FBC – 162 – Open Minded…Right Or Wrong? You’ll Be Surprised…

Open Minded…Right Or Wrong? You'll Be Surprised….

Today we are going to talk about one of the biggest sources of conflicts on this planet. Understanding this simple fact could prevent a lot of arguments, tensions and even armed conflicts if people only took the time to apply this.
All the answers and more in today's episode

The podcast today is about being open minded.

Because I saw a quote today which was pretty cool. It's. It says “five plus four or seven plus two or eight plus one?” OK. And this is a very powerful message.

This is something everybody should understand. You may be right in your own way. All right, so you might have some answer or something, but it's not the only one. This is not the only answer. Right. There are different ways, maybe like four or five different ways to get there. All right.

Yours is good, but don't dismiss everybody else just for spite just because you think you have the right one. Because you don't. Right. If I have five plus four, I have the same thing as you do. I just have just taken another route. And very often we just well, basically assume that people are wrong and we start contradicting people based on the fact that they're they don't have the exact same answer we do.

So the best way to make enemies and stuff is to go and contradict people. That's the first thing you do, right? What I want you guys to do is to try to understand where people are coming from. Try to understand even though you don't have the exact same reasoning. Yeah, you but you might actually get to the same conclusions. OK. And this is I mean, something that you discover.

So it can be you as a person, you know, because of who you are and what your life has been and stuff, you might have your own answer. Right. And in this case, it's you against the whole planet. Right. So everybody else is wrong and you're right. OK, so that's one level. You know, you. But there is also another level. So the other level is where you grew up, for example, your country.

It’s fascinating how different cultures will approach problems. In France, we might approach a problem always from the same angle. And one thing that I find fascinating is that once you start traveling, you will realize that there are other ways of actually doing it.

And that's the beauty of traveling. I mean, traveling. It's not just going to like beautiful islands and stuff. It's way more than this. It opens your mind. So there are things like, understanding other cultures and putting an end to like racism and stuff. Because racism is just ignorance.

If you don't know other people's cultures, it's easier to develop some hatred of something. When you start traveling, you understand that some behaviours that you didn't understand before are because their culture. They make perfect sense.

Open Minded…Right Or Wrong? You'll Be Surprised…

It also like really, really opens your mind to different ways of thinking and different ways of approaching problems. Right. So there are cultures in which people are going to help you more than anything.

But it's fascinating. Like me, I've been traveling for I mean, for like five years. I mean, some people have been traveling way more than me. Right. I started traveling a lot in around like that. Even though I was still based in France, I was going like on weekends and holidays and everything else, you know? Oh, my savings went in to starting my business and growing up as a person, starting to travel and everything.

And gee, it really, really opened my mind to a lot of a lot of things. And I became way more accepting then than I was before. OK. There is not I mean, nothing is set in stone and there is not one only one answer for a problem. All right. So just remember this six plus three, eight plus one, seven plus two, five plus four.

They all equal nine. All right.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does being open minded actually mean in daily life?

Being open minded in daily life means you treat your own opinion as a working draft rather than a final verdict. You stay willing to change your view when new information arrives, without needing to feel that the old view made you stupid. That posture is rare and powerful.

Why is being open minded one of the biggest sources of conflict?

Most arguments are not about facts. They are about two people unwilling to update their position even when the facts move. Conflict shrinks when at least one party stays open minded enough to say, I had not considered that angle, give me a moment. Most do not.

How does a closed mind hurt your business decisions?

A closed mind locks you into the strategy that worked last year, the price you set when you launched, and the avatar you defined before the data came in. The market moves whether you update or not. Closed minded founders keep paying for an outdated map.

Can you be too open minded and lose your standards?

Yes. Open minded is not agree with everyone or treat every opinion as equal. It is willingness to test your position against evidence, then commit harder once tested. The opposite failure mode is constant rethinking that never lands on a decision and never ships anything to the world.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

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