We live in an ever-changing world where we are continuously bombarded with different attitudes, beliefs, and perspectives of people. Being exposed to all these other ideas, beliefs, and perspectives, we learn to approach challenges and possibilities differently. This happens only if we start embracing a broad perspective and are willing to accept these new outlooks on life. Being a broad thinker plays a vital role in approaching a problem effectively or making a strong decision.

Narrow thinkers are adamant about their beliefs and perspectives and are not willing to accept others’ opinions on different matters of life whereas broad thinkers think holistically and can look beyond the immediate effect of a solution or decisions they have come up with. Embracing a broad perspective, helps a person think strategically and stretches the boundaries of your thinking and also brings new insights. Here, are the few steps to be a broad thinker: 

STEPS TO DEVELOP A BROAD PERSPECTIVE:

1. Take Challenges

We love our comfort zone and most of us are unwilling to get out of it. Meeting new people and gaining new insights is not possible when we keep our circle the same. It is not possible when we are resistant to change and challenges. Hence, getting out of our comfort zone and taking a step towards learning helps broaden our knowledge and thinking as a whole.

2. Learn to Question

Often in life, we do things only because we see someone else doing it or it is generally accepted in our surroundings . Remember, the curiosity we had as children where we needed to know the reasons behind everything? Well, the curiosity in us is dead now. As a child, we learned different things because we used to question things. Now too, questioning things helps bring in new ideas and opinions and as a whole helps broaden our horizon of thoughts.

3. Listen

We listen just to speak and give our input. We rarely try to understand the people we are talking with and their perspectives. So, we should listen to understand rather than talk. Active listening widens your perspective and also helps you have a greater understanding of things and people.

4. Podcasts and Books

We are just one click away from an ocean of knowledge. In one click, we get access to pdfs of different books and insightful podcasts. These resources consist of a wide range of people with wide ranges of knowledge and beliefs in different aspects of life. It helps us see that different people in the world have different outlooks on the very same subject. Accepting these outlooks even though it doesn’t match your view of the world helps you be a broad-minded person as it is basically accepting that not everyone thinks or has to think like you.

5. Be Empathetic

5. Be empathetic: Imagining yourself in other’s shoes and then seeing from their perspective is what being empathetic means. Being empathetic helps you see beyond yourself and see from a broader perspective. It teaches you to not be self-centered or only see from one perspective. It pushes you to see from multiple perspectives before you reach a decision.

6. Patience

A journey from being a narrow thinker to a broad thinker isn’t a one-day process. It requires a lot of patience and discipline. You need to learn from all the mistakes you make and also have consciousness of your thoughts. Slowly, you will naturally start to have a broad perspective and then unconsciously start accepting change, challenges and finally be a broad thinker.

After having a broad perspective you will truly learn to be open-minded, have a tolerance for ambiguity, and can think from multiple perspectives when facing a challenge or coming to a decision.  You will have an advantage over others while facing a challenge or taking a decision because you are now someone embracing broad perspectives.

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