It’s September. While it may be the 9th month of the year, for many, this time of year holds significant meaning. In the northern hemisphere, it’s the closing weeks of summer and the month of the autumnal equinox, the last days of regular baseball season and the opening ones of American football games. It’s a time when pumpkin spice and apple picking show up on social media timelines, yet we hold fast our flip flop days, and we’re full steam ahead into school’s first term of a new year. 

Somehow, in the blink of an eye and the flip of a calendar page, our schedules go from restful abundance to crammed with the stress and agency of all things rush. Does it have to be this way? 

What if we took a different approach? 

This year, one of my favorite young adults begins her senior year of university, while another of my favorite teenagers begins her own high school journey. Each of these milestone moments come with all sorts of feelings, angst, excitement, and stuff both tangible and invisible. That nervous excitement, the tingles, and butterflies tell a story yet it’s up to us to decipher. It could be the fear meaning face everything and run, yet it could be the excitement of adventure ahead with all the wonder and curiosity of new.

If you ask me, the emotions evoked by both of those options feel all sorts of different, yet sometimes it’s hard to choose the one that makes us feel good and right for ourselves.

Some of us deal with the Sunday scaries, and they take on a whole new level in the months of August and September. But what if there was another choice?

What if we could do our best to lean into a different way of thinking, a beginner’s mindset, where we find the curiosity we had as toddlers and young ones discovering all the newness in our worlds?

Consider a child’s first view of the ocean, first jump in a puddle, first climb on the monkey bars, or first hike up a mountain. Of course, there are moments when the tears flood the eyeballs or those tummies bubble from nerves we don’t yet have the words to explain. 

But there’s something else at play. The desire to test a toe in the wide blue water, the curiosity of what might happen if we leap, the chance to test out the view from new heights, and even the possibility of what creatures we might meet at the top of the climb. 

What might we think, how might we feel, how would we choose to act before the world told us how we should?

If Disney’s Chief Tui hadn’t told Moana to stay out of the water, how quickly would she have been on that boat? If no one told Elemental’s Ember and Wade that they shouldn’t be together, would they have had to deal with all the angst they did? And I can’t even imagine how Frozen’s storyline would have transformed if Elsa had been allowed to be her authentic self and share her magical powers from day one. If you looked at the world with the innocent eyes of possibility (like Anna’s pal, Olaf), imagine the plot twists your story might take.

“In Zen Buddhism, there is a concept called “beginner’s mind.” This refers to the attitude of approaching something with a fresh perspective as if you were seeing it for the first time. It is a state of openness and curiosity, without any preconceived notions or expectations.” (Forbes) 

Oftentimes, we may not even know this mindset is an option or how to cultivate it. 

Consider what shifts might take place if we did. Consider how it might impact those Sunday scaries, or turn those feelings of worry into excited butterflies. 

The mindful intention of leaning into that beginner’s mindset can flip perspectives, fling us into more of a solution-focused space, clear out the cobwebs to open our curiosity to new possibilities, and even make risks seem more palatable than once perceived. 

Consider the traveler on a brand new voyage. With the world as your oyster, all the new aromas and culinary delights available, the various cultures to witness, and new experiences to have, that childlike wonder is stoked. We could play the ‘what if’ game a zillion times—or choose to see the possibilities, test our ability to be inspired again, and open ourselves to discovering more awe-filled moments. 

We have a choice, for our mindset, for our attitude, for our view of the world. It’s not always easy, but we have a choice. What do you choose?

At this time of year, at this stage in the game, and at this opening of school, can you lean into the benefits of a beginner’s mindset? 

Experts tend to limit their beliefs, thinking that there’s nothing new to learn; beginners see everything as learning and growth opportunities. Experts tend towards an attitude where all solutions have been found, while beginners are willing to take a look from a different vantage point. Experts are prone to their tried and true methods; beginners come with no expectations, an openness to welcome innovative views and cultivate creativity that may not have before been entertained or accepted. 

With an open mind towards growth, beginners set the stage for discovery and exploration creating a space for newfound possibilities to arise.

The choice is yours. 

You get to create the world you wish to embody, you get to decide the mindset you undertake, you get to show up in the world however you see fit. Perhaps, as we enter the final quarter of the calendar year, you choose to embrace the mindset of a beginner and see new experiences as a place to learn, grow, and nurture the wonder that once was the default setting of your youth. 

Consider when was the last time you decided to do something for the first time. Perhaps today is day one.

4 Tips to help cultivate that beginner’s mindset

“The beginner’s mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless” - Shunryu Suzuki

Don’t take yourself too seriously

“It is the mind that is innocent of preconceptions and expectations, judgements and prejudices…full of curiosity and wonder and amazement” - (on a beginner’s mind) Zenkei Blanche Hartman

Picture a child, a puppy, and an ice cream cone. As the young boy eats the treat, the puppy joins in—and within minutes, the cone falls, there’s sweets all over the puppy’s face, and the two of them are sharing, giggling, and bowled over by delight. That child never entertained the idea of failure. He didn’t think he wasn’t good enough; he laughed, enjoyed the moment, possibly learned to hold on a little tighter or eat the ice cream a bit higher up than the doggy, and that sometimes everyone drops ice cream on the floor and you try again tomorrow. 

While it might not be the same as the runner in their first race, the engineer seeking a patent for their experiment, the chef in their Michelin star debut, or the writer venturing into the world of novels for the first time, the idea’s the same. 

If we refuse to be a beginner, how will we ever have a shot at becoming an expert?

Laugh at yourself, use failure as a guide to try again, practice radical self-compassion, and know that each and every master first began as an apprentice. 

Refuse to fear failure

“The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner’s mind” - Jack Kornfield

Students study the scientific method. High school lab classes showcase beakers, goggles, and burners to help explore experiments of all sorts. Learners follow steps, hypothesize outcomes, document results, report findings, then repeat. And yet, outside of the chemistry lab, we often disconnect from the idea that failure leads to learning and growth. Bill Gates, Kobe Bryant, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, George Clooney, and Denzel Washington are only a few of the countless humans who remind us that honoring and learning from failures is far more significant than we first thought. 

Celebrate those successes, yet refuse to fear failure. 

By taking the risk, harnessing the lessons, and being brave, we allow ourselves the chance to soar. Failure changes the entire game and sweetens each success. So, when the world feels a bit weary and the doubts rear their heads, embrace that beginner’s mind and step forward to try again.

Lean into the leap 

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new” - Albert Einstein

I spent my youth reading Shel Silverstein poems. My siblings and I all had our own favorites; many staying with us decades later. Those words made me giggle, tucked me in for naps, and even kept me up at night. The what if’s of my early years showed up in rhymes and riddles, then later jumped off the pages, turning into doubts and imposter syndrome speaking louder than I thought possible. Reframing those concepts, flipping the script, and using them as fuel can drown the noise and catapult our stories. 

The what if’s are only one perspective, it’s up to us to choose a different version.

Channeling that beginner’s mindset allows us to stay open and curious to new ideas. We can entertain them even amidst the clamor of the doubts. We can shift the focus and ask ourselves other questions, like, “what if it all works out?” or, “if there were no obstacles in the way, what choice would we make?” 

The beginner’s mind sets the stage for endless possibilities and makes the act of starting only the tip of the entire adventure. You in?

Meet yourself where you are—then stretch

“In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few” - Jon Kabat-Zinn

On Mel Robbins’ eponymous podcast, she famously reminds us that “no one is coming.” Her goal, to coax us to stop making excuses, tell us we can do hard things, and to share that it’s actually action that promotes motivation, not the other way around. 

In a beginner’s mindset, nothing is impossible. There’s equal potential for success and failure, growth overrides stuckness, and hope is palpable. It takes patience, grit, consistency, and putting one foot in front of the other. It takes knowing where we’re starting and the direction we wish to go, and often, like Elizabeth Gilbert reminds us, it takes allowing fear to come along for the ride but refusing to give it power and choice over the radio, maps, or snacks. 

Asking questions, focusing on facts, and refusing to let assumptions or uncertainty veer us off course can help us stretch our comfort zone, risk the unknown, and learn from each and every step. The world isn’t made up of black and white; life is lived in the gray. It’s not the successes or the failures; it’s the learning and the lessons of the journey that empower us. 

Yoda, Star Wars’ wise guru tells us, “Do or do not. There is no try.” 

The beginner’s mind opens the door to imagination, curiosity, and developments; the rest is up to you. 

Start today. Start now. We believe in you.

Please click the photo below for a collection of my Through the Eyes of an Educator columns:

Stacey Ebert, our Educational Travels Editor, is a traveler at heart who met her Australian-born husband while on a trip in New Zealand. Stacey was an extracurricular advisor and taught history in a Long Island public high school for over fifteen years, enjoying both the formal and informal educational practices. After a one year 'round the world honeymoon, travel and its many gifts changed her perspective. She has since left the educational world to focus on writing and travel. She is energetic and enthusiastic about long term travel, finding what makes you happy and making the leap. In her spare time she is an event planner, yogi, dark chocolate lover, and spends as much time as possible with her toes in the sand.

Check out her website at thegiftoftravel.wordpress.com for more of her travel musings.