GIGO Revisited

The whole thing started me thinking about the ways in which we amass information, the way we feed our brain, and I could not help but recall that old phrase from the early days of computers.

Remember that? We called it GIGO for short. The funny thing is, our lives function in a very similar way. Whatever we focus on, whatever we program in, we get back. If we're programming or inputting a lot of garbage then that's what we'll get back out.

I heard the great Zig Ziglar speak once about the startling number of times a child is told "No" or "You can't do that" before they reach their teens. It is a staggering number. Some often tell their children, "If you don't stop doing that, you'll end up in jail." What a better world this would be if we practiced telling our children, "If you keep getting these great grades you're going to end up in high places."

There is so much negativity in the world today that's it is easy to get caught up in feeding our minds with ugliness and despair without even realizing how much junk we're taking in. We become numb to it. What I encourage you to do is this. Make a conscious effort this week to deliberately fill your mind with encouraging and uplifting material. Read one of those success books gathering dust on your shelf. Watch an inspiring documentary about someone who has overcome challenges to succeed. 

Or perhaps you could do this. Take a little time to do some research on the life of Steve Jobs, who was certainly familiar with the term GIGO. You will soon discover, however, that Jobs had a different take on this acronym and he used it to become one of the most successful men of the modern era. 

If you put the GOOD stuff in, you're going to get the GOOD stuff out.

Steve would've been the first to agree.

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