SHOSHIN - The Beginner's Mind

Don't Become a Slave to Your Old Beliefs

We all must start somewhere, so it might as well be at the beginning.

I've been doing a lot of reading during Melbourne's cold winter months, and one of the books I could not put down was "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. He also has an awesome website that's well worth checking out.

To paraphrase something James said, There is a concept in Zen Buddhism known as Shoshin, meaning “beginner's mind.”

Shoshin refers to the idea of letting go of what you think you may already know about something, and instead adopting the mindset of somebody who is an absolute beginner in that field.

Things are never as new and exciting, as when you are a complete novice who is just starting out on their journey. Your brain is empty and open, and willing to consider every piece of information - just like a child who is discovering the world for the very first time.

The part of the book that stood out the most was, and I quote;

"Who is to say that the way you originally learned something is the best way? What if you simply learned one way of doing things, and not the way of doing things?

James goes on to say that there is an inherent danger with becoming an expert in any field. The more you learn, the more you think you already know, and the more closed off you become to new ideas. You tend to block out any new information that may disagree with what you have previously learned, and instead you become biased towards agreeing with information that confirms what you may already know.

You think you are learning, but all you are doing is plowing through information and conversations, waiting until you hear something that matches up with your current philosophy or previous experience.

You start to tell yourself "I already know all about this thing", and thus become less open to new information. You begin to consider yourself an expert in your field, and believe that anyone with less experience than you could never know as much as you do, so there is nothing they could ever teach you.

In essence, you become rigid and stale.

So how do we go about rediscovering our 'beginner's mind'?

One way is to let go of the need to feel like you need to win every argument.

You may genuinely be an expert in your field, and you may honestly know a great deal more than the person with whom you are discussing a subject. However, if your preconception of that person is that they know less than you, then all you are doing is looking for errors in what they are saying so you can correct them.

Think of it this way - at the very least, considering their point of view means that you open yourself to the possibility that you may learn something new, or at least entertain the idea that a different way of doing that thing also exists.

The worst case scenario is that even if you are right and they are wrong, then it doesn't matter. You can walk away from the conversation satisfied, knowing that you didn't have to have the last word.

Others don't need to lose in order for you to win.

Another way is to let go of the need to add value.

Yes, we all have the tendency to want to help someone who is learning something about an area in which we may have a lot of expertise.

However, this need to constantly offer advice to others, shuts you off from potentially learning something new, and most importantly, it kills any ownership that someone else may have about their own ideas.

Try to catch yourself every time you feel the urge to say "You should try this...", or "The thing that worked for me is..." and instead just shut up and listen.

If you don't want to become the bore who thinks they know everything, say something like "Tell me more about that" instead.

Everyone likes to hear themselves talk, but the problem is that a lot of that talking is done by us. Asking the other party to tell you their point of view, no matter how amateurish it may sound, allows you to open your mind to hear about the world through someone else's perspective.

Everyone's life experiences are different to yours. Your own memory of a first date is different to that of your partner, since you were both facing opposite sides of the restaurant.

Letting someone else do the talking for a change, allows you to listen for small tidbits of information which you would probably not pick up, had your mind been closed off and waiting to hear only what you wanted to hear. Confirmation bias is a bitch.

The fourth way - and this is something that comes from my own personal experience - is to accept that as we go through life and get older, we also forget things.

Therefore, taking a step back and allowing a bit of time to pass, gives us an opportunity to re-learn something anew, even if it's something we already think we know. You'll be surprised by just how much you have already forgotten, and how little you actually still remember.

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Happy shooting!