I’m currently reading Adam Grant’s book Think Again and it’s such an eye-opener. He talks about mental fitness and the value in being able to pivot our thinking. He says that often we have a belief and when we speak of it, we become a preacher, a prosecutor, or a politician. He writes, “We go into preacher mode when our sacred beliefs are in jeopardy: we deliver sermons to protect and promote our ideals. We enter prosecutor mode when we recognize flaws in other people’s reasoning: we marshal arguments to prove them wrong and win our case. We shift into politician mode when we’re seeking to win over an audience: we campaign and lobby for the approval of our constituents. The risk is that we become so wrapped up in preaching that we’re right, prosecuting others who are wrong, and politicking for support that we don’t bother to rethink our views.”
He mentions that the people who really make change, think with a scientific mindset. He said, “Biological scientists discovered penicillin. Rocket scientists sent us to the moon. Computer scientists built the internet.”
Because they were constantly thinking about the other side. Trying to prove their hypothesis wrong rather than confirming it is right.
This is the only way to learn and grow and replenish ourselves. If we look for things to confirm what we believe, we will find them. If we look for other angles to the story, we will find those too.
We have had to rethink everything we knew to be true over the past year. How we work, how our kids learn, how we move about our daily lives, how we stay healthy, how we remain connected, how we fuel our souls. It was a forced rethink, but we did it. How can we look at the future with open eyes, listen for fresh ideas, and implement new habits that will change our perspective and therefore the way our days unfold?
The older I get, I realize the more I know, the less I know. My goals are lifelong learning and never being the smartest person in the room. And with that path in mind, I end up finding countless opportunities to rethink what I thought I knew for sure on a daily basis.