Have you heard of this concept before?
Lately I have been finding the need to return to the state of “beginner’s mind” more and more often.
When things feel shaky or there are an abnormal amount of challenges that I am encountering, beginner’s mind is the underlying attitude that empowers me to roll with the punches and look at each curve ball as a fascinating plot twist.
That may sound silly, but it is true freedom: to let go of the need to react to anything.
That does not mean that you do not take action. In fact, learning to stay in the beginner’s mind state will enable you to make more decisive and intuitive decisions about what to act on and how to act.
Lesson 1: Beginner’s mind disables reaction and enables clear action.
But wait, why are we assuming that our actions become “higher quality” if we have overcome the need to react?
Listening to the thoughts that make us feel fear and negative emotions is unhealthy and disempowering. Feelings and emotions are not inherently bad, but they do cloud our judgement.
Often our thought processes pose us as victims of a cruel turn of events. When that is our story, we are unable to change our situation and are therefore rendered powerless.
If we learn to look at life as if we have no idea how things will play out, and have no need to know, we can change the mental story to one of an interesting drama where we are the hero.
We learn to take action in the moment, or we resolve to wait until the timing is right. But when we do decide to act, we act with a clear vision of the desired outcome in mind.
We use our full power of consistency and discipline to see it through, while remaining unattached to the outcome or the surprises that pop up along the way.
Lesson 2: Beginner’s mind is ready to overcome any obstacle but knows it cannot control the future.
So much of our energy is devoted to proving our own ideas and worldview are correct. That is energy that could be poured into the service of humanity.
To say I can teach you about beginner’s mind is a paradox. You know it by un-knowing what you think you know.
My goal is to point to what I perceive as True, while also “keeping my cup empty” for whatever insight or wisdom some person or experience may have to offer.
It is important to note that the success of this practice hinges on suspending any judgement about life experiences being good or bad, and instead looking for the lesson being presented or the opportunity for a creative breakthrough.
Lesson 3: Beginner’s mind is constantly receptive to new ideas, information, and feedback.
That isn’t to say we believe everything, but we understand how little we truly know and are therefore constantly opening ourselves up to learn more.
There is no use in clinging to old beliefs or ways of doing things once you realize they are no longer serving you.
It has been challenging to get everyone to understand that HOME is a new and better way of building long term success as a music creator… to change the way they think about their career. People are still full of old ideas like “getting discovered” or “going viral”.
But at the same time, HOME still has so much to learn about serving the process of artist development.
So I keep the beginner’s mind, and I make sure I am constantly getting rid of my old ideas if they don’t work as well as I thought they would.
This technique has served me well, and I hope that you give it a shot next time you are forced outside of your comfort zone.