Having an open mind takes work. It means you have to listen and learn… versus listen and argue! Too often, whether at work or at home when in a conversation, we tend to “listen” but our mind is focused on our response. We listen to respond. When what we should be doing is listening to learn. We should focus on what the other(s) in the conversation are saying and learn from what they are saying… truly listening to learn… versus focusing on how we will respond or give our opinion or a question you think you need to ask…
We need to learn to listen to learn… that will allow us to understand what the other person is saying and their insights, beliefs and reasoning for saying what they are saying. It is only by listening, learning and understanding that we can truly open our mind to new or different ideas.
Oh… and one other thing… remember it is very hard to keep on open mind with an open mouth!!! (Something I need to remember too… )
If we fail to listen to learn and keep talking instead of listening, we will never be able to have an open mind on anything.
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