Embracing curiosity, open-mindedness, and positive thinking leads to personal growth, stronger connections, and greater success in life and business.
I got up this morning as I do each Monday morning thinking about what I wanted to write for my column in The Zweig Letter. While I keep a running list of ideas in my phone, none of them appealed to me. What I decided I really wanted to do instead was tell you about a few of the things I learned or had reinforced to me recently that I thought might help you. They may seem disconnected but they are all important to me.
Here they are:
- Last Friday, I was thinking about one of my former students from a couple years ago. He is an extremely intelligent guy – but has had some problems deciding what he wants to do with his life – and he is one I spent a considerable amount of time with when he was a student and in the year after graduation as well. I had not heard from him in several months but decided to do an experiment. I thought I would just think about him and see if he contacted me. I know that may sound crazy to some of you. I almost told my wife I was doing that just to prove it works but didn’t. Nevertheless, on Sunday he did in fact text me to check up on me and let me know what he was doing. This reinforced to me how interconnected we all are in ways we don’t understand, and how powerful thought really is. It’s another reason why inputting positive information and staying positive is so important to all of us. Our thoughts can actually influence the outcome.
- Our individual capability to learn really is unlimited, and some of the tools available to us today make becoming knowledgeable on almost any subject possible. There have been several instances where I proved this to myself recently, with subjects both seemingly simple (but not) and those overtly complex. One has been trying to help my wife who is suffering through a variety of autoimmune system problems that all started after getting COVID-19 very early on. With so many doctors (eight), and so many different diagnoses it has been very difficult for us to sort out all of it to develop an appropriate treatment plan. Only through continuous research and reading (and considering the credibility of our information sources!), and in several cases, sharing what we have learned with her doctors, is the picture of a multi-faceted approach emerging to address her health issues. Even some of the doctors have been impressed. Neither of us are physicians nor do we have any significant scientific backgrounds. But it would not happen without our intense effort and constant digging.
- Be careful about being overly judgmental. It really works against your ability to get along with other people, and that will hamper every aspect of your personal and business life. The recent election has proved that to me. So many people I know are willing to write off everyone on one side or the other as being “bad,” “ignorant,” ”stupid,” “evil,” or “ill-intentioned.” If you want to do that you are going to make yourself very unhappy and automatically reduce your chances of success in any endeavor. You are cutting your potential employee pool by half, clients by half, suppliers and subcontractors by half – and it’s all unnecessary. We don’t know everyone’s personal experiences that have led to their political orientation and beliefs, but if we don’t want to halve all of our possibilities and cut out people from our lives – people we can learn from and who are helpful to accomplishing our goals – we need to be more open and understanding of their point of view. It’s just that simple.
Maybe these three things aren’t that profound to you all – our readers – but they have been to me. I’m just thankful that at my age I am still capable of learning new things!
Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.
