Keep an Open Mind – Part 2
June 1, 2010 by Mike Hingson
The Road to National and Personal “Recovery”
The need for keeping an open mind is evident in every area of our lives, whether related to medical breakthroughs, national healthcare, economic recovery and our personal qualify of life. For example, as our nation is reportedly emerging from the economic recession which touched us all, has our response resulted in any substantive change? Even as the government is proposing widespread reforms, we have yet to hear leadership within the banking system taking any responsibility for the problems. Nor are we seeing evidence that the banking industry is willing to open up small business lending. Without a change in mindset within the banking industry, new regulations will likely fail to initiate policies which could foster the creation of new small businesses, creating jobs and generating profits that return to the community.
Self-assessment should be a part of our everyday lives, not just corporately, but individually. “Did I do the best job here?” “How could I have handled that conversation better?” “How can I better teach my kids so they will grow up to be the kind of adults that any parent can admire?” Truly looking at one’s actions is hard to do. There is a reason why we are our own worst critic. Nevertheless, taking a minute or two several times a day to examine what we are doing and how we are doing it with an eye toward finding ways to improve will lead us towards becoming better workers, better family members, better friends, and better people. The process starts with an open mind and a willingness to learn.
The enemy of growth and progress is a rigid belief structure that allows no room to learn from others or even ourselves. As a suggestion, start each morning by asking “what can I do differently to improve myself today?” Before going to bed at night ask what did I do differently to improve myself today?” The very act of asking these questions will set you on a course towards progress. As you genuinely look for answers, you may be pleasantly surprised.
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