It's important to know what your core values and beliefs are. These vital elements of your psyche form the foundation of your life and help you make the decisions that are right for you. If they're the only lenses you ever try to look through, though, you risk becoming rigid and judgmental. Learning how to keep an open mind while still staying true to who you are is a lifelong pursuit. Here are some tips to help you along the way.

Understand the Benefits

Any time you have difficulty getting started when trying to embrace a new habit or mindset, it's good to look at some of the ways you can benefit from doing so. There are many rewards to being a more open-minded person:

• It fosters learning and growth.
• It teaches you empathy.
• It gives insight into your own values.
• It helps you see other people and the world in a more positive light.
• It lets you experience new things and ideas.
• It helps you become more comfortable with uncertainty.

Ask Questions

One of the challenges of cultivating an open mind is learning to respond rather than react. When people say things with which you disagree, fight the urge to jump right into an argument. Instead, try to learn more about their thoughts and how they reached their conclusions. 

Think of statements you can make that invite conversation rather than shut down dialogue. After all, when you voice an unpopular opinion, wouldn't you rather the people who are listening say, "That's an interesting perspective. Tell me more," rather than just dismissing you as wrong or uninformed? If you know you're going to be in a situation where your views may be challenged, think of questions ahead of time that you can ask to learn more about others' viewpoints. That way, you're prepared to inquire rather than attack.

Read Outside the Box

The great news is that you don't have to wait for a contentious conversation to start trying to understand other ways of seeing things. In fact, if the thought of engaging in the mild conflict of an active conversation about opposite views is daunting, you may want to begin by practicing on your own first. You can become more open-minded by actively seeking opposing positions. 

One way to do this is to intentionally read books and articles written by people with whom you know you disagree. If you have strong political views, try reading publications that are still credible and report verifiable facts but lean in the other direction on the spectrum. When your faith is strong, it is often useful to learn more about the origins of other belief systems so that you can appreciate how they worship. 

Seek New Experiences

Everyone has a comfortable schedule or list of things they enjoy doing in their spare time. There's nothing wrong with having strong preferences, but if you limit yourself to experiences that are familiar, it's easy to get in a rut. This can easily thwart your progress to becoming more open-minded.

Your comfort zone is cozy, but it doesn't help you learn. One way to break out of a rigid mindset is to engage in experiences you've never had before. For example, why stop at reading a book about another religion when you can attend a local service that is open to the public? Doing so gets all your senses involved, which can be a powerful way to help you understand where those who practice the faith are coming from.

Cultivating an open mind isn't just an act of willpower. It involves active engagement in new ideas and experiences. While you may feel awkward at times, the long-term rewards far outweigh the discomfort.