How to Expand Your Mind to See More Possibilities For Your Life - Think Deep

How to Expand Your Mind to See More Possibilities For Your Life

It’s really easy for people to develop a certain way of looking at things that slowly gets solidified due to the routine of life. It just happens without us knowing it. But sporadically, people will find instances where their mind expands to see more possibilities of what could be for their lives.

More possibilities to meet new people, make more money, discover new paths, etc. That kind of ability, of seeing more of what could be, despite the current situation is so useful, especially when it comes to adapting to change. You start to get excited at the possibilities that can ensue in all areas of your life.

So how do we expand our minds to see those possibilities?

One of the easiest ways is to talk deeply with other people, especially those older than us. They have a way of “framing” things that younger people will never see due to their lack of experience. They’ll be able to show you the “shades” of gray, so to speak, on many issues you might have questions on.

Start the small talk but then dive right into the goods – what they think about life so far, what kinds of things made them the person they are today, regrets they had, experiences they’ll never forget etc.

Obviously exercise some tact here and feel the person out to see if they’re comfortable talking that deeply with you but what you’ll find most often is that people are more than willing to do so. They’re tired of the same shallow conversation everyday and want to talk about something that has much more “meat”. It’s not everyday that a person will ask them profound questions about their life that can provide fodder for the listener in terms of seeing things in new and different ways that can trigger other ways of looking at those same things in their own minds.

People are one of the best sources to help expand your mind simply because everybody has led totally different lives, have had totally different upbringings, experiences, beliefs and can show you different viewpoints on life and other angles on certain subjects that allows you to see more than meets the eye which allows you to see how that can apply in your own life to see more possibilities.

“Drinking deeply” from great books, as John Wooden so eloquently stated is the second best way to expand your mind to see more possibilities for your life. For whatever area you want a larger perspective on, read great books on it. Asking an older person about the specific issue is the best way and reading is the second best way as it’s a one sided conversation whereas talking to someone allows you to ask questions, get clarification, and allows you to guide the conversation as you see fit.

You might agree with some of what other people and books have to say and you might also disagree. I’m not saying fill everything they tell you into your head. It’s important to able to stop and “filter” everything to decide whether or not to accept or reject it.

The second thing to do is every now and then, start questioning your beliefs about the issues you want a larger perspective on. It’s a scary thing to do because by examining them, one may think they’re risking the fact that they could’ve been living according to false beliefs and if they had, the realization could be devastating.

But on the other hand, what you may find is that some of the beliefs you’ve had may have been holding you back.

The issue of money is a perfect example of a belief that many people should question every now and then.

Start a discussion about money with a group of people and you’ll no doubt see a heated exchange among them. It’s such an emotional subject.

People have had different beliefs about money instilled in them by their parents, church, friends, family, etc. that they carry on into adulthood, without questioning them to see if it’s affecting them now.

For example, some may have been raised to believe that getting rich is evil and that having a lot of money means that you’re greedy.

Is that really the case?

Obviously, arguments can be made for both sides so it’s prudent to take a deeper look at examining that belief to see if it holds true.

If you find that belief to be limiting, you can remove that belief and in doing so, “expand” your mind. You’ll feel that “weight” of guilt of making more money lifted off your shoulders and you’ll feel free to expand your mind to see more possibilities of making more money.

By questioning your beliefs and tearing them down if you find them limiting, you expand your mind to find more possibilities that those beliefs would never have allowed you to do in the first place.

Conversely, if you question your beliefs and find them rock solid after careful analysis, you expand your mind and see more possibilities because now you know where the boundaries lie so instead of looking outside those beliefs, you can look further in, and see the possibilities that lie there.

The last thing to do in order to expand your mind, and it’s something that I think everyone should do, is simply to get in the habit of daydreaming. As adults, there seems to be a social stigma to daydreaming as it’s usually associated with childish behavior, that the proper “adult” thing to do is go back and live and deal with the “real world”, but that can be a limiting belief as well if you think about it.

Daydreaming is exercise for the creative part of your mind, the part that allows you to see more than what could be in your life. There’s nothing like setting aside a good 10-15 minutes a day, just dreaming of what could be, irrelevant of what “real life” dictates.

Let your imagination soar. Imagine the life you want to live. Never mind the things you need to do to get there. Just dream because the great thing about daydreaming is that there are no limits. It’s easy to let your mind roam free.

In the end, you’ll find that expanding your mind to see more possibilities is not an exact “linear” science.

It’s more of a combination of things that you experience in terms of talking with others, learning from books, questioning your beliefs, daydreaming of what could be on a certain area of your life and all that simmers and interacts with one another to create a fine catalyst in your mind that can push the boundaries of it, to stoke your creative juices to show you possibilities of what could be and more importantly, later on in the future, the steps and opportunities you can take to bring it into your reality.

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