Embrace The Beginner's Mind
When I started learning to code, I was closing in on 30 years old and felt “too old” to make a career switch…
Two years later, I realize how misguided I was…
Thirty is still very young.
But had I not embraced the beginner’s mind, (a term made popular in Shunryu Suzuki’s book, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind) I'd still be working in a warehouse, thinking it was too late for me to start a new career.
When you have the courage to start again, amazing things can happen.
But you’re thinking
“That’s easy for you to say, but I’m 40/50/60, etc. It’s too late for me”.
But I would argue that regardless of your age, there’s someone who started late in life, and still became a success.
Bob Ross became a well known painter at 41.
Samuel L Jackson was 40 when he rose to fame as an actor.
Stan Lee didn’t become well known for comics until almost 40
Charles Darwin published the Theory of Evolution at 50 years old
Harland Sanders (Colonel Sanders) was 62 when he franchised his first KFC.
I could go on and on with examples that show it’s possible to start late and still see great success.
But here’s the thing… even if you don’t become a wild success the time will pass anyway.
So what’s it matter if someone is better, or started earlier?
In the spirit of starting again, I’m learning to draw.
It’s a huge step outside my comfort zone, but something I’ve always wanted to learn.
So I embrace the feelings of not being good. Of feeling lost. Of stumbling to find my way. Because it’s all part of starting again, and it’s necessary for growth
Don’t believe that you’ve learned all there is to know… there is always more to learn. That’s what the beginner’s mind is about… Constant growth.
So start the new hobby, go deeper on the ones you have, and never stop growing.
We have to make the most of the small slice of eternity given to us.
“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.”
- Shunryu Suzuki