The smartest and most successful people welcome new ideas and diverse perspectives, allowing them to see more opportunities ahead of them and better solutions to problems. Open-minded entrepreneurs are able to strategize better because they can listen to varying viewpoints and look at a problem through multiple lenses. They’re able to see past ideologies and ego in order to conceive more effective plans.

1. Open-minded entrepreneurs are open to change.

When you’re too set on doing things a certain way, you’re not open to better plans. As long as you keep your eyes on your end goal, having an open mind allows you to pivot quickly and take advantage of opportunities that weren’t part of your original plan. If you tether yourself to ideas about how you’re going to achieve your goal, better opportunities don’t come up on your radar. Successful entrepreneurs are open-minded enough to see all the possible moves before they make one. They’re always discovering opportunities and new approaches to solving problems that arise.

2. Successful people learn from everyone.

When you’re open-minded enough to glean lessons from everyone, everywhere, then you never stop learning. Joshua Cooper Ramo, the best-selling author of “The Age of the Unthinkable,” says we should pay attention to the way the world’s most resilient innovators adapt to change and handle crises in order to learn new ways to solve problems. You don’t need to agree with someone or share their ideologies in order to learn from them. If you can apply their way of thinking to achieve the outcomes you want, then having an open mind has served you.

border_color=”#dddddd” ]If you want help maximizing your business’s potential success, contact Will Sherwood, CEO of The Sherwood Group. He can help you bypass any marketing and branding blind spots that may be keeping you from the achievements you want.[/dropshadowbox]

3. Successful entrepreneurs can see mistakes in a different light.

Open-minded entrepreneurs see their mistakes from multiple angles. While it’s hard not to feel like you failed, part of picking yourself up and continuing to pursue success is to see your failure as a lesson. This makes it a gain instead of a loss. Ask yourself: how can the knowledge I gained from this experience help me succeed in the future? When you focus on this perspective, your failure hasn’t gone to waste. Successful entrepreneurs are well-experienced because all their “failures” have added up and strengthened them, rather than caused them to give up. However, it’s difficult to grow from your experiences if you don’t have an open mind about them.

4. Challenging limiting beliefs is the key to growth.

In the ever-changing world of business, success requires continual personal growth. In order to rise above where you currently stand, you need to challenge the limiting beliefs that are holding you there. Your success begins with your mindset, and having an open mind allows you to expose yourself to new ideas and ways of thinking. The most successful people know they don’t know everything. They’re able to put what they think they know aside and pursue knowledge without prejudice. According to Mandy Gilbert, the founder and CEO of an executive recruitment firm called Creative Niche, being able to admit it when you don’t know something is a sign of a strong leader.

5. Being open to others allows you to get the most out of having a team.

One of the best parts of having employees or partners in a business venture is taking advantage of multiple brains plugging in to meet the same end goals. Everyone has a different perspective and can bring different ideas to the table. Being open to hearing others out gives you more ideas than you would have on your own, which ultimately serves your business. Even if you’re a “solopreneur,” you can join a mastermind group and get ideas from others about your business, and the more open you are to people’s outside perspectives, the more you can glean from them.

Becoming More Open-Minded

When it comes to being open-minded, most people have room to improve. The hardest part tends to be overcoming the feeling of being in control. Being open-minded means being honest with yourself enough to admit you don’t know it all. This can make you feel vulnerable. But on the other side of the coin, When you live with an open mind, you can have a strong sense of self without being confined by your beliefs or the ideologies of others.

Do you need help growing your business? Click here to check out our website design and marketing packages. We can help you achieve your business goals and in the process leave your competition shaken and wondering, “Now, what do we do?”

If you enjoyed this post, you may also want to check out these others:

A Simple Definition of “Marketing.”
Four Tips to Get More Visitors to Your Website
Facebook: Small Business Marketing Strategies that Work!
3 Simple Ways to Generate Business on LinkedIn
15 Website Mistakes You Want to Avoid (Part 1)
3 Ways to Increase Your Business Without Resorting to SEO
How to Target Large Clients with Little to No Money
Is There Still Gold in Cold Calling?

This article is published by Will Sherwood | The Sherwood Group |Website Design | Graphic Design | Marketing Communications: The Sherwood Group has over 30 years of experience working with all sorts of companies, small and large. Our clients range from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 firms, in nearly every business sector, from across the street to around the world (and yes, even Europe, China, and South America). Our goal is to create advertising,  graphic design, website design, and marketing communication that still looks fresh and relevant 10-15 years later. Our mission is to stir your imagination and leave your competition shaken and wondering,  Now what do we do?”  We are located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Do you need help growing your business? Click here to check out the social media marketing and website design packages from The Sherwood Group. We’ll help you capture new business and achieve your goals.

“Like” us and/or “Follow” us at these social media sites and we’ll return the favor:

LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Please comment. We’d like to know if you found this article informative or helpful?