I was having one of those brother-sister banters with my brother the other day. He did not even listen to me. I finally said, “You are so stubborn!” He replied, “I’m not stubborn, I just don’t see any reason to change something that’s working.” It was one of those thunderbolt moments. I understand being unwilling to change your values. But why not at least consider another idea, especially if it might make things better? Why not be open to change?
The Cambridge Dictionary defines an open mind as “to have a willingness to listen to or accept new ideas and other people’s suggestions.”
Is it hard for you to keep an open mind? Most of us have some notion of how things are and how we want them to be. Sometimes it’s difficult to see there might be a better way.
Every day is a new day and life won’t stand still. Things happen and invention and innovation seem to be around every corner. Ask any iphone owner. “Events happen, human interactions happen and therefore change happens.” – eagleonline.com/blog
Some changes will be big, some will be small but if you don’t want to be left behind, the best idea is to be part of the solution. Eighteenth century poet, Robert Burns wrote, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” If things don’t go according to your plan, or things are just not working, an open mind can help you adapt and move forward.
How to be Open to Change
Having an open mind does not mean you can’t have strong convictions. What it does mean is you consider other perspectives and try to understand other points of view even if you disagree. Making an effort to listen with an open mind might help you understand someone and why they believe what they do. Often open-minded people are able to take the best from many trains of thought, enact change and move ahead.
“Progress is impossible without change and those who cannot change their mind cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw.
“Part of being open-minded involves being able to question not just others, but also yourself. Before dismissing change out of hand. Try to ask yourself a few key questions:
- How much do I really know about the topic?
- How trustworthy is the source?
- Have I considered other ideas?
- Do I have any biases that might be influencing my thinking?” – verywellmind.com
Open to Change Tips
Becoming more open-minded, being able to listen to other viewpoints and being willing to assess change on a more rational level is not easy. Consider the following tips for becoming open-minded and embracing change.
“None of us knows everything. When you think you have all the answers then you stop listening, which means you stop learning.
- Trying new things takes us out of our comfort zone… but that is how we grow and get better.
- Glass half empty people will look for all the reasons why “the new thing” won’t work and glass half full people will look for the ways to make it work.
- If “the new way” never worked then our society would never have evolved… and certainly Amazon would not be testing drone deliveries, and companies would not be testing driver-less cars!
- There is something exciting about making something new work and big rewards come to those who innovate and change, not to those who keep doing the same old same old”. – eagleonline.com/blog
- Try our new Change Openness Quiz to find out how open-minded you really are.
A Final Thought
One last pearl of wisdom:
“A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.” – Frank Zappa
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