How to keep your mind open for new ideas and for discovering blind spots

While there's a logical argument for selecting books or methods that match with your beliefs and ideas about cause and effect, there is also the risk of becoming blind for anything outside of your frame of reference.

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There is a saying in self-development circles that "today's epiphany is tomorrow's obstacle". It means that something that helped you in an earlier stage of your development, may not help you in your next stage. It's like when crossing a river with a boat and keep dragging the boat behind us when we come ashore.

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Especially when the results of our self-development efforts are not what we expected, we should look at our mental model with an open mind. One or more of our most cherished beliefs might be incorrect. It could even be a core belief that bring down the entire house of cards (our other beliefs). Just know that it's very common for your first version(s) of your explicit mental model to contain elements that turn out to be false. We might even reframe our efforts as a way to find and eliminate those errors. Then finding one becomes a moment to celebrate.

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When practicing an open mind, make sure you do it deliberately on a particular level in your hierarchy of beliefs. For example, if you believe in a God, don't just try out techniques that align with an atheist worldview. It will only create inner conflict. Instead, if your goal is to test your idea of a God, read books about the atheist worldview. Should this change your mind, then you can still try those atheist techniques. But if you don't want to challenge your entire worldview and simply want to try new techniques, choose them from among the ones that align with your current worldview.

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Here is a practical tip for practicing an open mind:

Write down a list of things you know for sure to be true. Then, for ten days, pick out one item you're most sure about and write down why you are sure. See if there is any assumption involved and write down why you assume it's correct. Then, turn it around and assume the assumption is incorrect. Take a moment to think about what it would imply and how that makes you feel. After those ten days, make an honest assessment of your beliefs. If you feel any doubt about any of them, be brave and research them further.

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