Being Beginners - Always

Has this happened to you?

You are learning a new game from your friend, and you beat her at it! You throw a dart for the first time, and it hits the bull’s eye! Heard of “beginner’s luck”? Yes, as Alchemist (Paulo Coelho. You haven’t read it yet?) says – every search begins with beginner’s luck.

There has been lot of research done on this phenomenon. Psychology has an explanation – as a beginner, one is not under pressure, there are no or very less expectations, mistakes are OK – in fact expected. “We are we” without trying to be someone else – we are not worried about what others think of us. It seems this “beginner’s luck” arises from a disconnect between doer and the pressure of the activity.

There is this unexplainable beauty in beginnings. There’s freshness, opportunities to make new decisions, there’s eagerness, it puts us on the edge where we discover ourselves. Just imagine – new leaves, new flowers, new relationships, new place of work, new projects, new role…

And then what happens? Instead of asking questions, we are always answering questions. We no longer have the luxury of acting without being attached to the outcomes. We are conscious of the expectations others have from us. We are seniors, we are experts, and we are no longer beginners. The lightness, the freshness, the eagerness are almost always lost (to different degrees).

Can we always be beginners? No. No, we can’t be and should not always be beginners in a particular field, role or activity. We will graduate to become experts and take on the burden and pleasures of expertise.

Can we always be beginners? Absolutely yes. While we graduate to become experts in something, we can still be beginners in something else – related or totally unrelated. One of the organizations that I worked with, adopted this concept beautifully well. They encouraged employees to think like beginners. They boldly told their clients that they don’t know everything. They practiced the principles of Shoshin (please google for this. Its serene and blissful).

How beautiful is the thought which recognizes that every day we know less. Each one of us, in our own way, can create an environment that appreciates the beauty of beginnings and the aura of beginners – in our work and outside of work. Try it. The goodness of beginnings will rub off on other things that have become mundane and boring.

Let me leave you with a question (no, not the typical “call to action” from ChatGPT composed articles… this is from my heart ;) ) - When was the last time that we did something for the first time? :)