Knowing what we shouldn’t do is just as important as knowing what we should. In fact, it could be easier to see something wrong in things we already do than to see something right in things we haven’t done. In mind development, it means that we should see how we do things and find what’s wrong with them. We can then take the necessary actions to remove those problems.

Mind development killers The 9 mind development killers I’m about to share are something all of us should be aware of. To be honest, there are some of them I’m dealing with myself. I use this list as a checklist to warn myself if I have done something harmful for my mind development.

Here are the 9 mind development killers you should avoid:

1. Saying that something is boring

Saying that something is boring is a sure way to kill your curiosity and - along with it - your mind development. When you say that something is boring, you create a belief that it’s something negative you should avoid. Unfortunately, that could be a door to new opportunities. You might not understand nor need it now, but someday you might. Whenever you say that something is boring, you have closed one more door of opportunity.

2. Always reading the same kinds of books, blogs, or magazines

You need to branch out to new fields. Again, curiosity plays a big role here. If you aren’t curious, there is little motivation to read something new beyond what you usually read. On the other hand, if you are curious you will be glad to read something different because it’s fun.

3. Only wanting to do the easy stuff

Often we just want to do things that do not require significant effort. While this may make you feel comfortable, it won’t do you much in developing your mind. You should be willing to try something challenging that takes you out of your comfort zone.

4. Feeling good enough

If you feel that you are already good enough in something, you won’t have the drive to improve yourself. At best, your improvement will only be modest. It’s especially dangerous when you feel that you are successful. Steve Jobs gave us good advice we should all remember: “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

5. Stop asking why

Often we are to busy doing things that we forget to ask why. We forget to ask why we do it in the first place. We forget to ask why we do it that way. Are you sure you need to do that? And even if you do, must it be done that way?

Just accepting conventional wisdom without asking why is a common mind development pitfall. It could kill the mind development of not only one person but also the entire community.

6. Saying “I’m not creative”

If you think that only certain people can be creative and you are not one of them, you are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your belief is your limit. You won’t be creative if you think you aren’t. But the fact is everyone is creative. You are creative. So stop creating self-imposed limitations and start using your creativity.

7. Only having people who agree with you

If the people around you always agree with you, you miss a chance to develop your mind. While we can learn from people who agree with us, I believe we will learn much more from people who disagree with us. So expose yourself to more diverse kinds of people that have different perspectives.

8. Afraid of dreaming big dreams

Perhaps you failed in the past. Or perhaps people said that you won’t succeed. All these could make you afraid of dreaming big dreams. But if your dreams are small, your challenges will also be small and you won’t learn much. Only by dreaming big dreams can you stretch your brain muscles and achieve your full potential. So have the right mindset about failure and enlarge your dreams.

9. Not having role models

Role models act as pacers whom you try to pursue. They are concrete examples of the qualities you want to achieve. Without having concrete examples, it would be difficult for you to know whether and how something can be achieved.

In mind development, you can find people who have big dreams and beliefs despite being in difficult situations. You can also find people who have good intellectual discipline (e.g. reading one book one week) or generate ideas productively. Whatever trait it is you want to emulate, find your role models.

As I said above, this list can be used as a checklist to check whether or not you have done something harmful for your mind development.

Do you know of other mind development pitfalls? I would love to hear them.

了解什么是我們不應該做的和了解什么是我們應該做的同樣重要。事實上，從我們所為中發現失誤比從我們所尚未為中看到正確的東西更容易。在心智發展中，則意味著，我們應該看到我們做事的方式并發現其中的問題。由此我們可以采取必要的措施解決其中的問題。

心智發展殺手，也就是我要談到的阻礙心智發展的9大殺手，是我們所有人都應該清楚的事情。如實地說，其中一些，也正是我自己遇到的。我將其作為一個清單，用以提醒自己是否做出什么有害自己的心智發展。

以下就是這我們應該避免的（阻礙我們）心智發展的9大殺手：

1。 認為某些事單調無聊

認為（某些）事情單調無聊的想法無疑會扼殺你的求知欲，同時也扼殺你的心智發展。當你認定一個事物無聊時，你就產生了一個本該避免的消極信念。非常不幸，這本來可以是通往新機遇的一扇門。你現在不能理解也不需要，而（將來）某一天你可能會（理解和需要）。

任何時候當你認為某事無聊無趣時，意味著你關閉了更多的機遇之門。

2。 總是閱讀相同類型的書，博客或雜志

你需要擴展新的領域。此處好奇心起著重大作用。如果你缺乏好奇心，就沒有動力去閱讀你通常接觸范圍之外的新事物。相反，如果你好奇心強，你就會很高興閱讀一些不同的東西，因為你會覺得很有趣。

3。只想做容易的事

通常我們只想做一些不需要很大努力的事情。這讓你感覺輕松，但同時對你的心智開發卻沒有太多好處。你應該去嘗試一些挑戰性的事物，能帶你走出你的溫室。

4。 自我滿足

如果你在某些方面自我滿足，你就沒有動力提升自己。充其量，進步也只能有限。如果你覺得自己是成功的，則尤其有害。史蒂夫. 喬布斯的忠告我們都應該記住：“保持渴望。保持自己微不足道的感覺”。

5。 停止探究（問為什么）

常常，我們忙于事務，而忘記探究為什么。我們忘記首先問問我們為什么做，我們也忘記問為什么我們這樣的方式做。你確信你需要做它嗎？就算要做，必須這樣的方式來做嗎？

僅僅接受傳統常識而不加追問是一種普遍的心智發展缺陷。這種探究精神的缺乏不光會扼殺個人的心智發展，也會扼殺整個社會的心智發展。

6。認為自己沒有創造性

如果你認為僅僅某些特定的人們具有創造性，而你不是其中一員，你正在制造一個本身自然會實現的預言。你的信念正是你的局限。如果你認為自己沒有創造性，那你當然就不會有創造力。而事實是，每個人（本來）都有創造性。你是富有創造力的。因此，停止制造自我強加的限制，開始動用你的創造力。

7. 只接受意見一致的人

如果你周圍的人永遠與你意見一致，你就失去了發展心智的機會。如果說我們可以從與我們意見一致的人們那學到東西，我相信我們可以從持有不同意見的人們那學到更多。因此，我們應該主動接觸更多各種持有不同觀點的人。

8。不敢擁有遠大夢想

也許過去你曾經失敗過。也許，別人認為你不會成功。所有這些都可能讓你不敢做遠大夢想。然而，如果你的夢想很小，那么你的挑戰也就很小，因此你就不能獲得更多。只有通過遠大夢想才能施展你的腦細胞，實現你的全部潛能。因此，樹立正確的思維習慣，擴大自己的夢想。

9. 缺乏行為榜樣

行為榜樣就像是跑步比賽中的追趕目標。他們是你想要達成的品質方面的具體榜樣。沒有具體的榜樣，你就很難明白自己是否和怎樣實現某些目標。

心智發展中，你能找到那些在困境中仍然擁有遠大理想和信念的榜樣。你還可以找到擁有良好智力訓練的榜樣（比如他們每周閱讀一本書），或者在卓有成效地產生思想的榜樣。不管你想要模仿哪種，你要找到自己的行為榜樣。

如同上面我說的，這個列表可以用作一個清單，來檢查你是否做出什么對心智發展有害的事情。

或者你還知道其他阻礙心智發展的隱患？我很樂意聽取。