Very early on as we became reliant on computers and technology, software engineers and people in the information technology world quickly recognized that the value of the data being fed into the system was only as good as the source of the data. They relied on and shared with us their philosophy of “garbage in garbage out,” or what became known as GIGO.

It is pretty much the same way with people too. What we feed our mind impacts what we do, who we are, and what we pursue. As Earl Nightingale said, “We become what we think about.” And with the amount of time we are currently spending watching the news, watching our social media feeds and posts, and participating in exchanges, comments, and chats, all of that data and information is being processed and consumed by our heart and our head. And it becomes what we think about.

Our goal is to prevent GIGO, avoid letting the garbage into our minds and into our hearts that can tear us down mentally and emotionally. And equally as important is that we do not become the ones putting any garbage out there ourselves. The source of our data and what we feed into our system and share with others should be filtered through the lens of the good, the clean, the pure, the powerful, and the positive. Zig Ziglar talked about this long before the idea of fake news and social media ever existed.

As a matter of fact, Zig Ziglar said it this way, “If you dump garbage in, garbage will come out. The person who dumps garbage into your mind will do considerably more damage than the one who dumps garbage on your floor.” Again, timeless truth and wisdom. And as Zig added a little humor to this message, he would also let us know that he would read the newspaper and his Bible every day, this way he knew what both sides were up to.

Now I am not advocating we completely avoid the news or social media. As a matter of fact, I have my sources of information and news that I trust, like the newspaper you are reading right now. And I also enjoy the postings and comments that I see from the people I am connected to and in the groups that I am a part of. If you would like to know what those groups are, send me an email and I am happy to share where I spend my time on social media and some of the other sources of good information where I find value.

If you do find me on social media — many of you have already connected with me — you will see that I never get in the middle of anyone’s argument. If someone goes negative or gets on a rant that conflicts with how I am trying to feed my mind and heart, I block or unfollow that person or leave that group. You will also notice that when I do see something good, clean, pure, powerful and positive, I will share it with #onlysharethegoodstuff. I use other hashtags such as success, leadership, continuous learning, hope, encouragement and more so that I can tap into some of the brilliant minds and beautiful hearts out there who are offering wisdom, guidance, hope and encouragement.

If you have a positive source of information, I would love to hear from you and where you go to get the good, the clean, the pure, the powerful and the positive. Where do you go to feed your heart and mind?

How about you? What are you feeding your heart and mind these days? Are there any sources of garbage that you can clean out or eliminate? Remember, we become what we think about, and I would love to hear what you are thinking about at mnorton@tramazing.com. And when we think about only reading and sharing the good stuff, it really will be a better than good week.

Michael Norton is the grateful CEO of Tramazing.com, a personal and professional coach, and a consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator to businesses of all sizes.