The Art of Shoshin?—?Approach Life With a Beginner’s Mindset to Become a True Expert

This year, whatever you are planning to improve, change, adapt or learn, approach it with a beginner’s mindset. It’s a fresh perspective that can help you build better habits or improve your skills in a whole new way.

In Japanese, 'shoshin' means “beginner’s mind”. As Shunryu Suzuki says in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.”

A beginner’s mindset means having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions, just as a beginner would. It’s an inclination to periodically question and reassess your deeply held values, principles, beliefs, assumptions and perceptions.

It’s a state of openness that allows you to approach life free of biases or habits associated with knowledge and experience.

“The Japanese Zen term 'shoshin' translates as ‘beginner’s mind’ and refers to a paradox: the more you know about a subject, the more likely you are to close your mind to further learning,” writes Christian Jarrett of Psyche.

There’s a significant value in approaching life from a fresh perspective — even if you already know a lot about what you want to learn, improve or change. It makes you more willing to try something new, to ask ‘why’ and question conventional wisdom.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes,” says Marcel Proust. In the 'shoshin' state of mind, you are:

• Free of preconceptions of how you should approach change or growth
• Free of expectations about what should and must happen
• Filled with curiosity to understand things more deeply
• Open to a world of possibilities to discover new approaches, ideas and ways things done from a fresh mindset.

Sometimes knowledge of how things work can become a hindrance to learning even better approaches to life. It can also prevent you from seeing things in a whole new way — your prior knowledge blocks you from seeing things from a new (and sometimes) better perspective.

“Claude Shannon, the brilliant MIT polymath who helped invent the digital world in which we live today, plunged into all kinds of pursuits, from juggling to poetry to designing the first wearable computer. “Time and time again,” noted his biographer, “he pursued projects that might have caused others embarrassment, engaged questions that seemed trivial or minor, then managed to wring breakthroughs out of them,” writes Tom Vanderbilt of The Guardian.

As we develop knowledge and expertise, our minds naturally become more closed. We tend to look for patterns that match our preconceptions and existing knowledge. We become less open to new information.

As people become more knowledgeable, they tend to discard new and different information — and look for knowledge to validate their existing information. They become more closed-minded and push away any new information that challenges their beliefs.

“This reliance on knowledge gained from past successes can, of course, sometimes pay off — but it can also hinder the explorations needed to uncover radical new ways of doing things,” writes Benjamin Finzi, Mark Lipton and Vincent Firth of Deloitte.

But you can change that by adopting the beginners’ mindset. When you are a true beginner, your mind is open to trying new things. “If your mind is empty…it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few,” says Shunryu Suzuki.

How do I practice ‘beginner’s mind’?

Start noticing your judgements more — when you jump to conclusions about anything, remind yourself to question them. Noticing your own judgement relies on a capacity for metacognition (thinking about your thinking). You can also question everything you have assumed to be the only truth.

“Allow yourself to want to understand anew. Approach it with don’t know mind. With openness. How does don’t know mind affect the situation? Does it improve it, make it wiser, easier? More relaxed?” says Jack Kornfield, the author of The Wise Heart.

To incorporate a beginner’s mindset, Benjamin, Mark and Vincent recommend that we consider these four possibilities:

1. What if my assumptions are wrong, despite the best evidence at hand?
2. What if what seem to be perfect solutions drawn from history are no longer relevant?
3. What if I could wish for anything I wanted?
4. What if my critics are right?

A beginners mindset can help you upgrade your thinking skills, improve your blindspots and think clearly. Embracing the beginner's mind is also about noticing more — being more mindful about experiences around you. By consciously slowing down, you can force yourself to experience activities events or routines more deeply. The process provides richer experiences and growth.

You can also practice 'shoshin' in your conversations with anyone (even those you disagree with). This life-changing habit can help you see people as they are without judgment.

With an open mind, you can notice how they feel, their difficulties, struggles and why they think the way they do (and even improve your emotional intelligence in the process).

And finally, approach the world with a sense of authentic curiosity. 

Let go of limiting beliefs and let go of expertise. Be curious about even the smallest detail. Stay in exploration mode and consider all options no matter how simple or difficult they are.

Begin to see things with an eagerness to understand. “Approaching issues with a beginner’s mind or a healthy dose of intellectual humility can help to counter the disadvantages of intellectual hubris. People who are more intellectually humble actually know more, presumably because they are more receptive to new information,” writes Christian.

As author and film producer Brian Grazer said in his book, A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, “You’re born curious, and no matter how much battering your curiosity has taken, it’s standing by, ready to be awakened.” So awaken to the joy that not having all the answers can bring. Because, hey, you never know …

With 'shoshin', we surrender to the full, colourful experience of life. The practise allows us to be more flexible, open, curious, grateful and present.

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To our common journey,

Thomas

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