The #1 Way To Stop Your Learning, Growth And Progress
The #1 Way To Stop Your Learning, Growth And Progress
The number one thing that kills growth, development, advancement is having to be right or dying to be right. You can blame others like 'he's so bad or she's so bad', but they always have to be right or they think they're always right. We all do this to some degree and we really need to be careful of it. It's a function of our brain. Our brain will vehemently protect what we believe and the things we believe know to be true, whether they're true or false. That's why wars or battles happen or disagreements fights, happen. So be careful about having to be right. I've developed a mentality to always be open. I am confident in what I do but if someone says something else, I will be curious and will consider it. I will do some research for that and be careful because your eyes will only see what it is your brain is looking for and that's because of our unconscious filters or how our brain works. So we'll often see things through a certain lens or certain glasses or a certain view when maybe things are different. So next time someone says something or a piece of news comes out for against what you know to be true or believe, consider it and do some research. Be open to other people's ideas and suggestions and even if you don't agree with them 100%, you can learn something. How we shut down all learning is by being right or having to be right.
I am reminded of a video where a little girl saw her mom peeling what she thought were apples and they were onions and so she insisted to have an apple and the mom said, "sweetie, these are onions". The daughter is like no, "I want an apple" and the mom is like, "they're onions". Then her mom said, "okay go ahead take one" and so the little girl, when she smelled it and bit into it at first, her eyes started tearing. She knew she was wrong, however she kept eating it and the video was hilarious. She kept eating the onion because she had to be right and she couldn't admit she was wrong. So be careful about having to be right and dying to be right and avoid being a know-it-all, especially if you've had a lot of schooling or you're an expert or a leader or a teacher, trainer, mentor, manager or leader. Be confident in what you believe and what you teach and be open, so you can learn new things. When you become open, you may learn something from someone else even if you don't agree with it.
Always be open and keep on learning and be curious. That's a metaphor for the rest of your life - Be curious and be open and you'll always be growing and learning.