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Inspiration
Expand Your Mind
Overcoming intellectual stagnation
Are you still growing? Not physically but mentally. We all experienced remarkable intellectual development from infancy to adulthood. However, the question “Are you still growing?” extends beyond learning to speak, write, and think.
For adults, ongoing growth in two key areas sets them apart. These two ways are relatively easy to learn and build. What are they? Read on to find out more.
Growth beyond raw intelligence
Truly successful people from all walks of life rise above their peers because of their maturity and perspective-taking ability. Maturity is a frame of mind enhanced through work, life experience, and willingness to take responsibility. Perspective-taking builds on intelligence and helps you grow beyond the norm.
For many, intellectual growth slows in early adulthood as the requirement for their education decreases. This can lead to a narrowing of perspectives, effectively shrinking their world.
Rather than cover maturity, a subject unto itself, let’s focus on growing intelligence beyond where you are. To uncover more of what it takes to be mature, check out this article: What Makes You Mature?
There is a direct link between your ability to broaden your perspective and Intellectual growth. As the writer Anais Nin once noted, “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
The importance of perspective-taking
If you’ve ever watched The Matrix, its premise revolves around a society that lives in a world that doesn’t exist. In the movie, people go about life unaware that what they think is real is, in fact, a computer-generated illusion.
While we might not live in a matrix controlled by energy-sucking robots, one aspect of the movie rings true for many of us — what we think we see isn’t always what it seems.
It’s important to remember that what you think you know contains only a portion of reality and may be inaccurate. This limits your thinking ability and can hinder you from seeing more of what is there.
