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O is for ‘Openness’

9:30:00 am


Today’s letter for the AtoZ Blogging Challenge is ‘O’ for my theme ‘A to Z of Effectiveness’. You can read more about my theme here. I’m also participating in the NaBloPoMo for April.

Source
Openness isn’t something that I’ve heard or read about too much, but Stephen Covey puts a lot of emphasis on it. He mentions it in several situations in his book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. For more clarity, here’s the dictionary definition of the word: “Affording unobstructed entrance and exit; not shut or closed”.

Stephen Covey’s main focus on openness is in relation to trust. Going by the definition, openness is when someone offers another person access to his heart and soul, and is free with his feelings. The book considers empathic listening a very important part of communication, and for this a certain level of openness is required between the speaker and the listener for effective communication.

But openness also translates into vulnerability, and you put yourself at risk when you open up in this manner. But Mr. Covey asks us to consider the benefits of openness instead, which can improve relationships and promote a good level of interdependence.

There’s another facet to openness too – that of adventure. When you free yourself from restrictive thoughts and open yourself up to the world, you find that there are many opportunities you hadn’t considered before. When your mind is open, there’s nothing holding you back from moving forward and having the adventure of a lifetime!!


Are you completely open when communicating with someone? Or do you hold yourself back due to some reason?

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3 comments

  1. Great thoughts in this blog. In another way, we can become like a scientist, disregarding previous suppositions, and instead allowing our mind to find new truths.

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    Replies
    1. That's a great way to think - like a scientist!! True, an approach like that can lead us to places we didn't know existed!

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  2. I hope you're enjoying the challenge as much as I am.

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