In Zen Buddhism, there is a concept called Shoshin which literally translates to beginners mind. It is an approach to learning where you drop all your preconceptions and start afresh. This approach helps to enjoy the process of learning and discover new things. Assuming that one has acquired expertise is the first fallacy to blocking out one’s own growth.
Many years ago, a kind MIS lady taught me the basics of excel in my internship. She told me that mastering keyboard shortcuts would help me to become faster at what I do. But then I forgot all that I had learnt and began my first job a year later. I struggled with excel.
I hesitated to run a simple lookup. And then another colleague joined and transformed how I approach excel. Since then I have remained a student of this wonderful (and sometimes annoying) piece of code. Even when I started using it on a MacOS machine, I struggled quite a bit until I made my peace with the absence of alt key. Every time I have tinkered with it, I have learnt something new and this has always enhanced my productivity.
Never declaring myself an expert of excel has helped me. Same goes for writing. I discovered that every time I write, I make many more mistakes. My tenses are all over the place. This happened because I ceased to be a student of literature. The moment I dropped the ball on learning (assuming that I know whatever is needed), my writing suffered.
But when one embraces the beginners mindset, life does not seem so uncomfortable. If you are someone (like me) who suffers from impostor syndrome, then Shoshin is the right antidote for you and me. It encourages you to be kind to yourself in more ways than one and not beat yourself up over not knowing something.
This also helps to fix the blindspots in our decision making which creep up due to years of conditioning. What is already learnt becomes our default and can lead to poor decisions and outcomes. But with a beginners mind, one may develop better first principles simply by going back to the fundamentals.
And finally, when you begin your day with a mindset like that – every day seems like a new opportunity, full of possibilities and potential source of innovation. The drudgery of everyday life can also seem different when one is eager to learn.
Further Reading: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki