6 Ways to Cultivate the Beginner’s Mind.

The beginner’s mind, also known as “shoshin” in Japanese, means having the frame of mind of openness, eagerness and an absence of preconceptions when learning a subject, even if learning that subject is from a knowing point of view, as a beginner would.

Think of the time you started a new hobby and how absolutely thrilling it is to begin with. You know nothing about the hobby, how it works, how it makes you feel or how much time it takes. You don’t know whether you’ll enjoy it or not. You are ready and open minded to start the journey of exploring this new hobby.

The beginner’s mind is so powerful as it allows you to feel this thrill of excitement for this hobby, but the trick is to keep your beginner’s mind in everyday life with your not so new, not so thrilling tasks or hobbies. If you keep your beginner’s mind throughout everyday life, you will see things in your life you may have never noticed.

Maybe next time you go to the beach, don’t sit in the exact same spot. Imagine you are going to the beach for the first time ever, and you find yourself in a different cosy spot that is out of the wind and has a great view of the water.

Here are 6 ways to implement the beginner’s mind in your life:

1. Ignore what past experiences are telling you Our mind is tricky. It will keep us from doing new things or having a new point of view because it is stuck in the past memories of a certain experience. It is time to wipe that data out of our minds and give ourselves a clean slate!

2. Experience the moment fully

It is time to put that clean slate to the test and just experience the moment as is. Don’t put any pressure on what you’re expecting the experience to feel like as that goes against the beginner’s mind. Just be there, in that moment, no judgement.

3. Enjoy the world as if you were a child

Children are excited, curious and full of wonder in everyday life. Seeing a beautiful new tree that they have never seen before will probably make their day. We need to adopt this curious and excitable mindset for our own lives. As adults, every day life is busy, tiring and stressful. You need to find your own unique thing to wonder about in your life. For example, let’s say you’re stuck in traffic. Take this time to take a few deep breaths and admire the world around you. Maybe you see some birds. Now, think about where these birds came from. Did they have a long journey? To get to that exact moment in time with you? Or have they been here for a while, preparing themselves for their next journey. Just admire your life with wonder and excitement.

4. Let go of your ego

If you’re experienced at your task at hand you might want to be accredited for this but you cannot let your ego get the best of you. It can prohibit you from learning even more because if you have the mindset of “I am an expert at this” or “I’m a pro at that” you won’t see the need to learn more about the task. Don’t make this mistake. It is better to be grateful for having been able to do a task or hobby for however long you have and look for new things to like about it and try out new things within it.

5. Slow down

Don’t rush through life. Don’t try and make sure the tasks you do are within the exact set time frame. Just because you can hike Lion’s Head within 2 hours doesn’t mean you have to. You can take your time, do it with more intent and exploration. Live life with enjoyment and you might see new things you have never seen before in your everyday life.

6. Remove ‘should’ from your dictionary

Using the word ‘should’ allows you to put pressure on yourself which you don’t need. Should is allowing you to perceive your expected outcome with your known preconceived notions regarding a situation. In a beginner’s mind, you are completely surprised by your outcome. Let yourself be surprised and amazed by the world and don’t let the word ‘should’ ruin it.