You are lucky to have an open mind to different ideas, beliefs and backgrounds! Lots of easy and fun ways to open your eyes. Do new things, make new friends, and learn to listen more than talk. Everyone can be prejudiced (good or bad). Challenge your paradigms and try to be aware when you make assumptions. The more you practice, the easier it will be for you to relate to everyone.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Doing New Things
Step 1. Listen to a new genre of music
Set aside time to play a new genre of music each week through TV channels, the internet, or ask friends for advice.
One way to train the brain to be ready to accept new things is to listen to various genres of music from other cultures or different eras. Listening to new genres of music helps you connect emotionally with new people, places, and things
Step 2. Read more novels and short stories
Meaningful stories help you understand the perspectives of other people from different cultural backgrounds and ages. Look for novels in your library or bookstore whose storylines, screenplays, and characters aren't very appealing to you.
For example, read a book by someone who lives abroad or is dealing with an identity problem (such as gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation) that you don't have
Step 3. Learn a foreign language
Mastering a foreign language helps you communicate with foreigners and appreciate different cultures. Start learning a foreign language by taking a course or using an app.
Learning a foreign language is beneficial for broadening cross-cultural understanding. The influence of culture on the way a person expresses thoughts through speech is able to reveal the virtues and traditions that underlie these thoughts
Step 4. Attend a ceremony or service at a place of worship of another religion
Try to broaden your understanding of various religious traditions. Ask friends of other religions if you can worship with them. Visit a church, mosque, synagogue, temple, or place of worship in your city to attend a service.
- It's a good idea to seek information first before joining worship so that it doesn't cause problems, for example because you're attending an uninvited marriage contract or an unprepared religious holiday ceremony.
- Follow worship with an open mind. Don't try to explain your beliefs or prove their views wrong. You just have to listen, observe, and thank them for taking the time and providing you with information.
Step 5. Take the course
Learning new skills helps you become a person who is ready for new experiences. Choose a course that you've always been interested in or find a new hobby, such as caring for ornamental plants, cooking, practicing yoga, or self-defense.
- Community centers, recreation centers, campuses, and universities that run extension programs offer free or low-cost courses.
- Benefit from developing creativity, for example taking lessons in dance, painting, drawing, acting, and other arts-related courses.
- A course that many people take is an opportunity to make new friends.
Method 2 of 3: Meeting People You Don't Know
Step 1. Learn to listen more than speak.
You can meet anyone anywhere, but you can't get to know them if you keep talking. Ask them questions and try to listen actively, instead of thinking about the response you want to convey.
To be able to listen actively, give full attention to the interlocutor. Don't be busy looking at your phone or daydreaming while he's talking. Make eye contact and nod your head every now and then to show that you're listening to what he's saying. Visualize the events, objects, or people he is talking about
Step 2. Open up conversations with people you don't know every chance you get
Different perspectives help you understand things in a new light and become a better person. Talk to people with different backgrounds or beliefs during your daily activities.
- For example, sit down for lunch with people you've never met while resting on campus or at work.
- Let the conversation develop on its own, instead of directly asking about his religion or political views. Get to know him better by asking about his job or hobbies.
- Many campuses and communities hold activities so that people with different backgrounds and beliefs can meet each other. Human Library provides a means of interacting with people from very diverse backgrounds by creating a website that invites everyone to volunteer as a library resource that can be chatted openly.
Step 3. Take the opportunity to visit a location you've never been to
You don't have to travel far to reap the benefits of travel. Take a trip out of a city with a different culture. Visiting a new location helps you understand other people from a different perspective.
- Traveling abroad is a great way to understand different beliefs. Make plans to visit another country where you don't speak a language and where you don't know many people. Getting to know a different way of life in another country without the tools you use on a daily basis helps broaden your perspective.
- In addition to traveling abroad, look for a location where you feel challenged. If you live in a big city, go camping in the woods for a few days. If you live in Jakarta, take a trip to South America to meet people you don't know, taste different foods, and learn a different way of life.
Step 4. Volunteer by joining a charitable foundation or non-profit organization
Set aside time to volunteer in organizations that give you the opportunity to meet a group of people whose living conditions are vastly different, such as in soup kitchens, homeless shelters, or orphanages. Helping others with different living conditions allows you to see for yourself that your wants, needs, and dreams are not limited by differences.
If you want to experience really unique things, volunteer as you travel. Traveling while volunteering or setting aside a day for social activities in a new location is an opportunity to become a completely different person with a broader perspective
Method 3 of 3: Challenging Your Beliefs
Step 1. Ask yourself how your paradigm was formed
Decide on one of the paradigms that you have been holding on to for a long time and then ask yourself, "Why do I have this paradigm?" Try to remember who taught you that paradigm and how your life experiences reinforced that paradigm.
For example, if you were raised with a paradigm that says that hard work is the only way to success, ask yourself, "Are there people who have worked hard but are still having difficulties in life? Besides working hard, are there other factors that determine success?"
Step 2. Realize every time you assume
Assumptions are natural when thinking, but if not controlled, it makes a person short-sighted. When meeting new friends or in a new environment, control your expectations. Ask yourself if your paradigm dictates your actions.
For example, you've never had pasta with pesto sauce and assumed it didn't taste good. Ask yourself why you assume pesto sauce tastes bad. Is it because the sauce is green or does it smell bad? Maybe you don't know the logical reason for this assumption. So you need to taste the pesto sauce
Step 3. Search the internet for information on new topics and perspectives
Take advantage of your free time to find new information even if it's only for a few minutes. Read articles, play videos, listen to podcasts with lessons, the latest news, religious sermons and other cultures.
- For example, read a new article while standing in line at the bank or listen to a podcast on your way to college/work.
- Look for information from reliable sources of information. A lot of information on the network is untrue and misleading. Make sure you look for scientific articles, reports published by independent third-party organizations, and information through credible websites, such as reputable government, university, news agencies websites.
Step 4. Think of the reasons behind someone's opinion that contradicts yours
Choose a topic that contradicts your views and then read an article in the newspaper or listen to a podcast that discusses this topic. Look for sources of information written with different perspectives. Try to understand the discussion of the topic from the author's point of view.
For example, you want to find out what the minimum salary standard is in a certain industry. While doing your research, you read an article that says that small business owners don't want to raise their employees' salaries for fear that their company will go out of business. Even if your views differ, the information provides insight that conflicting perspectives may be based on valid thinking
Tips
- Challenging the paradigm does not mean having to change the paradigm. Try to understand things from different points of view and conflicting opinions may be based on valid thinking.
- Facing fear is useful for opening up horizons. If you're afraid of heights, start climbing mountains using the trails for beginners. Once you reach the top, confirm that you have arrived safely and focus on enjoying the beauty of nature.
