I am sure you can tell me that speaking to a person who is judgmental needs a lot more patience than speaking to a person who is curious. In other words, talking to a curious person is more interesting because he/she allows us to complete our explanations and would take us to an area that we haven’t yet explored. Conversation with judgmental people often ended up very brief and there not much discussion or exchange of ideas. For the benefit of my readers, the word judgmental person is refered as one who has little tolerance, compassion and objectivity towards others. I also refer such person as a negative thinker. As the famous quote says…….
“Only the curious will learn and only the resolute overcome the obstacles to learning. The quest quotient has always excited me more than the intelligence quotient.” -- Eugene S. Wilson
The Chinese has this simple example to explain about being curious and the ability to learn more. A full cup of tea will not take more tea even though more tea is poured into it. This is to say that we will not be able to learn more of a particular knowledge if we think that we already have acquired the knowledge. On the hand, an empty cup can contain a fresh tea if it is poured into it. Curiosity here is the ability to ‘empty’ your mind in order to accept what are being taught to you; where else a judgmental behavior is like a tea cup that contains a cup full of stale tea if it is not emptied will get bad naturally.
Back to my school days story….. This time I was at a graduating students’ exhibition organized by one of the schools in the town. As I walked around browsing the exhibitions, I noticed a man who was neatly dressed with glasses that gave me the impression that he might be someone highly educated, was going around and asking lots of questions to the students. In the sleepy town where I came from, this sort of behavior was rare and I noticed that most of the students were seen trying to avoid this guy as he approached a particular exhibit. Being curious of his behavior, I decided to follow him and listening to all the questions he asked the exhibitors. As I listened to his questions I knew that he wanted to know the whys and how the students came up with the ideas of their exhibits. He would also ask about the basic theories behind the demonstration or exhibitions. I found that his method of finding out the truth was fascinating so I started to copy him by discarding the fears of asking questions to find out why. I gradually developed the habit of asking questions to speed up my learning process before going to the library to look for in depth references. Now, I can ask Google search all sorts of questions and I can get the answers within few seconds. The world has indeed changed.
I noticed that people who are judgmental make mistakes easily. They can be easily trapped in the cocoon of their assumptions. These are the people who have thousands of excuses of not able to live at their fullest. They are like toads that are living under half-cut coconut shells – as the say goes in my country. These toads don’t have the slightest idea of what's going on or what are happening in the world outside their coconut shells. That’s why we often listen to motivational teachers referring to expression; “out of the box” to look for the extra edge in life as self- fulfillment.
To live a life filled with knowledge and fulfillment one has to be guided by these simple rules.
Rule 1
Make the habit of asking when you are looking of an explanation and confirmation. A successful salesperson always ask for sales closure from his/her prospects which he/she would certainly get if he/she did what was right to impress his/her prospects before asking. A student doesn’t have to struggle with his/her text books really hard if he/she participates positively in his/her by asking lots of questions in class.
Rule 2
Make positive judgments AFTER weighing all explanations. It may takes a slightly longer time but again your decisions would be more decisive and without mistakes. Once the decisions are transformed into actions, the actions would be swift and since they are mistakes-free you’d be satisfied and better still, your customers will never stop believing in you.
Rule 3
Pour out the stale tea that has filled your mind for sometime now and fill it up with a new and freshly brewed tea. This rule calls for you and I to listen more. Every time you listen to your customers, it is like getting free consultations – you don’t have to pay for their ideas. Compare and combine their ideas if necessary; you are sure to end up with fantastic innovations after considering both in your implementations.
Rule 4
I sure that you have heard about participative management that made at Toyota as the greatest company in using or adopting suggestions from its employees as a source for continuous improvements. The rule here is to look for positive indicators in all opinions and suggestions given to you. Comments on your blog are your starting point to look for positive indicators no matter how harsh they would be. Don’t be dejected if you get nasty comments from your peers or close friends or family members or your boss, they carry a lot of well-intended messages.
Rule 5
Never judge a person before you get acquainted. Well, first impression might not be enough to reflect his/her inside reality. Just as the say goes” don’t judge the book by its cover”. This is the rule that you and I have to be aware because if you start to make judgment of people, you would find that sooner or later people would make same judgment about you. I am pretty sure that you would not like it...
In this discussion I pointed out that positive thinking can start off by asking questions, simple or stupid or ridiculous they may seem, they would never reflect you as people who possess such qualities. If you think that by asking such questions would make others to judge you as such, then you have chosen to lead a life that will not bring you to anywhere. Then you would see success a distance or the untouchable beauty.
“Only the curious will learn and only the resolute overcome the obstacles to learning. The quest quotient has always excited me more than the intelligence quotient.” -- Eugene S. Wilson
The Chinese has this simple example to explain about being curious and the ability to learn more. A full cup of tea will not take more tea even though more tea is poured into it. This is to say that we will not be able to learn more of a particular knowledge if we think that we already have acquired the knowledge. On the hand, an empty cup can contain a fresh tea if it is poured into it. Curiosity here is the ability to ‘empty’ your mind in order to accept what are being taught to you; where else a judgmental behavior is like a tea cup that contains a cup full of stale tea if it is not emptied will get bad naturally.
Back to my school days story….. This time I was at a graduating students’ exhibition organized by one of the schools in the town. As I walked around browsing the exhibitions, I noticed a man who was neatly dressed with glasses that gave me the impression that he might be someone highly educated, was going around and asking lots of questions to the students. In the sleepy town where I came from, this sort of behavior was rare and I noticed that most of the students were seen trying to avoid this guy as he approached a particular exhibit. Being curious of his behavior, I decided to follow him and listening to all the questions he asked the exhibitors. As I listened to his questions I knew that he wanted to know the whys and how the students came up with the ideas of their exhibits. He would also ask about the basic theories behind the demonstration or exhibitions. I found that his method of finding out the truth was fascinating so I started to copy him by discarding the fears of asking questions to find out why. I gradually developed the habit of asking questions to speed up my learning process before going to the library to look for in depth references. Now, I can ask Google search all sorts of questions and I can get the answers within few seconds. The world has indeed changed.
I noticed that people who are judgmental make mistakes easily. They can be easily trapped in the cocoon of their assumptions. These are the people who have thousands of excuses of not able to live at their fullest. They are like toads that are living under half-cut coconut shells – as the say goes in my country. These toads don’t have the slightest idea of what's going on or what are happening in the world outside their coconut shells. That’s why we often listen to motivational teachers referring to expression; “out of the box” to look for the extra edge in life as self- fulfillment.
To live a life filled with knowledge and fulfillment one has to be guided by these simple rules.
Rule 1
Make the habit of asking when you are looking of an explanation and confirmation. A successful salesperson always ask for sales closure from his/her prospects which he/she would certainly get if he/she did what was right to impress his/her prospects before asking. A student doesn’t have to struggle with his/her text books really hard if he/she participates positively in his/her by asking lots of questions in class.
Rule 2
Make positive judgments AFTER weighing all explanations. It may takes a slightly longer time but again your decisions would be more decisive and without mistakes. Once the decisions are transformed into actions, the actions would be swift and since they are mistakes-free you’d be satisfied and better still, your customers will never stop believing in you.
Rule 3
Pour out the stale tea that has filled your mind for sometime now and fill it up with a new and freshly brewed tea. This rule calls for you and I to listen more. Every time you listen to your customers, it is like getting free consultations – you don’t have to pay for their ideas. Compare and combine their ideas if necessary; you are sure to end up with fantastic innovations after considering both in your implementations.
Rule 4
I sure that you have heard about participative management that made at Toyota as the greatest company in using or adopting suggestions from its employees as a source for continuous improvements. The rule here is to look for positive indicators in all opinions and suggestions given to you. Comments on your blog are your starting point to look for positive indicators no matter how harsh they would be. Don’t be dejected if you get nasty comments from your peers or close friends or family members or your boss, they carry a lot of well-intended messages.
Rule 5
Never judge a person before you get acquainted. Well, first impression might not be enough to reflect his/her inside reality. Just as the say goes” don’t judge the book by its cover”. This is the rule that you and I have to be aware because if you start to make judgment of people, you would find that sooner or later people would make same judgment about you. I am pretty sure that you would not like it...
In this discussion I pointed out that positive thinking can start off by asking questions, simple or stupid or ridiculous they may seem, they would never reflect you as people who possess such qualities. If you think that by asking such questions would make others to judge you as such, then you have chosen to lead a life that will not bring you to anywhere. Then you would see success a distance or the untouchable beauty.
