Why Being a Noob is Cool – Some Things I’ve Learned About Having a “Beginner’s Mind”.

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor’s cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. “It’s overfull! No more will go in!” the professor blurted. “You are like this cup,” the master replied, “How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup.”

With this story, Olson reminded his readers that none of us are above learning and growing, and encouraged the cultivation of what Zen Buddhists call Shoshin, or “Beginner’s Mind”.  I like the definition on Wikipedia about this: “It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even when studying at an advanced level, just as a beginner in that subject would”. When we approach life with a learner’s mindset, a beginner’s viewpoint, we give ourselves a huge gift. We expand our perspective, make connections we might not have otherwise made if we’d remained entrenched in our expert, “been there, done that” position, and (I love this) re-engage with the excitement a newbie (or Noob, for my more techie readers) feels when experiencing those moments of discovery and growth.

I’ve recently been given a bunch of opportunities to access my inner Noob – going back to Tang Soo Do, the Korean Martial Art I study, is one. I had spent a few years getting to Brown Belt level in Seattle and considered myself well on the path to my Black Belt, but when I joined the local Dojang here in Santa Fe I was required to start at White Belt again and test back up to Brown over time. Initially my Ego was resistant, after all I’d invested a lot in getting to a senior belt! But it is what it is, so I dug out my White Belt and showed up for class – and I’m so glad I did. First of all, nobody in class had any preconceptions of what I could do, so I’ve been able to “fly under the radar” and observe the slightly different protocols, the individual styles and make all the inevitable mistakes you make when returning to a discipline after years away without (much) loss of face. As a White Belt, people are more likely to offer me suggestions and examples of how things have worked well for them. Also, my instructor follows Vince Lombardi’s model – he assumes nothing and hammers home the basics. It’s been fantastic actually: it gives me the space to experiment, to polish out bad habits I’d developed over time, and to focus on the little things that strengthen my foundation for more advanced techniques. Wax on, wax off indeed!

Another opportunity I’ve had to apply Beginner’s Mind is with my horse, Gift. She experienced some severe trauma before I adopted her and so I have had to work with her as if she had never been started (people used to call that “breaking” a horse – we prefer to call it “starting” now). This has forced me to go back to the beginning, working on the ground and throwing out all preconceptions about how I SHOULD go about training a horse. She is a very introverted and introspective horse and, with her traumatic background, often responds to generally accepted training approaches adversely. With Gift, the only way forward is to stay open to trying new things, setbacks, and accepting help (something I’m not good at). I have been fortunate enough to find a trainer who really “feels” her and is patient with me as I learn, and it’s been an immensely rewarding experience.  I’ve also had to put aside any ideas of riding Gift for the immediately foreseeable future, and focus instead on our relationship. This has been one of the most enlightening paths I have ever walked. It has grown my patience, my intuition, my respect for others and my heart, and I’m deeply grateful for the lessons. While I work with Gift on the ground, I’ve started lessons on another horse with my trainer. All my previous riding has been in the English tradition, and she’s teaching me Western riding principles – bareback. I’m a noob again and it’s great! I can make mistakes, I can try new things and, as it’s been a while since I’ve had any regular time on horseback, my body is recalibrating. I can see the benefits flowing to my general health and martial arts practice so it’s all good.

Other opportunities I’ve taken to embrace “Beginner’s Mind” have been by setting aside my coaching experience when I enrolled in an Equine Gestalt Coaching Method certification program – Instead of coming in with a mindset of “oh, I’m already a coach so just teach me how to work with the horses”, I chose to be open to every nugget on offer and, as a result, have grown both personally and professionally from the experience. I just love stuffing my brain with new things and, being a largely kinesthetic learner, the practical workshops have really expanded my coaching repertoire.  I’ve also been going to some local workshops on social media for small business, hosted by my friend Karen Bomm of aBeansTalkSocial.com (a social media management platform for small business) – you’d think, having spent time driving social media initiatives at Microsoft and for non-profits, I’d be the expert in class, but you know what? When you keep your mind open to learning, you can really benefit from some of the questions people who are completely unfamiliar with social media have. It’s humbling, enlightening and gives me a reality check about how people in the “real world” engage online.

This reminds me of a couple more benefits of adopting “Beginner’s Mind” – perspective and clarity.  Like the time I told someone at the barn that they should “ping” me for details about something or other. They looked at me quizzically and said, “what is Ping?” – having been in the tech world for so long, it had just become part of my lexicon and, to be honest, I was stumped – who doesn’t know what Ping is?! When I rephrased my request, she said “Oh, I get it – so I’ll email you and you may or may not respond, is that it?” I just laughed and walked away with two lessons: one is to not assume people know what you’re talking about. The other, is to put your Noob Lens on every now and then, and take a good look at things you take for granted. It can help you get really clear about what you do know, what you’re assuming, and how others see or understand things.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”
– Zen Master Shunryo Suzuki

So I’d like to invite you to give up being the one who knows everything for a while – to approach the world with the wonder and curiosity of a beginner. Let go of the “shoulds” that come along with supposedly being an expert and embrace the “what ifs” that come with being an explorer.

Please share – I’d love to hear your stories about the gifts you have uncovered by adopting a “Beginner’s Mind”!