Someone pointed out to me recently, that I get very excited around new ideas & perspectives. I humbly thanked them for the insight, having never really thought about this. And if it is true, then more importantly the question to answer is why?
Reflecting on this insight made me think of many instances where being exposed to new ideas and perspectives led me to new revelations and learnings. Not only about my business but objectively exposing the flaws in my own thinking.
One of the benefits of aging, is that you become witness to your own evolution in the way you think and the things you value. For me, it is what makes life exciting. That things do change. My perspectives do expand. The journey on new paths exposes more things that I need to learn.
I now value, more than ever, diversity in thought. Being exposed to a higher density of different ideas and perspectives always creates a creative stress that needs to be resolved towards a new understanding or better approach/outcome. I find this is the environment where I do my best work. When more ideas and perspectives challenge my existing thoughts and beliefs showing me a door to a different and much fuller possible future.
But where can you find this fertile ground of more ideas and perspectives? Watching Youtube videos or listening to podcasts around subjects that either interest you or ones that you are curious about. Reaching out to people who have different skills, broader experiences, and lives that you aspire to.
Taking the time to embrace the persons around you and listening to what they say before jumping to your next hurried response. Or simply saying hello to someone you don’t know. Asking them, simply, what they find interesting in their lives.
Above all, opening yourself up to the possibility that there are so many more things that we don’t know than what we know. Understanding deeply, it’s always the things that we don’t know, that keep us from reaching our full potential.