Self-love, Curiosity, and Open-mindedness

I’ve been thinking about what brings me success and happiness. That said, I’ll admit the logic that led me to these items came about in reflecting on what would help others (with exception to the self-love item). So, to some degree I am making the assumption that these items are universal in bringing success and happiness. Please share your thoughts.

I’ll briefly explain my three selections, define their meaning, and give extremely brief reasons for inclusion.

Self-love:

Meaning: loving yourself (I don’t want to be too much more specific- I think that self love can be unhealthy if not combined with open-mindedness, I’ll discuss that later)

Reasons:

1) To some extent the amount you love yourself determines your ability to get back on your feet after a setback or failure.

2) It also promotes a natural drive to treat yourself well- eating well and living well.

Curiosity:

Meaning: The natural drive to discover

Reasons:

1) In a lot of ways curiosity is what prompts learning, and learning arguably is what prompts change.

Open-mindedness:

Meaning: Open-mindedness, Peter Senge suggests is the ability to hear someone say something, notice yourself judging, pause, and then question your judgment.

Reasons:

1) Open-mindedness allows for development and change. It is the invitation to learning to step in and alter ones beliefs and perceptions.

2) It also provides balance and moderation to self-love, curtailing hubris.

Please do not take this post as a truth- it is intended to prompt reflection. I would love to hear your thoughts, especially if they counter the ones I present here. If you have more reasons, or find I am missing characteristics, etc, let me know. I will read and respond to all comments. Your feedback is sincerely appreciated.