Mindset is tremendously important in relation to your Journey of Excellence. Have a closed mindset and you may never move forward. Have an open mind and your journey may go unhindered. Take a moment to consider whether your mind is open or closed when it comes to excellence.

A closed mind is like a closed door, not only can it negatively impact your journey, but it may also set you in a backwards trajectory. That is why you must evaluate your mindset as you pursue excellence. Open your mind to an opposing worldview to your own. This may sound counter productive at first but consider the current social dilemma.

The Social Dilemma tells us that when we engage in free online services like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, WE are the product. This means that every like and comment, as well as the amount of time we spend on pages, influences what we see in our newsfeeds. That mindset reinforces what we already want to see, which further entrenches us in our biases and prejudices. We need to break out of this cycle and suspend judgment. We need to see things from others' points of view.

Consider this: if you are consistently surrounded by like-mindedness, with no opposing views, you may begin to believe that your view is the only view or by default, the correct view. Without opposition to challenge your perspective, you may never understand why you think, act, and believe a certain way. It also means that your defense of your worldview will be non-existent due to its never being tested. By not exploring oppositional beliefs you may hinder your own journey of excellence when you hit the wall of a challenging belief. In the journey of excellence, open mindedness doesn’t mean accepting every opposing view, but it does mean being exposed to different views than your own.

Action Steps

• Schedule lunch with a detractor. Listen to their point of view and mindfully share your own position. Bonus points if this is someone that you already know and can safely share your beliefs with them.
• Read material from an author with whom you disagree. This could be a book, a news source, a blog post, or another form of content that challenges your worldview and helps you to see another perspective.
• Suspend judgment. It’s easy to judge the opposition based on the idea that our view is the only right one. However, if you search for truth in what another person is saying without first judging their thoughts, you may find common ground.
• Keep an open mind. Your perspective may grow and change as you pursue your journey of excellence. By keeping an open mind, you allow excellence to develop smoothly and organically rather than fighting your way through the process. 

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