How to Have an Open Mind
Learning January 12th, 2011
My friend Armen over at TimelessInformation had a great post that really got me thinking in a brief discussion and comment with him and still afterwards now.  His article titled Quality, Traffic and Criticism, included a piece about communities that form within sites or blogs and how some accept criticism and debates and others turn a cold shoulder and send visitors who challenge them away.  This practice of embracing visitors and welcoming a discussion I believe is a true demonstration of keeping an open mind.  On the other hand, bloggers and forums that tell people to leave if they don’t like something or agree with it, shows clearly how close minded they are.
Armen mentioned this is a sign of needing acceptance from their group and I think this very accurate! Â When someone is not open minded, they tend to seek approval for what they believe in and don’t have the confidence to consider something else and then defend their point of view constructively or objectively.
Open Mindedness Stems From Beliefs
On the other hand, someone who is open minded will most importantly know that they could be wrong and that beliefs may change and likely will over time. Â This is important since so much we do is shaped by our beliefs, having an understanding of those beliefs truly shapes our characters and in this case, how open minded we are.
- You cannot be open minded and never willing to let a belief change.
- You cannot be open minded and avoiding a debate you have not yet had because of some unknown risk to that belief.
- You can be open minded by knowing how your beliefs have changed in the past.
- You can be open minded by knowing that your beliefs are going to change again as you learn more about yourself and about life.
Kill the Need For Acceptance
So as Armen mentioned, being open minded can have a lot to do with acceptance as well.  To have an open mind, it is important to accept oneself but not be burdened by seeking acceptance from others.  The reason for this is because it is very easy to be locked into a mindset of way of doing things when struggling to be or stay accepted by others.  That struggling for acceptance will limit how open you are to change and new ways of thinking or behaving.  To change this, you must kill the need for acceptance  and be willing to risk change.  Know that there are possibilities to find acceptance in new things and by new people as well, but don’t rely on having or you will struggle to move on to new things.
Have New Experiences
Experiences teach us more than any other activity and the more a person experiences and the more variety in those experiences, the more likely they will be to have an open mind. Â Everyone knows someone or has some experience travelling to, learning about or living in difficult cultures and it can be very revealing. Â Things can be done differently by others and seeing this helps us to realize that we don’t have to do everything the same way as may have learned it or developed habits with. Â Variety in our experiences quickly teaches us to explore life, to seek out new exciting things around us and to not limit to what is already known. Â This ties to tightly to learning I am very passionate about this. Â Having new experiences gives us a lot to learn from and every time we learn, we carve away our borders of certainty and become a bit more open to change and new ideas. Â This is very important for having an open mind. Â Locking out new experiences and living life without new experiences creates a type of security in our minds that resists change. And I mean resisting change without a reason for standing up against it.
Embrace Change
So as I just mentioned new experiences bring about change.  Its inevitable and how we react to that change is really what shapes out openness.  Do you embrace the changes you face in life or do you resist them?  Are you optimistic that a change will have a good outcome or do you fear the worst?  Being optimistic and not being afraid of new things will help you embrace change and to have an open mind.  Embracing change is more than just accepting it as well, its really about seeking change and even promoting it or hoping for it.  Change is a powerful tool to shape the way we think and understanding how quickly our thinking is formed lets us look readily for change and what benefits can come about from it.
Expand Your Social Circle
Another way to learn to have an open mind is through your friends and relationships.  Every person is such a unique individual with their own perspective on life shaped their own experiences, there is a lot to be learned in relationships with others.  Having a variety of friends and lots of social interaction inevitably leads to discussions about experiences, stories and shared opinions, debates and likely disagreements.  All these things challenge what you know and think about and its a fantastic way to explore new ideas, learn from others and to create a need to have an open mind.  The social environment with others relates back to the topic of acceptance I mentioned above and its common for people to use acceptance positively in this situation.  Seeking out new friendships and connections often forces some level of compromise and acceptance of the other person in order to get along with them.  This acceptance of other people and their ideas helps you to be more open minded  and willing to consider something you may not have on your own otherwise.  So, if you want to know how to have an open mind, expanding and seeking a wide set of friends and social circle is a great way to do it!
Nurture Your Creativity
Creativity is the last area I consider important in learning how to have an open mind. Â Being creative and doing creative activities help to develop right brain thinking, which also enables us to think outside the box and not be as limited and close minded about life and our experiences. Â Take opportunities to develop and nurture your creativity by actively taking on hobbies, writing, creative content creation or building things, basically anything that requires you to be creative. Â Many people have this opportunity in their work as well which is a fantastic way to truly nurture creativity. Â Whenever you can, participate or volunteer for creative projects to practice and develop more creativity. Â Natural creativity and open minded thinking go hand in hand, as you must let your mind seek new things and be creative to truly have an open mind.
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Mike King
January 13th, 2011 at 3:23 AM
What a great list! I think everybody should do all of the above for any number of reasons, as well as becoming more open minded.
Generally I am really open minded but occasionally I catch myself thinking ‘that is just wrong’ or something along those lines and have to make an effort to realise that it may be me who is wrong. (Often after shouting at the radio or throwing something at the TV!!) So I suppose it is something to be worked on constantly.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:04 AM
[…] How to Have an Open Mind (LearnThis.ca) […]
January 13th, 2011 at 11:41 AM
Hey Mike.
I see it so often and I am glad you continued upon this message. It’s like each little community is closed off to the other ones. It makes sense that people have certain criteria that direct them to people of their own type, but the fact that they so quickly shut other people out is somewhat disturbing, but very prevalent.
Having new experiences does make a key difference. There might be some group on the internet who thinks Jamaican people are crazy, but until they have experiences with them, it will just be based on other people’s sayings, which could be based on bias or something. Experiences give us clear answers of what the world is like, unfiltered through the words of one or many from a group.
Having a bigger social circle is always worth it. I know that when I have felt I had an extensive social circle, I felt like I was at home everywhere.
January 13th, 2011 at 1:28 PM
Armen,
I totally agree about having a bigger social circle. I used to hang out only with people like myself, but in college, I got a job as an ESL (English as a Second Language) tutor.
I was exposed to students from around the world and getting to know them was an eye opening experience. Because of that job, I now try to meet and befriend people of different backgrounds and learn about their experiences.
It’s much more interesting and enjoyable to have a wide social circle than a narrow one. Variety is the spice of life, as they say.
January 13th, 2011 at 8:29 PM
@Kate – thanks for your thoughts on this. I certainly have dished out my share of opinions in my days and certainly can’t claim to be open minded on everything. I do however, realize now where the impact of that is and I’m certainly more open minded than I used to be when it comes to people. Its a struggle for everyone to some degree, I just hope these tips help those who at least WANT to be more open minded, as they have certainly helped me.
@Armen – Thanks for sparking this idea for me in the first place. The shut in communities can definitely give a sense of comfort but that shut others out mentality is a dangerous one for sure. I love how new experiences, sports, social arenas, websites, or job environments help to see new things and open the mind. Its the strongest method to me for clearing away those blinders we seem to develop so naturally.
@Dee – Agreed, I think that experiences and social circles go hand in hand and have that great impact from both perspectives. Its funny how biased we can be before we ever experience something or have those friends in unknown or unexpected areas. Then once we have them, its the best thing in hindsight!
January 15th, 2011 at 12:31 AM
Mike, all great things to do in regards to opening the mind. Me, personally I would still advise people to also remember that whichever approach they want to take they should still have limitation, which from the beginning you should remind yourself. After all it is all too easy to be open to everything in this world, and fall into the wrong trap. Although its hard to do it, what I trying to suggest is that everyone should have safety pre-cautions for yourself ahead of time.
-Jean
January 16th, 2011 at 9:29 AM
Great point Jean, I think it is worth stating that those boundaries would also fit our values and principles. If we don’t know the limits we are willing to go to or to stop at, you are right, it could be a dangerous path. Thanks for that reminder!!!
January 17th, 2011 at 4:49 AM
[…] How to Have an Open Mind (LearnThis.ca) […]
January 18th, 2011 at 5:57 AM
Excellent article, Mike. Being open-minded is one of the most important hurdles for human beings to overcome. Being blessed with so much more intelligence than any other species, it is in our nature to automatically think we are the best and our opinions hold most water. And overcoming that can take time and effort. You have posted some great suggestions to deal with it. Mixing with the big world around us and soaking in new ideas and realizations is the only way to open our minds to it.
January 20th, 2011 at 9:36 PM
ah . i was just having this conversation on other blog. like crictics cant get their commment pass moderation . Some bloggers just dont allows criticism againt them and their writing/blog. Though i agree that accepting such comments may not be possible all the time , but if it points out a mistake , you can always work to fix it . I think that fulfills the sole purpose of the comment
Sourish
January 28th, 2011 at 8:13 PM
Hmmm, Mike, I am being alone man and not having social circle, still feels I have open mind. I think it helps me to concentrate and do what I feel from inside. Though your article seems to be having good points to go with too.
January 28th, 2011 at 8:58 PM
Being open minded is acceptance. We have a freedom of speech but you can not please everybody..great post!
February 4th, 2011 at 12:19 PM
To ave an open mind we really need to have some new experiences and a change in lifestyle too. This is an excellent post, with some good points to be taken care of. I believe with an open mind the efficiency of our work even increases.
February 7th, 2011 at 1:12 PM
This is the first article I really like from the list of The Top 50 Productivity Blogs.
And YES, open mind means you won’t lock yourself in any kind of system religious or scientific, doesn’t matter.
June 8th, 2011 at 5:31 AM
This may sound cliche but all the points you explore in this article can be found in the movie ‘yes man’ -ok , a chick flick but still very inspiring
June 9th, 2011 at 12:43 PM
I think you have it right with expand your social circle, that is a great point. Sometimes with that comes trying new things, even if it means pushing you out of your comfort zone.
September 6th, 2011 at 3:22 AM
Fantastic read..
February 27th, 2012 at 12:15 AM
i absolutely love the things i read on this page.. and i thank everyone that said anything on here.. opening our minds is ultimately the key to living a happy, fulfilling life.. we came into this world not knowing what anything was. we got fears from the people we looked up to as well as that we BELIEVE to be the “correct” way of everything.. i personally chose not to call what i think, “beliefs”.. i prefer to call them “ideas”.. who knows, we could all be right or we could all be wrong.. whos to say? what if we were all right tho? what if what each one of you believes is true for YOU? why not? when it comes to the discussion of beliefs, i enjoy it.. i love to hear how different everyone thinks and i bring on the chance for others to challenge my ideas or vise versa.. you never know, you might hear something that makes more sense or fits to YOU.. the truth of the matter is not a one of us will ever be able to say we are right or wrong until we take our last breath, but having those beliefs or ideas forms how we live our lives.. if we can accept that as we have grown, what we think has changed and can continue to do so throughout our entire lives, then maybe we would be able to accept that taking a risk, facing a fear, Leaping without looking, and trusting that it IS possible for all to work out better then we couldn’t EVER imagined, MIGHT prove to be the most rewarding.. it is until we realize that our time here is limited, that we will truly begin to live.. now as far as the getting a huge social circle or not, in my opinion, that doesn’t matter either way.. you have to get to know yourself and accept who you are, EVERYTHING included. ESPECIALLY when you’re by yourself.. now, to close oneself off from the world i cant think of anything healthy about THAT.. its always good to reach out and have someone to interact with.. but i don’t think it would be worse to only have 10 people you actually hang out with as oppose to 50.. There is a lot of things that we have no control of.. in fact the ONLY thing we DO have control of is ourselves.. your mind is a powerful thing and is capable of anything as long as you realize that mind you have control of is ALL of YOU.. your ideas, your feelings, your hopes, your fears.. all the way to the every movement we make…
all JUST my opinion.. take what you will, leave what you want.. not a one of us are the same.. thank you again for this page and the opportunity to let other people hear my opinion as well as me theirs..
May 23rd, 2012 at 1:33 PM
What i find most interesting about this article is the idea that open mindedness is more associated with those who have beliefs.. as a conservative i have listened to the so called open mindedness debate over the last 15 or so years since i have been paying attention and although this article does give a practical definition of open mindedness, the application of it in real life is pretty much the oposite. like many concepts the idea of open mindedness has been used as a tool to shut down debate and dialogue and generally means that if you have formed an opinion then you don’t have an open mind.. even if your opinion is a result of years of listening to others open minded opinions.. in short.. “if you don’t believe what i believe then you don’t have an open mind.. and i’m not going to listen to your opinion because you are wrong” is essentially how the argument goes.. i have found in my postings on social blogs that asking a question is the best way to make ‘open minded’ people go away.. in reality idealism wins out over open mindedness and debate any day.. and people generally don’t want to think about the hard questions or answer them because (i think) maybe they won’t be accepted in their social circle anymore.