, we will definitely be more focus to it, and solution to the problem will come in waves.

    The only problem is how to hold on to that thought long enough for the solution to come. If it were the broom, we can physically hold it. But for marriage, we need either a very good imagination or perhaps the picture of their wedding. Just a thought.

    You are more than welcomed to quote the article. Thank you in advance.

  12. 11 Oct 08 12:37 am

    I will resist the urge to grab a bunch of “tools” to motivate me to get all the tasks I want accomplished. I’ll pick one; perhaps a brush because I want to do some painting (art).

    Love that quote from Maslow 🙂

    John

  13. banji
    11 Oct 08 1:20 pm

    John Rocheleau – I never knew you were an artist. Those sculptures are amazing 🙂 All the best with your work kay

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