Openness and Learning Mindset

Openness and a learning mindset are skills that allow our relationship with ourselves to continuously grow and adapt. I believe that this growth and adaptation is what leads to progress! But what do these traits truly mean and how can we put them into actionable habits?

Openness means being receptive to new things without judgement or fear. So this can involve examining and accepting our own wants, thoughts, and emotions, as well as listening to and exploring new external ideas without allowing pre-existing judgements or beliefs to interfere. This could be made actionable with mindfulness so we reflect on our own thoughts, feelings and beliefs to recognize automatic judgements of either internal or external ideas and learning not to let them affect our choices too much.

A learning mindset means looking for new knowledge and perspectives and applying them to our own lives. This can be done through curiosity which can be made actionable with questions. 

I really like these skills because it essentially comes down to being accepting and curious. 

Personally, one way I've been nurturing my learning mindset is through engaging with this platform which constantly gives me loads of different perspectives and ideas to think about! Another habit of mine is reading the local news including opinion pieces and following up on some of the stories - not only do I usually learn something new and get a different perspective but I also get to feel more connected with my community :) 

How do you promote a learning mindset in your life, both in big and small ways?