LIFELONG LEARNING
Changing Your Mind Is a Sign of Adaptability, Not Weakness
Even if you don’t feel it right away, your brain is evolving as you’re reading this sentence.
Changing your mind means gradually letting go of your old beliefs that don’t serve your life purpose anymore.
It isn’t easy because our beliefs are what give us faith in our actions.
We are lifelong learners by default.
Before I came across the science of neuroplasticity, I thought that the human brain stops developing as we enter adulthood in our early 20s.
It turns out; the brain never stops changing. Your brain is evolving as you’re reading right now.
Neuroplasticity says these two processes are going lifelong in your brain:
- Synapse pruning: breaking old neural networks. For example, when you successfully quit a bad habit like smoking.
- Synapse generation: the creation of new neural networks. It happens when you successfully develop a new habit like daily exercise.
The path of least resistance.
We’re cerebral creatures. It means if we fail to calm our mind in an unexpected situation that takes us by surprise, our mind follows the path of least resistance.
Why? Because the path of least resistance already has the neural pathways in place.
For example, cutting a call where you’re losing a conversation. It’s so easy; even a cat can do it. One more example is being lazy even when you should be in action mode.
Changing your mind means you’re adaptable.
We gather knowledge, we make mistakes and we move on.
Changing your mind is a sign of humility because it tells us we’re all learners since coming into this world.
We learn about topics that make us better people.
When we keep the learner switch on, changing our minds won’t feel like a daunting task because a learner mindset accepts that we’re not omniscient creatures.
We gather knowledge, we make mistakes, and we move on.
Moving on becomes complicated, primarily when we dwell on the past and believe every idea comes into our heads.
When we become an observer of our thoughts instead of succumbing to them, we’ll be better at managing every idea that our brain generates.
Final words
In the last few minutes, you’ve seen me mention the phrase “changing your mind” so frequently that I’m ready for all the bashing I’m about to get in the comments section.
But to back my claim and show that I’m not telling your beliefs are nonsense, changing your mind implies we’re all going through lifelong learning because of neuroplasticity.
There are no neutral habits. There are only good habits or bad habits.
If you practice mastering good habits, you’ll accelerate your personal growth. If you surrender to temptations, you’ll develop bad habits which will hamper your personal development.
Suppose you want to leverage the use of lifelong learning to become a better person. In that case, positive behaviour is the code to ensure your knowledge keeps on growing in the upward direction in the long run.
Cheers!
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Sanjeev is a writer, mentor and recovering shopaholic from India. He writes about lifelong learning, personal growth, and positive psychology. When he’s not busy with his muse, he’s sweating either in a workout or emulating outdoor games in his home because of the pandemic. He also chronicles his writing and fitness journey on Instagram. Twitter is his mini-brain.
