In last week’s post Who Are Your Surrounding Yourself With I share the quote from John Wooden, “Whatever you do in life surround yourself with smart people who will argue with you.” and suggested you need to have ongoing dialogue, debate and discussion regarding your training and thinking.
The other critical element of that is that you have to be willing to open your mind to new ideas, new information and new ways of delivering training. One of the books I have heard about for years, and only recently got around to reading is Mastery by Robert Greene. It is now on my recommended reading list. Take a moment and read the following excerpt from the book:
“What prevents people from learning, even something as difficult as Pirahã, is not the subject itself—the human mind has limitless capabilities—but rather certain learning disabilities that tend to fester and grow in our minds as we get older. These include a sense of smugness and superiority whenever we encounter something alien to our ways, as well as rigid ideas about what is real or true, often indoctrinated in us by schooling or family. If we feel like we know something, our minds close off to other possibilities. We see reflections of the truth we have already assumed. Such feelings of superiority are often unconscious and stem from a fear of what is different or unknown. We are rarely aware of this, and often imagine ourselves to be paragons of impartiality.”
As much as we all like to think of ourselves as “Paragons of impartiality”, there are times when we all suffer from the learning disabilities of smugness, superiority, rigid ideas, fear of the unknown and a closed mind. When we suffer from these we will dig in and argue our position, even in the face of contradictory evidence, defeating the whole purpose of the dialogue, debate, discussion and value that stems from surrounding our with smart people who are willing to argue with us.
Take the time to reflect on your life. Honestly evaluate your attitudes, fears and assumptions and seek to uncover, then eliminate any of the Learning Disabilities described by Robert Greene in that passage from Mastery.
Joining The Excellence in Training Academy is a great way to continually expose yourself to new ideas and information. It will be a great investment in your development and will pay huge dividends in your development, if you allow it. If you are willing to invest in your growth and development then go to www.excellenceintrainingacademy.com and use the code eitblog to get the first month’s membership free.
Take care.
Brian Willis
Winning Mind Training – Dedicated to helping good trainers become great trainers and great trainers to deliver awesome training.
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