Being Open-minded | The Probabilist . com

Being Open-minded December 9, 2006

Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Consciousness, Communication, Creativity, Emotions, Goals, Personal Growth, Psychology, Beliefs, Abilities , trackback

What does open-mindedness really mean and what does it cover? How can you expand your own mind’s capacity for higher understanding? I’ve separated this trait into three parts - receptivity to new ideas, being impartial and unbiased towards existing opinions and ideologies and finally the ability to maintain an open mind when different functions of your brain give you mixed messages over an issue.

Starting off, it’s essential to ask why you would want to develop your mind in a more open direction. The answer is quite simple. A stagnating and conservative mind leads to stagnating and conservative results. Your thoughts create your reality just as many great philosophers, authors and teachers have discovered and emphasized for ages. Your mind, which consists of your intelligence, awareness and knowledge is your single greatest asset and tool to create whatever form of abundance you desire. Yet, so many people rely on group think, general opinions, subjective criticism and conditioned patterns to take over the control of their lives.

In fact, the concept of open-mindedness is the first step to raising the awareness, acceptance and implementation of every single tidbit of information that is presented in this blog. And obviously that goes for all information elsewhere as well. Therefore, it should not be overlooked, but instead consciously integrated in your being to enjoy the most prosperous and fulfilling reality you can imagine.

So moving on to how you can expand your mind, let’s focus on receptivity to new ideas. This is a question of being able to leave your ego and existing opinions behind, start using your ears to 100 % and stop criticizing whatever you come across. I’m not saying it’s an easy task to do and the goal is not to increase gullibility. But a pointworthy insight is that this is all part of your mind. It’s not a tangible action you’ve taken, but rather a phase where you’re contemplating two different outcomes - whether to accept or discard a new idea/concept that you didn’t know of until now. This is the reason why it’s so important to receive the new information to its full extent, or as far as possible, and only then start the evaluation process. The evaluation then takes into account if it makes sense, what level of usefulness it can produce, how well it corresponds with your personal values, how much effort it takes to execute, etc.

The next part then asks the question of how you can better respond to existing beliefs and topics of everyday discussions. My best advice is to read the Agreeing with Everyone article I wrote earlier. In all its simplicity it’s a question of avoiding debates and not voicing opinions as being set in stone. These actions distance yourself from potential new ideas and make it more difficult for others to accept your thoughts. If you want others to listen to your viewpoints, start by listening to others’. When I compare the amount of information I receive from others through reading and listening, to the amount of information I give through writing and talking, the former greatly outweighs the latter. And I only express my thoughts to those who deliberately seek them.

The last aspect of an open mind is consistency of thought. Now it’s up to you to set clear goals of what you want so that mixed messages don’t lead you astray. By this I mean for instance the dilemma of having your logic say one thing while your emotions express something else. It can also be a question of your conscious thinking not being able to elicit a change because your subconscious mind is objecting it. And lastly, different compartments of your mind, like creativity and problem-solving skill might have trouble finding and aligning with each other.

To face these challenges you need to have a strong foundation of what you really want. It doesn’t matter if it’s a question of health, wealth or relationships for instance, a goal must be set. Of course, once reached, a new one can be set with the leap of understanding and commitment you’ve noticed yourself empowered to achieve. So, the clearer the goal, the easier it gets to suppress the distracting factor within your mind that doesn’t understand the change. As long as you face challenges that are in your best interest there’s always a way to reach the goal you strive for.

I sincerely hope that with an increased level of open-mindedness you too can make life as a whole all the better, constantly.