How to Adopt a Beginner’s Mindset to Accelerate Learning and Increase Creativity

OVERVIEW: This guide provides exercises to help you access a beginner’s mindset to elevate your creative work and enhance your learning abilities.

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How often do you get stuck in a pattern of doing the same things day after day?

  • Do you frequently think the same thoughts?
  • Do you ruminate on the same old storylines?
  • Are you haunted by indecision on the same problems?
  • Do you hit up against the same resistance to getting something done?

Consumed by various cognitive biases and limiting belief systems, our range of possibilities can quickly shrink to a restrictive few.

In this state, our creative energy is stagnant. Even though we may not realize it, our world gets smaller.

We’re all familiar with this experience. Why does this occur and what can we do to break this pattern right now?

The key is to adopt a beginner’s mindset.

Let’s dive in …

The Power of Divergent Thinking

In his popular TED Talk, Do Schools Kill Creativity? as well as his Changing Education Paradigms, creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson sheds light on a primary source of our creativity crisis.

Robinson explains that divergent thinking—the ability to see many possible answers to a question—is a fundamental attribute of creativity.

One way researchers evaluate divergent thinking in individuals is by the number of answers they give to questions like:

  1. How many uses are there for a shoe?
  2. How many uses can you think of for a paper clip?

Most people might offer 10 to 15 answers; others can divine closer to 200.

Psychologists classify these latter folks as geniuses at divergent thinking.

The Alarming Decline of Genius

In one study, 1,500 participants received these types of questions. All of the participants were around five-year-olds.

How many of them scored at the genius level?

A whopping 98 percent!

The researchers tracked these same students five years later. Now, only 32 percent scored as high.

Then, another five years later, now at age 15, only 10 percent reached the genius level.

Approximately 200,000 adults took the same test. How many scored at the genius level? A paltry 2 percent.

This research is a wake-up call for those of us who have children, but what about you?

What can you as an adult do to bring back the innate genius?

We Are Conditioned into Functional Fixedness

Robinson attributes this alarming drop in genius over 10 years to the “educating” process.

There is one answer to a problem, the system instructed us.

We are conditioned to memorize and recite that one answer in class and on examinations.

To make matters worse, we were often humiliated when we didn’t know their one answer.

This “educating” process conditioned us with what psychologists call functional fixedness—looking at a problem from a familiar viewpoint.

With functional fixedness, it’s as if a mental block hinders our ability to consider new ways of looking at things.

A Famous Zen Parable

Functional fixedness is reminiscent of a Zen parable:

A student comes to a famous Zen master and asks for instruction in the way of Zen Buddhism.

The master begins to discuss several topics of Buddhism like emptiness and meditation. But the student interrupts the master in an attempt to impress him and says, “Oh, I already know that.”

The master then invites the student to have some tea.

When the tea is ready, the master pours the tea into a teacup, filling it to the brim, and spilling tea over the sides of the cup and onto the table.

The student exclaims, “Stop! You can’t pour tea into a full cup.”

The master replies, “Return to me when your cup is empty.”

beginners mind

The “I Know” Syndrome

Henry David Thoreau observed, “I begin to see an object when I cease to understand it.”

While as young children we naturally “live the questions,” as the poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, as adults we’ve come to assume the answers.

Filled with endless bits of information, we find it difficult to sit with the ambiguity of not knowing.

The “I know” syndrome plagues us, hindering the impulse for curiosity. Curiosity is a precursor to creativity.

The solution to the “I know” pattern—the mind of the so-called expert—is to adopt what’s called in Zen Buddhism a beginner’s mind.

What is a Beginner’s Mind?

A beginner’s mind is empty. That is, it holds no preconceived ideas or rules about what is.

In, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice, Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki writes:

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.

In The Dancing Wu Li Masters, author Gary Zukav put it this way:1Gary Zukav, The Dancing Wu Li Masters, 1979.

This is another characteristic of a Master. Whatever he does, he does with the enthusiasm of doing it for the first time. This is the source of his unlimited energy. Every lesson that he teaches (or learns) is a first lesson. Every dance that he dances, he dances for the first time. It is always new, personal and alive.

The beginner’s mindset is open, eager, and receptive to new information. With a beginner’s mind, a person doesn’t hold any preconceived notions or absolutism.

The Link Between Creativity and the Beginner’s Mind

In his study of self-actualizing individuals, psychologist Abraham Maslow found that in moments of absorption, these creatives describe a kind of innocence akin to the beginner’s mind.

Maslow writes in The Farther Reaches of Human Nature:2Abraham Maslow, The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, 1993.

They are variously described as being naked in the situation, guileless … without “shoulds” or “oughts,” without fashions, fads, dogmas, habits, or other pictures-in-the-head of what is proper, normal, “right,” as being ready to receive whatever happens to be the case without surprise, shock, indignation, or denial.

In moments of creativity and absorption in our actions, we adopt a beginner’s mind.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this state flow.3Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 2008.

Maslow notes that although children and wise old people are more receptive to this beginner’s mind, we are all able to access it when we become “here-now.”

Quantum physicist David Bohm also observed the link between creativity and the beginner’s mind:4David Bohm, On Creativity, 2004.

One prerequisite for originality is clearly that a person shall not be inclined to impose his preconceptions on the fact as he sees them. Rather, he must be able to learn something new, even if this means that the ideas and notions that are comfortable or dear to him may be overturned.

The Freshness of Appreciation

Maslow found that self-actualizing individuals have a “continued freshness of appreciation.”

When you first learn something new, like a way of stretching your shoulders, your mind is engaged in the task.

But how about after performing the stretch five or six times?

After each experience doing the stretch, the freshness wanes a little more. Novelty erodes quickly.

But with renewed freshness, the mind stays open and receptive.

It enables the individual to maintain their original attitude toward something that has already become familiar.

From George Leonard’s Mastery:5George Leonard, Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment, 1992.

The essence of boredom is to be found in the obsessive search for novelty. Satisfaction lies in mindful repetition, the discovery of endless richness in subtle variations on familiar themes.

Leonard is highlighting how a beginner’s mindset is an essential attribute to one’s path toward self-mastery.

beginners mind

How to Adopt a Beginner’s Mindset

Remember that a beginner’s mindset is your mind’s natural state.

A beginner’s mind isn’t something difficult to attain or something that takes years of practice to experience.

Such beliefs only make something simple feel elusive.

You can’t “achieve” a beginner’s mind, nor can you “try” to be open and ready. Trying only creates internal tension.

Instead, you strip away everything in the way of experiencing this natural beginner’s mindset, emptying the teacup so that new perspectives and ideas can emerge.

To return to a beginner’s mindset, find a way of calming and quieting your mental chatter.

Below are four useful methods to help empty your mind so you can return to a beginner’s mindset.

Experiment with them and see what works best for you.

Exercise #1: Mindful Breathing

Bring your awareness to your breath.

Focus your attention on the process of inhaling and exhaling, placing your awareness on the process of breathing itself.

Or, notice the feeling of the air entering your nostrils.

The main idea is to bring your attention to a single action in a particular location.

Doing so draws your energy to this area thereby quieting your mind.

See also: Tuning the Breathing: How to Breathe Properly

Exercise #2: Grounding

Sitting or standing, place both your feet firmly on the ground, ideally barefoot on the earth.

Put your full awareness on the bottom of your feet. Feel your rootedness.

Notice any sensations you feel in your feet. I find this to be one of the fastest methods for quieting the mind.

Most people keep their attention exclusively on our thoughts or on external images (like a device screen).

It’s as if we have an excess amount of energy swimming around in our heads, keeping us fixated on thinking.

When you allow your attention to sink into your feet, within seconds (something minutes), you’ll notice a shift in this energy.

Your mind becomes quieter and you feel more centered.

See also: How to Ground Yourself to the Earth

Exercise #3: Mindful Observation

Gaze at an object for a period. Strip away the name you call that object.

For example, “pen.” If you didn’t know that a pen was called a pen or that it was for writing, how would you experience this object?

Notice the form, shape, texture, color, etc. without judgment or commentary on the object.

If you do this for long enough, the object may become foreign to you.

Then, you will experience a ping of curiosity, followed by the thought, “What is that?”

This curiosity is a trademark of a beginner’s mindset.

See also: A Comprehensive Guide to Sitting Meditation

Exercise #4: Dropping Labels & Identifications

Drop all of your false identifications about yourself.

For example, I am a man/woman, mother/father, sister/brother, husband/wife, son/daughter, Democrat/Republican, meat-eater/vegetarian, athlete, dancer, achiever, friend, etc.

Every label you have for yourself comes with a host of beliefs associated with that label.

Each label activates an archetype in your mind, meaning they trigger set patterns of behavior that prohibit openness.

In a beginner’s mindset, you’re empty. That is, no labels qualify.

Let go of who you think you are … if only for a few precious moments.

The Habit of a Beginner’s Mindset

Although the beginner’s mindset is natural, over time, we tend to lose this natural quality of consciousness.

Now, to return to this natural state, you need to install a new pattern.

The above exercises can help. Try using them whenever you want to open up to new possibilities.

Or find something else that works for you.

Experiment with these methods before you start working on a project or brainstorming with others.

It’s also helpful when you’re wrestling with a difficult decision.

Remind yourself that whatever you currently see―whatever is known to you at present―is only a perspective.

There are many other equally valid perspectives too.

In returning to the mindset of the beginner, you open up to new worlds of ideas and possibilities.

Suggested Reading on a Beginner’s Mind

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
by Shunryu Suzuki

Paperback | Kindle | Audio

beginner's mind
On Dialogue
by David Bohm

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What do you think?

Share your comments and thoughts below:

  • I particularly liked the Fourth Exercise as I have practiced it for years. Ramana Maharashi has said that to “Be still and know that I AM God” is to be aware of the I AM with no other thoughts (no labels). Excellent point.

    Exercise #4: Dropping Labels & Identifications

    Drop all of your false identifications about yourself.

    For example, I am a Democrat, a vegetarian, an athlete, an achiever, a mother, father, sister, husband, etc.

    Every label you have for yourself comes with a host of beliefs associated with that label.

    Each label activates an archetype in your mind, meaning they trigger set patterns of behavior that prohibit openness.

    In a beginner’s mind, you’re empty. That is, no labels qualify.

    Let go of who you think you are … if only for a few precious moments.

      • My sense is that exercise #4 actually goes past neti-neti as it gives one a direct experience of unitary consciousness. As soon as one completes the statement “I am …” with a label, separation and duality manifest. In any case, I believe that we are essentially saying the same thing.

        Exercise #3 reminds me of Pratyahara (5th limb of Asthanga Yoga ) which can be done continuously even as one walks in a park or some other venue. I find that practice to be an excellent preliminary to the final three steps of asthanga yoga.

        It was a really good article.

          • Of course, that which is eventually does not even say “I AM” or anything else for that matter. (-:

          • thank you Jeffrey, i am about to bering a workshop in China on releasing limiting beliefs and understanding that we all have been conditioned. I have just yesterday thought about the overfilled cup, you email came in time to support my focus on have a beginners mind. Thank you

  • Wow…. As always the articles are all excellent, everything I received, or researched I used or am extracting the tools to initiate a project of socio-emotional development with young people from the middle school here in Brazil. I’m grateful for you. I feel privileged to receive this material of high standard of quality and that I will use to benefit people. Keep spreading your light around the world.

    • That’s great to hear, Inaionara.

      If you can get this information to young people while their brains are still in rapid development, they will have an even easier time staying connected to their creative abilities.

      Also, see the work of Carol Dweck on mindsets. I provide a guide based on her research here:
      https://scottjeffrey.com/change-your-fixed-mindset/

      Dweck offers a program for young students called Brainology that you can use in your school system.

  • Scott, you know I do not know anything about Zen-Buddhism or oriental thoughts. The only spiritual guide I received in this world was my mothers thoughts. Your presentations, seem to me to be open-minded and wake up my interest to be more in deep knowledge of this points. Thank you

    • Carl, there are many similarities between various Wisdom traditions, and there are also notable differences and areas of emphasis.

      The main thing I’ve found useful is to stay open to various ideas and the practices that seek to bring about specific experiences. Only then are we in a position to evaluate the validity of something for ourselves. Best wishes to you.

  • Thank you, Scott. This information is interesting and provocative. I will save it as a reference.

  • Thank you, I read and read again to try and deeply reflect on everything here. #4 is interesting and also very conflicting in my head. I have never seen something like I am …. as a label but as an identity … I always thought… knowing who I am and what I stand for are my values. It doesn’t close my mind but helps me navigate the world better. I am thinking of what I have learnt from Seth – People like us …. So, who are people like us and what we are calling labels here many be i find them clear values that define me. Being a mother is a huge part of identity and it gives me a better perspective… Just thinking …

    • Remember that the context of this article is adopting a beginner’s mind.

      Knowing what you value helps you develop a stronger ego. This is helpful in many ways. So it’s not that values can’t serve you too.

      But a rigid view of oneself — a codified boundary of one’s ego — doesn’t support an open mind or a connection to one’s Source.

      With a beginner’s mind, we’re seeking emptiness. The ego doesn’t like emptiness because it doesn’t have anything to grab onto.

  • Honestly, your article is very insightful. I believe each one of these methods are helpful, but being able to integrate all four would put you in an entirely different space. Absolutely beautiful!

  • Totally happy I stumbled on this article, thank you Lord Google. a poetic interweave of quotes, insights, tips and research. very well written – thank you for taking the time to create such good pieces and for sharing them. :-D

  • Hi Scott,
    Great article ! Thank you, this is very inspiring. I have found similar ideas in Krishnamurti’s philosophy, when he talks about “dying to everything of yesterday”.
    However, I sometimes struggle with this thought of “letting go of who you think you are”. Then how do I know what drives me (core values and all the rest of it) ?

    • Hi Ekaterina,

      Here’s how transpersonal psychology puts it: “you have to become somebody before you can be nobody.”

      So there’s a difference between developing a healthy ego that’s somewhat competent in the world versus transcending that ego.

      It’s not always a straightforward process of differentiating one or the other. (Many people seek to “transcend” without really knowing what they are trying to transcend.)

      The first key seems to be to get to know yourself, which is where things like values and knowing your shadow are important.

      But eventually, you begin to let go of these self-concepts as well.

      In the context of beginner’s mind, it’s a bit easier. You immerse yourself in the task at hand and momentarily “let go.”

  • Thank You, for having me remember. I even now remember you in my previous life and the after life. You had taught me a a lot. Thank you again

  • I loved stumbling onto this web page. It has been very interesting to read. I would have to say I entered it with a empty mind as I have learned new ways of thinking and had questions answered that I didn’t know where to find them. I’m a great believer in things happening for a reason. So maybe it wasn’t that I stumbled onto this page but had an open mind.

  • I think that the tea cup over flowing should too not be looked at as full itself or over flowing but look at it broader… as maybe the overflow is actually not full and that in itself draws a broader picture of things like a beginners mind. Is this not why the buddist told the person to return once the cup was empty… because he viewed the cup full itself? If he would have looked at the cup differently then maybe he would not have been sent away?

  • Hey Scott,

    It is Matteo here. I found your guides regarding Beginner Mindset and Growth Mindset very interesting.

    I have one question regarding praise, which has fundamental impact on children.

    Reading your guides, especially the one on Growth Mindset, seems that it is always better to focus on the behavior when praising children. If I say to a child, “You got an A in math test, you are so smart”, I probably contribute to create a fixed mindset. On the contrary if I say “You got an A in math test, well done, you used the right strategy, you studied in a smart way”, I probably contribute to create a growth mindset.

    Now, I am reading this book which you suggested in your guide “Originals, how non conformists move the world”. Here the author seems to say that “character praise” is better than “behavior praise” in a child, for what concerns moral standards, but also concerning originality. “When a child draws a picture, instead of calling the artwork creative, we can say “You are creative”” Cit. pag. 157.

    Now, why such a difference? It is because we are talking about different domains i.e. Creativity, Divergent thinking, Originality vs Intelligence? In my opinion no, because the creativity, divergent thinking is a form of intelligence at the end of the day.

    I am also reading the book you suggested “the wisdom of the Ennegram”, and it is super interesting. Here, the authors say that our personality type very often is determined by our up-bringing. Very often the quality which a parent does not posses is not reflected to a child, and therefore a wound is created and a personality is formed in order to make up for it. Or using your guide on the Shadow, this quality is repressed in the subconscious, but still determines what the person will value in his/her life, what he/she will seek for consciously or unconsciously.

    So very often praise that we do not receive (explicitly or implicitly) when we are children contributes to create a personality type we have to deal with, in our actualization path.

    Now reading this two books, I somehow think that character praise is also important. (at the beginning reading your two guides I came to the conclusion that just behavior praise was the most appropriate for children)

    I therefore think that it is not very easy to be a parent, and it is an art to find the right balance between behavior praise and character praise.

    I am curious to know your point of view Scott, which as always can be very illuminating, for us readers.

    Thank you very much.

    Good bye.

    • Matteo,

      It would take a significant volume of words to adequately answer your questions and to address all of the tensions around this issue.

      The main question seems to be:

      Is praise — in ANY form — necessary for a child’s healthy development?

      My conclusion from my research, observations, and reflection is: absolutely not.

      I think praise — in ANY form — exists because of our collective mental illness (in culture and society). I think a child who was raised in a healthy environment would not seek or need praise in any shape or form.

      Creativity is our birthright. And learning and development is a natural process. I have no reason to believe that praise is an important factor in the cultivation of creativity or natural development.

      If parents become conscious of WHY they have even the impulse to praise their child, I’m certain they would stop doing it. But arriving at this understanding requires inner work.

      The reality is that we do more harm to the developmental process than anything else. Just as I highlighted in the illustration above regarding divergent thinking — it’s our education system that strips us of our creativity and interest in learning.

      We don’t need to “foster creativity” in children. We just have to stop crushing this natural propensity. We don’t need to replace praise with something else or use a better version of it. We just need to stop doing something that is causing harm.

      But the problem is deeper than this. We need psychological safety to develop in natural and healthy ways. You can’t send your kids to school AND provide this psychological safety. Also, the current cultural and social norms aren’t oriented toward family values and natural law. As such, children are most often (consciously or unconsciously) perceived as a burden. This creates anxiety for the child that further stalls their development. Praise has always been a band-aid approach.

      Feedback, in contrast, is instructive and applied to a specific action that fosters a desired result. Effective coaches use this type of feedback that supports learning particular skills.

      • Thank you Scott,

        I agree with you. I slept over these ideas, and they resonate with me. What you said reminded me of the archetype of the king, which I got to know thanks to your guides and the book KWML you suggested.

        One of the great function of the king, (and more in general, I think, of the royal couple) is to be there, to see, and to mirror what there is front of them, and not necessarily utter words. We need to be seen especially when we are children, we need the full presence of our king/queen. The full presence requires no words, and it is evident by the gestures, the way of looking, of being etc. In fact in the Ennegram book, the authors speak about “mirroring” the child qualities, not praising them. The message can, and sometimes must, remain implicit.

        When you talk about society “illness”, I personally see a cultural dimension in the western world which could play a negative role. In this sense, a great drawback of the western society is that it tends to be very “low context” and it needs words, contracts, expressions to exist. What is not said it is almost not existent. And sometimes this lead to pressure of saying things, even if they are not present. On the contrary eastern world is much more “high context” and silence itself is much more important than words. Of course the reality it is much more complicated, cultural dimensions are kind of stereotypes, but sometimes they are depository of some truth.

        More in general, I agree with you that most of the time praise is a band-aid approach. Most of the time, parents do not have the full presence necessary, they did not do the necessary inner work. Praise comes out in order to make up for this inner lack.

        Words are just form and not essence. If the essence is lacking (presence, self-awareness typical of the king) then words are like empty boxes, and praise is perceived as consolation prize, with great disappointment (and wounds) for the child.

        By the way sometimes words are needed, and here it comes the instructive importance of feedback, as you say.

        It is very interesting to me the fact that also feedback is a sort of mirroring.

        Thank you Scott.

        • Matteo,

          Just to clarify: while being present is certainly important, what I was referring to was more elementary than that.

          With shadow work, you begin to catch the drive behind praising a child. For example, many parents praise their kids for doing the most basic things. Why?

          Behind most forms of praise is judgment. “You’re so smart” translates to “you little idiot.” “You did that all by yourself?” translates to “You’re so incompetent.” And so on.

          The child becomes a container for all the stuff the parent didn’t work through from their childhood.

          This is why I said when you do sufficient shadow work, there’s no need to praise anymore because you catch the hidden motivation behind the act of praise.

          If you see your child as creative, intelligent, and resourceful (not because they are “special” but because there’s no reason for them not to be skillful), the need for praise falls away.

          And if the child wasn’t conditioned by parents or teachers to seek praise early on in life, they simply wouldn’t seek praise OR approval from others. But then we would be living in a very different world with a lot more responsible adults …

  • So… I need to revert to a dumb child again?

    I wanted to ESCAPE the fact that no matter what I try I always stay a incompetent stupid beginner… not embrace it..

    • It would appear that you either didn’t read the guide or didn’t understand it.

      Incompetence is a function of one’s skill level in a particular area.

      “Stupidity” is a function of one’s level of ignorance (assuming there isn’t an actual mental dysfunction).

      Neither incompetence nor stupidity is related to a beginner’s mind. You’ll do well to reread the guide — this time, with a beginner’s mind.

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