How To Expose Your Mind To Find Business Ideas

When we hear the expression get exposed, we might believe it has to do with travelling, having money and what not. Yes, when you travel and visit many cultures, you quickly learn that life is lived and experienced in so many diverse ways. In this blog, I want us to learn what exposure means for you as a social entrepreneur and how you can expose your mind. Today in schools, you have a fixed curriculum that outlines what you must learn, know and understand. Often, you end up just learning or memorising the answers for the exam. 

https://youtu.be/tLv3EX3yl5Q
Get out of the box to think outside the box

Everyone has to get a basic standard of knowledge through systemised education, I get. However, the downside here is that a huge amount of knowledge comes from within a box, but you are consistently told to think outside the box. How? I studied polymer technology. I have never worked as a polymer technologist. Everything I do today is based on exposure. I literally made it a goal to consistently expose my mind, expand my perception and remain in the state of “seeking to know”. Through self teaching, learning by doing and studying exactly that which I want, I am able to develop my entrepreneurial path. 

Use books and documentaries to expose your mind

You might just find yourself in the dilemma that you feel stuck with what you have learned, your degree. It might become a struggle to craft out a business based on that which you learned from within the box. Here are ways to get out of the box so that you can think outside the box. When you choose what to read or watch, try not to stay only around the fictional realm. Real life experiences, documented stories and research work are very fruitful ways to tap into the collective knowledge. You might be very surprised what opportunities will spark in your mind when you watch a new documentary film. 

I actually got to understand the idea of trademark, patent and copyright through books and documentaries. How these are used as forms of equity to leverage wealth from generation to generation. I quickly learned that you can protect some of your work simply by emailing things to yourself for example. You get to know more about the world beyond your own reality and the nitty gritty of your daily life. You profit more when you read and watch materials which might not always share the same insight as you do. Doing this intentionally gives you an opportunity to grow, to expose your mind, to know more. Mind you, when you begin to expose yourself, you get to see that you know more but also know nothing.  

Listen, enter into dialogue, not arguments

This is key! I always surrounded myself or conversed with people who I share the same ideologies with. But is this good? You will get many mentors telling you to stay around people that are like minded. I used to say this too but I do not promote this idea anymore. If you only have the capacity to accommodate the ideas of those that are similar to you, you can never expand your mind. Exposure does not mean to know more of what you know but to allow yourself hear ideas that might even contradict your own. It does not mean you now change to follow that idea nor does it mean you lose a grip over your own idea. But it gives you the opportunity to understand something deeper from more angles, perspective and space. An open invitation to grow. 

Maybe within those angles lie the solution you might be seeking. Maybe the answer is a combination of your ideas and the others. Often this experience can become an argument. Quickly an opposition forms as the perspectives might be contradicting. But engage rather by listening if you lack the capacity to hold a constructive dialogue. Constructive dialogue will mean you do not condemn the others ideas but you seek sincere knowledge to understand where they are coming from. By listening to opposing views, I learned about Data analysis and how the world is using it. Listening can mean you attend events, workshops, engage in conversations etc. These are practical steps to expose your mind.

Break out of your own perception, expose your mind

There are many strategies to free yourself from your own rationality and perception of the world around you. As an entrepreneur, it is very important to tap into how other entrepreneurs are solving the same issue you want to solve. When people say they do not have ideas, I tell them to break out of their limiting world view. The first way to do this is to find out information about that issue beyond your geographic region, your community and learn how these people solved that problem. Thank God we have the internet, so researching beyond regional spheres is now as easy as never before.

I hope you liked the tips and strategy proposed in this article. Not to miss out on our future content, remember to subscribe to our newsletter. You can follow our YouTube channel if you are already on Youtube to watch our videos around building a sustainable business. We will release our own app soon. An exclusive app for our tribe members were conscious videos content meets data intelligence. To get our app, add your details to our waiting list so that you can secure a spot in our tribe and get the app when we release it. If you know anyone that would profit from this blog article, please do share. Thank you and have a productive week ahead. 

Cheers, 

Joana

Joadre
Joadrehttps://www.joadre.com
I am Joana, a Nigerian-born Austrian-based entrepreneur and activist. Founded Joadre in 2012 and continue to develop content to engage and empower African SMEs.

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