PN: Combining rationality with childlike curiosity – the dimensional mind

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Reference: R: Mastery by Robert Greene

As you develop in your field, and as you gain more and more understanding and skill, your mind will want to become more active, seeking ways to use your these new abilities in many different directions.

To aid this process you need to acquire a specific attitude that will oppose our natural desire for comfort and familiarity. If you're not careful, your mind will stiffen up and contract, making you stay in your area of expertise. In other words it will become conventional.

Why? Because we're creatures of habit. We prefer activities that are familiar and do not require unnecessary energy expenditure. We prefer the line of least resistance. Sticking to the same methods also saves us a lot of energy (related: PN: To persuade help the mind save energy). More, whenever we work hard at a problem or idea, our minds will naturally narrow their focus because of the strain and effort involved. This means that we will consider fewer viewpoints and possibilities.

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So two things make the mind conventional: desire for comfort and familiarity and the natural reaction to effort, which makes it stiff and contracted.

However, what you must do is the exact opposite. Your mind must become increasingly bold and expansive. You must look for alternative ways at solving your problems, acquire ideas from related fields, gather differing perspectives, make your mind fluid. In other words, you must attain the dimensional mind.

Masters are able to combine their disciplined and knowledgeable mind with a childlike curiosity, daringness, and flexibility. They are able to go beyond words – thinking visually, spatially, intuitively. They know that innovation comes from multiplicity and diversity. Masters have dimensional minds.

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