Pizza and Personal Growth

 

The first time I ever saw a Pizza in my life, I was like 'You want me to eat that?", Come On...It looks like someone vomited on a piece of dough..that is disgusting !

No - this isn't another post about judging a book by its cover, it is about the idea of 'mindset', and the ability to change it.

I was so sure - without tasting it - that the pizza had to be disgusting, I put my foot down 'NO WAY - AM I EATING THAT THING!!'.  Of course this came with the age old parent adage 'Try it..you'll never know if you like it until you try it'.

But I was sure, I would not "like it", and my mind was made up - It wasn't going to happen, no way - 'No Way - Nuh Uh'

Growth requires the possibility of admitting, just maybe, perhaps - You could be wrong.

Influence is what happens when we slow down - push aside our own mindset, listen to another perspective and think (even for a microsecond) - you know what - maybe you are right!

..and in the heat of the moment,  whether full of negative emotions or just 100% positive we cannot possibly be wrong - We close our minds to possibility and put a 'STOP' on any possibility of growth

Stubbornness

Contrary to popular belief -  to fully hold true to your beliefs, and your values is not accomplished by being stubborn and close minded.  To hold a value, that value must pass the 'test' of what makes it true, and it must continue to pass that test  every time it is presented with new information.

Scientifically, speaking we should throw out our hypothesis once our experiment (or logic) has proven it to be false. Far too often even in the face of outstanding evidence we hold steadfast to our belief, and resist change. As children this takes the form of stamping our feet, yelling "It's not fair", running to our rooms and slamming the door, but as adults we do not fair much better, we blame the boss, the job, the spouse, anything and everyone rather then admit - 'I could be wrong?'

Being Wrong

What would it mean if you were wrong?  What other ways can you look at the situation? Perhaps it is not so binary, perhaps you can modify your thinking, not completely rejecting your belief, but at least be somewhat open to its modification?

It has always bothered me when someone feels so 'right' about something they need to 'force' me to believe it too.  Or state it like it is so 'obvious' that it is true "everyone knows that". What if the answer instead was "Hmmm, I  never thought about it that way before?"

Influencing Others

And the most interesting thing of all, is that you will fail to influence by threat or intimidation, you will fail to change someone's mindset with authority. You can only truly influence another person, when you are open first to being influenced by that person.  This means listening, learning, and sharing.  Only once the 'other' person feels heard, feels that you understand their point of view, will they be open to influence by you..and this may not be immediate, it takes time and patience, mutual respect and trust.

So I challenge you the next time you stop and pick up a slice of pizza..ask yourself,  what  'else' you could be wrong about.

For further reading - this post has been inspired by: Mark Manson's Blog  Article - Why I'm wrong about Everything  (and so are you)