Radical Open-mindedness

One pattern I have noticed in the successful people I know: they are either lucky to have parents or mentors in their life that can give them a blueprint on how to live a fulfilling life, or they are radically open-minded. (It doesn’t hurt to have both, too.)

When you do not have parents or mentors that can guide you, radical open-mindedness is a necessary condition to achieve success. Most likely, if you do not come from a privileged background you will notice mediocrity is normalized, for better or worse. Peers and family members that are bitter about their own unfulfilled dreams will echo their negativity to you: you’re dreaming too big, you can’t do it all, you need to slow down. Why does open-mindedness matter then? The strongest poison of all that I’ve seen is the unwillingness to change. As a child I would always receive unsolicited comments that I was always going to be skinny, or always going to be shy, or always going to be an engineer. Traditional and conservative mindsets refuse to believe in change because they view it as dangerous. Again, this is not so problematic if the culture you grow up in is already rooted in success and abundance. But in other cases, to break out of your existing situation you must first believe that an alternative reality is possible.

I think you also have to be radical simply because that is how you will be perceived. When I first told my parents that I was going to do a PhD, I came off as radical to them. When I told my friends that I was going to workout every single day no matter the circumstances, I was also viewed as radical. This definition is subjective; exercising everyday would not be viewed as radical if I grew up in an environment where everyone around me was health-conscious and in excellent shape. But in other circles you will be viewed as crazy, and you have to be okay with that. You have to believe that a better life is possible, proclaim it out loud, listen to everyone calling you crazy, and be okay with all of it. It may seem damning in the moment, but if you commit to the path then you will eventually reach a point where you can say you were right all along.