Don’t Lose Your Beginner’s Mind

There’s a concept in Zen Buddhism called beginner’s mind. The core idea is that we remain open to learning even if we feel like we’re an expert. This can be applied to any aspect of your life. There are always things to learn, no matter what your skill level is.

When you have it in your head that there’s nothing else to learn, your mind stops looking. Here’s a great quote from the book *Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind* that sums it up well:

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” 

I hadn’t thought about this book for a while, and oddly enough, it was an argument in the comment section of a graffiti post that reminded me. One guy was arguing about how letters “should” be drawn, while the other was talking more about having flexibility in how things are done.

Looking at the first guy’s work, he was clearly a beginner and was already losing the beginner’s mind. It’s bad enough to lose beginner’s mind when you’re very experienced, but losing it in the beginning is setting yourself up for a tough path.

There’s a lot more progress to be made by remaining open to new ideas than by closing your mind off because you think you have it all down.

— Bus