We are constantly being exposed to new ideas. How is it that you adopt some of them which end up being a part of who you are?
Adopting new ideas is really a multi-step process.
First, is the exposure to new ideas. That might come about through reading, conversation, travel, or others ways you might expand your personal views.
Second, you have to recognize the good ideas from the rest. Frankly, this step remains something of a mystery. How do you choose an idea as good? Or at least deserving of further consideration?
Listen to a podcast where Michael and Lee discuss a related question: ‘What beliefs do you have that might be wrong?’ We also discuss a bonus question: ‘What makes a place feel like home?’
The third step is the one that is the focus of today’s question. Once you pick an idea as worthy (however you might do that), what is next? How do you actually incorporate it into your worldview? How does someone put into practice this new way of thinking?
All of the ideas that are floating around in your head, that make up your personality and help guide your decision making, started out as new at some point. Those ideas were plucked from your experiences, and incorporated into your self.
How did that happen? Can you make happen in the future? If so, how? How do you adopt new ideas?
Related questions: Where do ideas come from? Where do shared ideas exist? What is necessary to change your mind? How can you change your attitude?
For me, new ideas need to pass two tests for me to adopt them. First, they need to be put into some sort of action. For example, if I am told or I read that some sort of practice is meditative, I need to give it a spin for a while to see if the claim is true. Or, if there’s more of a conceptual idea that I’m intrigued by, I need to run it by a handful of other people, have a number of conversations, in order to see if the idea stands up. Secondly, and ultimately, for me to adopt an idea, it needs to be useful. If an idea changes (improves or not) my life because I’ve incorporated it into my existence, then I am sold on it as something to do or avoid.