Keep An Open Mind

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Open your eyes to the world around you. You just may learn something. It will make your decisions better, your relationships stronger, and it will transform you into a more enlightened person. Being open-minded doesn’t require a major investment of your time but rather, a fresh new way of thinking. It requires you to be a sponge — obtaining information from various sources, seeking input from people of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints, and evaluating that input based on its merits rather than on whether it conforms to your way of thinking. Do you have an open mind?

Open your eyes. Being open-minded helps you to:

Expand your horizons. Challenge your thinking by embracing differing viewpoints rather than limiting debate to like-minded people.

Enhance your decision making. Evaluate your options from every angle rather than being predisposed to one way of looking at things.

Expand your relationships. Promote teamwork by being respectful of others’ differences rather than being judgmental and intolerant.

Challenge the status quo. Advance positive change by encouraging debate and buy-in rather than leading by command and control.

Build trust. Encourage fair and objective decisions rather than subjecting the process to your personal bias.

Enrich your personal growth. Remain open-minded to personal feedback rather than repeating mistakes because you failed to learn from them.

Find the optimum solution. Generate several good possibilities to choose from rather than settling for the first right answer.

Obtain the truth. Search for the truth by listening to opposing arguments and letting others challenge your views and opinions.

If being open-minded is so advantageous, why doesn’t everyone embrace it? For some folks, being closed-minded is a habit — they’re uninterested, misinformed, and dismissive of fresh viewpoints. Being closed-minded may also be the result of an entrenched mindset of intolerance or prejudice. Are you open-minded? If not, leave the door open to it.