Show Interest

In this talk, you will understand that interest comes from being interested in yourself. You will see the process rather than the destination and understand the benefits of an open mind and also the benefits of a closed mind. And also, thanks for being interested in this talk, showing interest is the beginning of anything.

Transcript

Are you sometimes bored?

There isn't a lot that excites you.

Do you struggle showing interest in other people?

And do you feel that people struggle showing interest in you?

If any of your answers are yes,

Then it is very likely that you are not showing enough interest.

Using being interested as a mindset allows you to grow and mature and to invite happiness into your life.

Being interested in yourself,

In others and in the world in its entirety is the foundation of true connection.

So today we are looking at being interested.

We will come to understand that using interest as a mindset will make you become more interested in yourself.

Our goal is to understand that being interested is an ongoing process and not a once-off achievement.

We will also become conscious of the benefits of an open mind compared to a closed mind.

William Morris said,

The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.

Let's start by showing interest in the details of today's course.

First of all,

Let me say that if you for one second get bored in your life,

Then ask yourself whether our beautiful planet does not offer enough wonders for you to explore.

Really ask yourself that question.

Are there not enough interesting things in this world worth exploring?

You hopefully immediately receive a reality check on your general interest levels.

Now,

Why is your level of interest in this world and its people so important?

Because if you're not truly interested in many different things,

Then you're holding yourself back from not only growth and connection,

But also from fully experiencing life.

If you're not interested,

You will only connect to a minimal amount of people and only on a superficial basis.

And eventually you will become superficial yourself.

On the other hand,

When you're curious,

When you truly want to explore and find out what the world and other people are really about,

Then you will also explore your own depth just as much.

You will become an interesting human being yourself.

Now,

Let us look at the effects of incorporating interest into your general mindset.

It will immediately increase the amount and quality of your life experience.

Understand that the potential amount of experiences you can create and the amount of information you can still learn in your life is limitless.

You can never finish learning.

You can't even absorb all the information around just one topic.

Let us take health as an example.

You can be interested in health and start accumulating tons of knowledge.

You can even become the world's most knowledgeable health expert.

But you will never,

To the day you die,

Be able to absorb everything.

The world's knowledge on any topic is limitless and it is worth showing interest at all times.

Another effect of showing interest is that it constantly opens new doors.

When you're interested,

People want to be involved with you and also want to explore new things together with you.

Now,

Opening new doors might not be for you all the time,

But every now and then experiencing something completely new and thus challenging your worldview is very healthy and important for growth.

Next,

I want to mention that being interested means that you are leaving your superficial judgments behind.

What follows being interested is gaining knowledge.

And once you gain knowledge,

You can truly understand things.

For example,

My idea about the world of martial arts and its people was completely wrong before I stepped into an MMA gym,

Before I showed interest.

I also had a totally wrong idea about contemporary dance before I studied it.

Being interested makes you leave your superficial ideas behind and opens your horizon.

The long-term effect of being interested is that it increases your ability to connect without prejudgments.

You will create opinions using your own experiences and not other people's judgments.

So this means that showing interest makes your worldview less limited.

Of course,

You experience life through your individual eyes,

But being interested makes it easier for you to understand other people's points of view,

Especially when they have a different background,

For example,

A different age,

Gender,

Culture,

Or religion.

You can gain access,

Understand,

Empathize,

And harmonize with anyone in this world when you are interested in them.

No one on this planet is boring.

It is your choice to dig a bit deeper and explore further.

When you show real interest,

You will discover who people really are and you can make meaningful connections.

Next,

I want to mention that being more interested makes you more attentive overall.

And being more attentive means you can clearly see what serves you and what doesn't serve you.

When being interested becomes a state of mind,

It heightens your awareness of yourself and your choices.

What that means is that if you are truly interested in the migration of white geese and you observe and study that migration,

You will automatically become more interested and attentive to anything else happening in your life,

Including your own thoughts,

Feelings,

And actions.

Now,

Let's look at how to achieve your development,

Growth,

And happiness in regard to showing interest.

I want to remind you that developing yourself and inviting happy moments into your life is not a chance occurrence.

They are the results of your actions.

And creating motivation for the right actions in your life is often rooted in interest.

For example,

If you want to eat healthy,

Then become very interested in research on nutrition.

This makes the action of eating healthy easy.

If you're interested in nature,

Then making time to go into nature becomes easy.

You see where this is going.

Make it easy on yourself.

Forcing yourself to do the right actions is a lot more exhausting than letting them come naturally to you by showing interest in the first place.

Another side effect of being interested is that you become less worried about who you are and how you're perceived by others.

You're most likely spending time managing your social media accounts.

This means you spend time thinking about how you are perceived.

Now,

When you are being interested,

You're stepping away from this hyper-awareness of yourself.

Being interested makes you get absorbed by something outside of you,

And thus you're less stressed,

Obsessed,

And worried about yourself.

Next,

Let us talk about how being interested in people makes you less interested in the power play we are so often trapped in.

True interest has no hidden motives like making another person feel less than you.

True interest has no agenda.

It automatically goes beyond superficiality and hierarchy.

True interest comes out of curiosity and not out of selfish goal.

If your motivation to be interested is goal-oriented,

Then you're automatically manipulating.

I recommend that you start your journey being pure,

Started with interest.

Now,

Let's talk about other people's reactions when you show interest in them.

The main reason for their positive reaction is that people want to be seen,

And truly seeing people makes them love and appreciate you.

And when people love and appreciate you,

They want to create happy moments for you or with you.

People you show real interest in will not only be interested in you too,

But they will also want to improve your life.

It is our deepest human nature to want the best for other people,

Especially people we like.

Let me finish today with the famous saying,

Interested people are interesting.

What does that tell you?

It tells you that the same energy you put out into the world will often come back to you.

And if that is true,

Then it is worth your time to ask yourself some questions.

Do you want other people to be interested in you on a deeper level?

If yes,

Then start being interested in your friends on a deeper level.

Do you want people to want to spend time with you?

If yes,

Then initiate spending time with them first.

Do you want people to be fascinated by you?

If yes,

Then allow yourself to be fascinated by others.

Be interested in others and also yourself.

Be interested in this video,

Your food,

Your body,

Science,

Human behavior,

History.

Show interest in everyone.

Be interested in the smallest butterfly flying past you,

And everyone around you will start showing interest in you.

Now we have arrived at the practical exercise for today.

I would like to invite you to write down five names of people that come to your mind right now.

It can be anyone,

People close or not so close.

Just write down the first five names that come to mind.

Maybe you've spoken to them lots or never,

It doesn't matter.

Write down their names.

Now,

Behind each name,

Write down three questions you could ask that person.

Make it very specific questions about something you want to know from them or about them specifically.

Pause the course now and come back to it when you've done this.

Now write down a list of the people who show the most interest in you.

Again,

Pick five names.

Maybe you will be surprised as to who shows the most interest in you,

Or maybe it is completely obvious.

Write down the names and also write down how being of interest makes you feel.

Again,

Pause the course here and write down your observation.

Now,

For the next few days or during this week,

I would like to invite you once per day to consciously ask someone a very specific question about them.

Let it come out of your personal curiosity.

Why did he do this or that?

What is it specifically you like about this?

Be as specific as you can and observe how the experience enriches you immediately.

Not in knowledge accumulated,

But in newfound depth of your connection to another human being.

And please make a calendar entry now for when you will continue this course.

It can be in a couple of days or a week,

But please set a reminder now so that you would stay on your path.