Home / business / mind games / ya-ttitude / Open the Flood Gates
Continuing along our Mind Games path another important aspect of those mind games is the ability and the need to develop an open mind; a free mind, a mind that accepts and embraces new ideas and concepts. Remember that an Open Mind is a free mind! So Open those flood gates!
The person who decides to close their mind to all that is new and exciting, including ideas, concepts and even people is a
person who is disabling and shutting down their own mentality. Intolerance is really a nasty habit. One you need to eliminate quickly and fight hard to stay away from in all its ugly forms. It works against you and it works to squash you in ALL phases of your life; cutting off opportunities, the ability to advance and all lines of communication. It kills off all facets of positive in every part of your life; regardless if it is business or personal.
The light bulb, the car, the plane, the internet and even Space flight and exploration were all impossibilities once; but no more! The same thought-freeing process will bring about advances in all parts of life - political, medical and even in your every day life.
A closed mind is simply a sign of a static personality. It allows for all progress to simply pass you by! And as progress passes you by, so does opportunities and the ability for you to attain those goals and achievements you have set forth for yourself. The only way you can achieve all of your dreams and goals is for you to maintain an open mind; grasping this concept is another key to your overall success.
Your open mind does require faith, faith in YOU! Faith in your fellow person and faith in whatever greater power you may believe in. Faith is the perfect remedy for doubt, do have faith in you, I do!
You can come out of your closed mind by simply taking stock in yourself. How do you make decisions? Do you seek facts or do you rely on hearsay? Do you base them on reason and logic or do you fall victim to preconceived ideas? And finally, do you listen close to the other person and their arguments, thoughtfully and carefully or do you just close your mind to them?
Look inside of you; the answers are all there waiting for you to uncover them!
; ?>)
October 28th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Nice reminder… open mind, closed mouth (at times) is very illuminating
October 28th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
A religion is a set of tenets and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature, and often codified as prayer, ritual, or religious law. And, at the top of the pyramid of the greatest barriers to making open minded decisions is the religious beliefs that we cling to.
Provided that you don’t mean religion, when you say “faith” then I do have faith. I have a great deal of faith in myself and in my own abilitiy to make good decisions, and in the ability of my fellow beings to do likewise, and that’s all the faith I need.
It’s a quirk of human nature that we maintain our beliefs by selectively exposing ourselves to information that we already know is likely to support those beliefs. Yet, when we remove the emotional elements and take the time to gather information on the opposite side of any issue we are more likely to come to different conclusions.
This is why it’s not surprising that gut responses based on deeply held beliefs are not always the most accurate. In fact, I find that I’m far more likely to be open minded and make better decisions when I’m not under stress and when time is not of the essence.
When faced with any decision I assess the “emotional urgency” factor first. I frequently find that urgency is artificially created by others, because they are relying on a specific outcome and desiring the instant gratification, if and when it’s confirmed. So whenever possible, I choose not to make hurried decisions prompted by artificial urgency to please or satisfy others.
Another dynamic that I have become aware of is the “important decision” categorization. I’m more likely to conduct a broad based and open minded investigation of all possibilities if I assign high importance to the decision in terms of outcomes and impacts.
In cases of “important decision making” I seek out more information, I consult others and listen to their points of view, and I make lists of pros and cons, as well as outcomes and impacts. Whenever possible I choose to assign high importance to issues where the outcome of the decision made is likely to have a major impact on finances and /or relationships.
Thanks for encouraging me to think a little more about open mindedness. I think I feel a blog post coming on. lol
November 29th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
[...] Greenberg at Ya-ttitude wrote a post called Open those Flood Gates and as I wrote my comment there I could feel a blog post coming on. A closed mind is simply a sign [...]