Part 2 of 3 in the “Getting Unstuck After 50” series – Opening Your Mind
In Part 1, we played the “What If” game to break out of decision paralysis and open up bigger possibilities. But “what if” only works if you’re actually willing to consider ideas outside the ones you already have. And that requires something a little harder. Admitting we don’t know everything.
We Don't Know What We Don't Know
There’s a point in life where we assume we already understand a topic, so we quietly stop listening and stop learning. We all do this. I know I have.
It’s a dangerous habit, because the moment we decide we already “know” something, we stop being curious about it, and we stop noticing the other ways people have solved the exact problem sitting in front of us.
Staying open-minded means accepting that there’s always more to learn, even in the areas of life we feel most confident about. It means deliberately exposing ourselves to different thinking, other people’s perspectives, other ways of approaching a problem we assumed only had one answer.
A Personal Example: My Retirement Blind Spot
Here’s one place this showed up in my own life. For years, I just contributed to my 401(k), got the match, and figured that was “doing it right.” My thinking was: I’m not retiring for a long time, so I don’t need to think about any of this yet. I’d basically decided I already knew enough.
Boy was I wrong. The gap wasn’t really about retirement specifically. It was that I’d stopped looking for other ways of thinking about money entirely. Once I got curious again after discovering the FIRE community (Financially Independent Retire Early), I started learning things I’d never been taught. I just wished I’ve learned this much sooner.
I had no idea that you could invest within your HSA account or that I had to consider the cost ratio within the retirement fund in my 401k, just to name a few. Â
None of that came from being smarter. It came from finally realizing how little I really knew, how much I still had to learn.
This is just my example. Yours might be about health, relationships, work, hobbies, or anything else where you’ve quietly decided “I’ve got this figured out.” The lesson is the same regardless of the topic.
The moment we assume we’ve learned all there is to learn about something, we stop growing in that area.
How to Actually Practice This
Staying genuinely open-minded isn’t passive. It takes initiative and intention:
- Watch a video or two on a topic you think you already understand, just to see if anyone explains it differently.
- Attend a seminar, class, or talk outside your usual wheelhouse.
- Read or listen to books from people who approached your situation in a way you wouldn’t have considered.
- Ask questions you’re a little embarrassed to ask. There are no stupid questions, and those questions are usually the ones worth asking.
- Seek out people who think differently than you do, on purpose, not just the people who already agree with you.
Why This Matters More As We Get Older
It’s tempting to think that by the time we hit our 50s, we’ve earned the right to stop learning new things. In reality, this is exactly when staying curious pays off the most, because the decisions in front of us (career changes, health, retirement, relationships, starting something new) tend to carry more weight, and we have less time to recover from decisions made on outdated or incomplete information.
Continuous learning is also more than the obvious. Continuous learning stimulates our minds and brain cells. If you want to stay sharp in your senior years, never stop learning and keep growing.
The good news is it’s never too late to go looking for the perspective you didn’t have. I found mine later than I wanted to. It still changed how I think and what I do today.
Up Next
Opening your mind to new ideas is one thing. Actually narrowing down what you’ve learned, getting past the fear, and making a real decision is another. That’s what Part 3 is all about.
Continue to Part 3: How to Stop Being Afraid of Big Decisions (And Finally Make One)
Missed Part 1? Go back to Part 1: The “What If” Method
What’s one area of your life where you might have quietly decided “I already know this”? I’d love to hear it in the comments.