Why Mental Liquidity is a Superpower

Society rewards consistent thinkers. People who do what they are told and hold on to the same ways of doing things are often considered the right fit for many roles.

If you expect a different or adventurous life, you have to think beyond what is expected of you. If you are interested in pursuing your life goals, you have to embrace a different mindset — the ability to design the life you want.

Mental liquidity is the ability to change your mind when necessary, without being stuck on a particular perception, worldview or mindset.

This means that you are able to consider new or better data quickly and respond with confidence to the changes around you — it’s a valuable trait for people interested in becoming better versions of themselves.

If you can quickly and fluidly shift between ideas or learn new ones to stay ahead in our ever-changing world, you are more likely to thrive in the modern working age. People who have high mental liquidity are open-minded, curious and have adopted the growth mindset.

If you tend to rely heavily on old information or existing beliefs, you have to overcome that anchoring bias to improve your mental liquidity.

The ability to think quickly or adapt is a valuable trait for a better life. If you are open to changing your habits, routines and behaviors, you are more likely to try something new or better to improve your life.

Mental liquidity is a hard skill to master, especially if you strongly believe your present routines or productive behaviors don’t have to change. People who have fixed mindsets become more extreme in their opinions and beliefs even when presented with better information for a better life. Overconfidence destroys more careers than skill — ego leaves us blind to our weaknesses.

“We all have blind spots in our knowledge and opinions. The bad news is that they can leave us blind to our blindness, which gives us false confidence in our judgment and prevents us from rethinking,” writes Adam M. Grant, in his book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know.

Many people often get attached to “good practices”. Once an idea, a practice, a habit or a ritual becomes your only way of life, it can easily turn into a setback.

If you’ve spent much time around successful people, you probably know that there are always a few constants.

Highly successful people are constantly in the process of reinvention — they do more of what’s working and experiment with new ideas that can accelerate their progress. They think like scientists.

If you are interested in optimizing for a more productive or better life, mental liquidity is a must-have skill.

People with high mental liquidity are not afraid to be wrong.

They are consistently in the habit of questioning their assumptions, proving themselves wrong and revising their beliefs based on what they learn. They are lifelong learners — they are not afraid to be wrong.

A sign of wisdom is knowing when to abandon your fundamental beliefs, worldviews and perceptions about what it means to live a good life. If you want to change your results, you need to change your mindset. If you’re looking to improve your life and change the trajectory of your life, change is the only constant.

George Bernard Shaw was right, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

The ability to rethink your habits, unlearn and relearn new behaviors is vital for a good or better life. Change is difficult, and change is scary. We’ve been conditioned to believe that we’re safe and secure in our current state of existence and that we’ll be okay if we stay the same.

The life you want requires a change of mindset or change of behavior.

Good and lasting change requires the awareness of your mind’s tendency toward stubbornness. To take back control of the direction of your life, you have to redesign what’s “normal”. Disrupt the way things have always been.

Change is not just a process of undoing something. It’s a process of getting unstuck. And that requires mental liquidity. If you’re feeling stuck, it’s probably time to change course: find better ways to move forward, experiment with a different approach. Turn your perception around and get unstuck.

“If you don’t change your mind frequently, you’re going to be wrong a lot,” says Jeff Bezos.

When was the last time you changed your mind about anything? Give yourself permission to change your mind and improve your mental liquidity — a better life depends on it. The only person most likely to persuade you to embrace new habits or behaviors is you. Find compelling reasons to improve your life and become a much better version of yourself.

You will always see what you expect or want to see — if you want a different outcome, learn to change your mind more often.

This article originally appeared in Medium.