This advice gives a nod to the Beginner’s Mindset, an idea that I’ve found quite helpful over the years.
The Beginner’s Mindset is, well, the mindset of a beginner. When you’re a beginner in anything, your ego doesn’t get in the way. You know you’re just starting out and probably aren’t very good, and that’s okay because you’re a beginner and you’re there to learn. You work hard to improve, you actively seek out advice from people who are ‘better’ or more experienced than you, and you never feel bad about your inadequacies because, well, you’re a beginner.
I find that adopting this Beginner’s Mindset is useful in almost every domain of life, not just those in which we’re legitimate beginners. A beginner’s mindset means that when we’re in a supervision or seminar with our own peers, but we don’t understand something that everyone else seems to, we have no qualms about speaking up and asking for clarification. It means that when we’re studying with friends, we’re not trying to prove our intelligence or knowledge in any way – we’re simply there to learn. And it means that we don’t feel bad if others are ‘better’ than us, because we can learn from them and actively improve ourselves.
There are always going to be people who are smarter, faster, stronger than we are. Having a Beginner’s Mindset approach to life means that when we come across these people, rather than feeling inadequate, we rejoice at the opportunity to learn from them and better ourselves.
Have a great week!
Ali
PS: I’m giving a talk at the University of Birmingham next Tuesday (30th Oct) at 7:30pm. If anyone happens to be around, it would be good to see you there 😁
Stuff I’ve been enjoying this week
The non-fiction book I’m reading – I’m making my way through Atomic Habits by James Clear. So far there’s a tonne of really great actionable advice that I’ve been highlighting the hell out of on my Kindle.
A new morning routine – I’ve been trying out Bulletproof Coffee. If I’m honest, it’s a bit grim, but I think that might be because I’m adding too much butter / not making the coffee properly. A lot of people seem to swear by it so I guess it’s worth sticking with it for a week or so and seeing if I enjoy it.
