Everyone is right…. Always!

So let me call out the Elephant in the room right away. This is a controversial one!!

Now, why is this a controversial one? Well, there are over 8 billion people on this planet, and an outstanding amount of those will have outrageously controversial views and opinions, so much so that some of them will even be illegal to express openly in hundreds of countries worldwide.

Now with that in mind, how on earth could I consider myself sane even to accept that, regardless of the view or opinion, the individual making them is right? Well, regarding the first and vital distinction, I am not saying that they are correct (I agree with them). But, I am saying they are right - you'll understand.

I will say it as I'm sure many reading this are thinking. "Trev, you're a lad of colour, and you're telling me you think someone racist is correct". No, not correct, but right. 

This is where a simple change in how I process whenever someone has a different opinion has changed my life. I'm sure many people would consider a natural reaction to a racist to be: anger, disbelief, and defence. But herein lies my point: who does that affect and impact? You! in an amazingly negative, detrimental way.

Change my mindset

Now instead of doing that. I try to change my mindset, and instead, I tell myself that the reason this person has this opinion is 100% based on their life to date: Their experiences (good or bad), their education, their upbringing, their environment, their family, and their peer group. Make sense now?

You see, this profoundly changes things. It no longer upsets me, gets me angry, stressed, defence etc. This means I can go into identification mode and figure out if the person expressing the opinion is a closed or open-minded individual. 

And why would I do this instead of just moving on? I love to challenge my confirmation bias, and there is no better way to do this than to converse with someone with a polar opposite view. Of course, you'll never do this with a person with a closed mindset person as it will be an argument, a shouting match and could get heated. But with an open-minded person, you will have a fantastic conversation; you might even learn something, and even better, you might even teach the other person something.

Will make their views loud and clear

If you're still with me, you're probably now also thinking, why on earth is this on a website all about health? Well, let me tell you. When you fundamentally change something about your life, many people (sometimes those closest to you) won't understand why and will make their views loud and clear.

An example for you. I have a few friends who believe it must be miserable and no fun living a life to be consistently healthy.

Although my life makes perfect sense, I would consider it fun. It certainly isn't theirs, and I'm okay with that. Instead of letting it get to me and trying to convince them otherwise, I don't even think about it and crack on.

Just remember that. I promise it will help as you go through your journey of enhancing and adding time!