Great minds discuss ideas. The best conversations I’ve had in my life are with those people, so I fully believe Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote rings true. I love speaking at a conference and afterward, I have a line of people coming up to discuss ideas that spark from my presentation or personal stories. It’s my favorite part of traveling…meeting new people and discussing various ideas and topics that get me to think and explore.
Otherwise, I know if someone is going to start a conversation about an event like the weather, it’s probably not going to do anything for me. Like if I’m in the grocery store and someone’s like “Look! It’s raining out.” I usually see if I can deepen the conversation like, “Does rain remind you of anything?” or I’ll say “I love falling asleep to the rain, it’s so relaxing.” If I get a response, I know this is a person I can connect at the moment with, and if they’re an average mind they may shrug and the conversation ends there.
I’m sure you, like me, have had your share of small minds. These people personally drive me nuts. Before I was an entrepreneur, I was sitting at lunch as a new employee with some colleagues who were talking about another colleague’s pants and how they were too short. They were making fun of this person and I was feeling uncomfortable about it. One thing that grinds my gears is this small talk nonsense about others. I attempted to get off the subject by saying, “Maybe they accidentally put their pants in the dryer, that sucks!” But no, they just kept going on and on. After that day, I chose to never sit at their table again and chose a different table at a different time. Small minds are not for me. It seems that the small minds are the ones that keep themselves blind from their own flaws, while they continue to exploit others for their own entertainment.
So in the finale here, be conscious of what types of conversations you have with others. It will help you value your time and connections with people whom you can trust, connect with. Remember, great minds discuss ideas.
If you have ideas you can discuss them here or on social. We want to hear them and motivate you to get them going!
