An open mind is a free mind. It is not chained with the fretters of prejudice, egoism or self-aggrandizement. It helps you to understand others and know more about others. Happiness and satisfaction will be the outcome if you have an open mind. However, things will go awry for you if you have a mind which is closed in the sense that it fails to take anything externally. An open mind tries to make efforts to learn about others to make oneself attune to the situation and lifestyle of others.
We need to have an open mind and stop judging people without any reason. Be judgmental but do not be critical of someone to the point of being obnoxious.
For an open mind, you need to change your take on life. You have to do away with your obstinacy regarding your thoughts. If you want to have an open mind, you need to accept others and try to understand things from a different angle instead of pulling faces when others express their views. Given below are the pointers that will help you to keep an open mind:
#1. Connect With New People
Connecting with new people lend you a new perspective. You should make new friends. Be sociable and be in touch with people. You meet all kinds of people in life from different backgrounds, try to learn something from everyone. Everyone is different and it is worthwhile to spend time with others and become aware of things that we have no idea about. You will get to try different things in life if you meet new people.
A whole plate of varied interests and personalities will open your mind to new possibilities and opportunities. When you meet the same set of people time and again, you have nothing to learn as such. You discuss same things and there is no learning involved in the process. Therefore, go out and meet people and make new friends.
#2. Ask Questions
At times, we keep our doubts to ourselves. We take our doubts for granted. In order have an open mind, we need to ask questions. If you ask questions regarding something to people, you show your curiosity to people about learning something. You want to hone your skills if you are interested in getting to the bottom of things. Some of us remain satisfied with what is offered to us without any questioning or probing, please don’t do that.
A better understanding comes only from asking questions, so ditch your reticence and have the fortitude to ask questions from people whenever you are in a quandary. This will help you in knowing things in a better way. Also, it increases your confidence.
#3. Do Not Form Opinions
Assuming things on your own is no less than a sin. When we form opinions on people without even knowing the intricacies and truth of the matter, we exhibit our shallowness and narrow-mindedness. If you form opinions about someone, you give others the chance to abhor. People begin to dislike you if you create your viewpoints without having a scintilla of an idea about them. Moreover, doing this is lowly.
No one-minded person cooks up stories or forms views on others. Without anything substantial in hand, you cannot think of someone in a particular manner that suits you the most. Therefore, stay away from making unnecessary comments or opinions on anyone if you want to keep an open mind.
#4. Travel
With traveling comes the experience. When you travel alone or with friends, you are exposed to a new world. You get to visit various places and know various people. They can broaden your horizons. Also, experiences teach you a lot. You can learn so much from traveling. For example, if you go to a hill-station, you get au fait with people, their climate, their lifestyle and their habits. You become aware of their difficulties as well. You connect to them on one level or the other after visiting that place and having a conversation with them.
Therefore, travel and get to know the world and see it with your own eyes.
#5. Read A Lot
Reading is something which must be encouraged in everyone and by everyone. Reading takes you to new heights. It stimulates you intellectually. Read five books in a month, and you will notice significant changes in you. A whole new perspective emanates out of your reading. When you read a lot, you become open-minded. Read anything but do read. Start with things that interest you. Do not pressurize yourself and go slowly and gradually.
Reading exposes you to different characters, different narratives, various situations and unusual events. You naturally get cognizant of things which you do not get to face in real life. However, you are sure to benefit a lot as it becomes relevant at some point in life. Ask others as well to read. Discuss things with people after reading a book. Conversations concerning what you read is really esoteric and adds quite a punch to your life and relationship with people.
#6. Put Yourself In New Situations
The new events in life test you, they make you better and sharper. What if you get into a new situation without any knowledge? You would certainly feel trapped. So try adjusting to different situations and come out of your comfort zone. It is good to feel like a fish out of water, at times. It prepares you for your future and unseen and unpredictable events which can greet you anytime in life.
#7. List Your Beliefs And Reflect On Them
All you need to do is make a list of your notions and ideas and reflect on them. Once you know what views you hold, you can see what kind of a person you are. If you are reluctant in accepting others’ beliefs and systems and culture, you need to change yourself and become a little mellower so that you can discuss with people about their beliefs and thoughts.
Every person has a different set of beliefs; it need not be in cahoots with yours. So you need to accept others as they are. Do not try to change someone according to you.
#8. Appreciate Beauty Around You
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, they say. Appreciate beauty around you, be it arts or natural beauty. Appreciate aesthetics around you and be an admirer. Nothing can teach you better than the environment itself. Do not fail to acknowledge the pulchritude of Mother Nature around you. Draw something after having been inspired by life. Think about the mysteries of life, take some time out of your life and ponder on the enigmatic nature of life.
#9. Learn About People
Know about different communities and the people. You can browse about people and different cultures. When you look at people’s lifestyles, their habits, background, culture, and heritage, you get familiar with something foreign to you. Therefore, don’t sit idle if you want to keep an open mind. Always be curious and eager to learn about different things going in the world.
#10. Be Curious To Learn About Different Cultures
Some people who are narrow-minded and have parochial attitudes are not at all concerned with what other feels, say or think. They have nothing to do with others’ lifestyle and thoughts. This is very wrong. However, if you want yourself to be an open-minded person, you need to arouse the curiosity within you. You won’t be learning anything until you are eager about something.
#11. Learn Or Do Something Innovative
Take up some activity which is entirely new to you. You can join any book club or painting club, for instance. Do anything new as it opens your mind to many things. You can surf the Internet and know more about things of your interest. You can watch videos on YouTube in your free time and learn to dance or play an instrument.
#12. Improve Your Literacy
You should improve your literacy in that you get to know more about things and it makes you more intelligent. People will like you if you are different and know different things that they are not aware of. To keep an open mind, you can join any classes, say yoga, music or painting. You can learn some new language as well if you get a kick out of languages.
When you learn novel things, it makes you new, and your entire personality undergoes a sea change. You are transformed. Strange how you remain the same and change every day bit by bit! We do change when we introduce certain changes in our life. It makes us more liberal and we start accepting things without any hiccups in general.
Hope you guys liked the article! Do you have views on how to keep an open mind? Please share your opinions with us in the comments section. We would love to hear from you!.
24 Opinions
5 Opinions
To keep an open mind, one needs to be free from any biasness. If you want to have an open mind, you have to away with all sorts of nepotism and prejudices. You do not have to color others’ opinion with yours. You should not intend to rub your views on anyone else. It is utterly wrong. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion and we cannot take their prerogatives from the. It is absurd to demean someone on the basis of their viewpoints or thoughts they hold. One should think about others views as well. You should make decision on the basis of your taste, choice, preference and convenience. It is important to consider the decisions and views of other people too. In addition, you should read a lot. Reading certainly gives you an edge over others. You become intellectually strong and your thinking skills are polished with reading. With reading comes a new perspective towards life. You get a whole new lens through which you perceive the world. An open-minded person can accept others and understand them as he can connect with them. If you are an open-minded person, you will try to relate your stance with the others so that a solution can be thought off after considering two opinions. Showing superiority and considering yourself above others takes you one step behind everyone. If you want to view things and make full use of possibilities and opportunities, you ought to deal with the things others do and say. I am a literature student. Reading literature has changed me , out and out. I find myself sui generis in my company of friends. They fail to connect with people and hence they do not associate with them like the way I do. Also, travel a lot. You can meet new people and learn new things which might help you a great deal in life. When you meet new people, you get to know their take on things in life and you can see the patterns of thinking and behavior among people. You have to keep yourself open to possibilities in life so
that you can bring in desired changes whenever need be and change or alter things that require improvement. Moreover, you should be eager. Literature makes you curious. There are certain phrases and references that you have to take help from the outside. It means you will have browse things. It increases your knowledge and turns you into an eager-beaver. Because of the fact that there are many things which cannot be understood without any sort of help, we seek help from Google to know things. It kindles curiosity in us which makes us hungry for more and more. We crave for more information and culture and habits of different people from different countries. They teach us a lot – I mean the experiences of various people. You become aware of different languages and behavior. You get acquainted with new stuff. We need to make ourselves more flexible so that we can handle any situation