I recently came across an interview I did back in 2008 for Business Day with Murphy Marobe, then CEO of Kagiso Media.

As a young man, he was a political activist and became a target of the apartheid security police, who apprehended and tortured him.

When the interview wrapped up and we were saying our goodbyes, I asked one final question:

“You mentioned they used different kinds of torture – mental and physical. Which was worse?”

His answer has stayed with me ever since.

“Without a doubt, the mental torture. And that is for one simple reason. When they physically tortured you, eventually you would pass out, and that was it. With mental torture … that they were going to hurt your wife or kids … there was no off-switch.”

Think about that for a moment.

The human body can be pushed to the point of unconsciousness. But the human mind? It can create fears so powerful that someone would rather face physical pain than endure what their imagination produces.

It’s a sobering thought – but also a powerful one.

Because if the mind can be that destructive, it can also be that constructive.

If you can redirect your thinking so it works for you instead of against you, the potential becomes almost unstoppable. The same mental intensity that fuels fear can fuel resilience, purpose, and achievement.

Your mind is not just something you have.
It’s something you train.

What are you feeding yours today?