“If you want to succeed in business, you need to adopt a beginner’s mindset,” my mentor Ramit Sethi said. “It’s what sets 6-figures entrepreneurs apart from everyone else.”

Marie Forleo said something similar too. “As you go through B-School, you may think you already know a lot of the concepts I mention. But pretend you don’t and approach them like a beginner.”

What are these successful entrepreneurs talking about? And what’s a beginner’s mindset anyway?

What Is A Beginner’s Mind?

A beginner’s mind is simply the art of seeing things for the first time. 

You’ve never come across anything like it before, so you have no expectations or preconceived ideas of how it should be. You just notice what is. You look at it with fresh eyes, like a child looking at a rose or a cloud for the first time. You ask questions about it. Play around with it. Get curious.

When you’re in beginner’s mind mode, you are:

• Free of expectations and prejudices
• Filled with curiosity about the world
• Open to all kinds of possibilities

You can apply this attitude to anything in your life. Like, brushing your teeth. Learning a new skill. Or building a 6-figures business.

Why Do You Need To Adopt A Beginner’s Mind To Succeed In Business?

Adopting a beginner’s mind is key to succeed in business. Here’s why:

1. Getting Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

Everything you want is on the other side of fear. It’s a cliché, I know. But it’s true.

Whether you want to scale to 6-figures, become a NYT best-selling author, or launch a podcast, you need to be willing to get out of your comfort zone and be comfortable with making mistakes.

Failure is part of the learning process. Remember when you were learning how to walk? Ok, maybe not. But you did fall down and get back up again many times. The same is true for everything else. In the early stages, you mess up more often then you get it right. It’s super uncomfortable. It’s also a requirement for mastery and success.

If you adopt a beginner’s mind, you won’t take these failures and mistakes personally. You’ll know they’re just part of the process. When you normalise being uncomfortable as being part of the process – a requirement for it even -, making mistakes along the way won’t scare you anymore.

You’ll be more likely to try new things in your business, like implementing a new marketing strategy, exploring a new niche, or saying yes to a new media opportunity. All uncomfortable things that open the doors to success. The less you fear making mistakes, the sooner you’ll take action and reach your goals.

Related: It’s Not Failure. It’s Feedback.

2. It Takes The Pressure Off

Believing you must master everything on the first try or within a week (I’m a recovery perfectionist, so I do get you!) puts a lot of pressure on you.

If that doesn’t happen, you’ll think you are a massive failure and you’ll be reluctant to try anything new again (guess how I know?). If you can’t get it right the first time, it’s not meant for you, right? 

Wrong. Honestly, only your ego expects you get it right on the first time. Everyone else understands that learning something takes time – because they’re going through the same thing, too! Allow yourself to make mistakes and suck for a while. Know that it’s part of the process and it won’t last forever. Before you know it, you’ll be a master at it.

Related: 5 Ways To Overcome Self-Doubt And Do That Thing You’ve Always Dreamed Of

3. It Gives You The Time You Need To Reach Your Goals

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your business won’t be either.

Let’s say you want to build a 6-figure business. This goal requires you to master a lot of skills. Like creating a hot product people want. Get good at selling. Getting comfortable with IG lives. Building your email list. The list goes on and on.

As soon as you’ve mastered one challenge, the next one will come up. When you adopt a beginner’s mind, you approach every new challenge with child-like wonder.

Every new skill to master is like a new, exciting adventure. You know it’ll take time to master it, but you know you’ll get there and eventually reach your goals – without killing yourself in the process.

Related: 5 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before I Started My Own Business

4. You Become More Creative

Once you’ve mastered something, you do it on autopilot. Like brushing your teeth. Did you remember all the movements you did? Heck, you probably don’t even remember picking up the toothbrush. And yet, you know you did brush your teeth this morning (you did, right?).

Using autopilot mode is good for repetitive tasks like brushing your teeth. But, when you’re trying to solve a problem, like creating a highly converting funnel, then blindly following what you already know can blind you to the right answer.

When you adopt a beginner’s mind, you start seeing all the different possibilities. What would happen if you used a different tool or adopted a different strategy? Maybe broke one or two rules of how things should be done?

All of a sudden, you see the problem with new eyes and find solutions you never thought of before. Problem solved.

How To Adopt A Beginner’s Mind

A beginner’s mind is a state of mind, an attitude. Here’s how to get in the habit of using it as much as you can:

1. Let Go Of Expectations

It’s ok to have an idea of how something will go. That’s how scientists discover things. They make up a hypothesis and test it. But they’re not attached to the outcome.

Here’s why this matters. When you’ve already decided what process/technique/method should work, you get frustrated. You try everything to make that particular thing work and, if it doesn’t, you give up.

When you adopt a beginner’s mind, you’re not attached to how you get to your goal. You know there are a gazillion ways to get there and you’re willing to try different approaches until you find the one that works.

These questions help you let go of any expectations you already have and think of new possibilities you hadn’t considered before.

Related: How To Enjoy The Journey, Not Just The Destination

2. Get Curious

Imagine you’re 5 years old again. When you got stuck with something, what did you do? You asked adults about it. And you didn’t care if your questions were stupid. You were just looking for answers.

You can do the same now. There are no stupid question. If you have a question, I can guarantee there’s someone out there who’s wondering the same. You having the courage to ask them may help someone else. Borrow the courage of that 5 years old and get the support you need to find a solution to your problem.

Wrapping It Up

Adopting a beginner’s mind gives you a fresh perspective that makes you more creative and more willing to take risks without the pressure of failing. You can’t succeed without it.

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