‘In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge’

For a new beginning
John O’Donohue

How to ‘begin’

Here we are in the early days of 2026. I’ve always enjoyed moving into January partly because of the sense of ‘beginning again’ as we turn the page onto a new year.

So how might we intentionally begin?

I always loved the concept of Shoshin from Zen Buddhism. It refers to the practice of having an attitude of openness, curiosity, and a sense of awareness that however much we think we ‘know’, it is never the entirety of what there is to ‘be known. In mindfulness we call this ‘beginner mind’.

Perhaps we might treat January as a month when we become, once again, ‘a newbie?’ When we take on something new, it’s almost impossible not to have the mindset of a beginner. As we become more experienced, as knowledge and a stronger sense of ourselves as a leader begins to take root, our minds can also gradually close up without us realising it.

Cultivating beginner mind does not mean letting go of or denying all the knowledge and experience we have built up. However, it does mean knowing we dont ‘know it all’. Steve Munby and Marie Claire Bretherton describe this ‘balancing act’ well when they say; 'imperfect leaders are restless leaders and continue to ask the 'why' question. They combine the wisdom of the experienced leader with the enthusiasm of the novice'.

Adopting beginner mind invites us to re-kindle that 'newbie' experience of seeing everything with fresh eyes.

There can be a liberation in meeting each moment with an open awareness, a dropping of our mental burden to be an expert and to feel more comfortable saying 'I don't yet know the answer to this’.

When practising beginner mind we become: 

·      Free of pre-conceptions of how things work;
·      Aware of our assumptions about how things should be;
·      Filled with curiosity to understand more deeply;
·      Free of expectations about what might happen. 

So how might we cultivate beginner mind as we move into this new year?
Here are a couple of practices you might try.

Intentionally cultivate beginner mind

This is a particularly useful practice when preparing for a meeting or a discussion in which we are particularly invested and want to stay open to greater possibility. It helps us notice how invested we might be in our own opinions, to find some spaciousness beyond our own thoughts and to allow greater curiosity to arise. It only takes a moment but can change the course of an encounter

Step 1. Sit comfortably in an upright posture. Bring your attention to your body and your breath. Experience your breath as if breathing for the first time, with curiosity and aware of the smallest sensations and body movement in the act of breathing.

Step 2. Bring to mind a meeting, discussion or conversation you are planning to have. See what pre-conceived ideas pass through your mind, and as best you can notice them, let them play out and then fade away. Become aware of any attachment to hopes and expectations of how the encounter will go, acknowledge them and let them go. Notice any spaciousness between thoughts that may arise and simply allow it.

 Step 3. As you end the practice keep this 'weather eye' on thoughts and your attachment to them as you take part in the encounter. Use your steady breathing to create more spaciousness allowing yourself to lean into greater curiosity, and stay open to new possibilities as the encouter unfolds. Notice what happens and what difference this makes. 

Practice the art of possibility

 Benjamin Zander in his book 'The Art of Possibility', urges us to stay open to possibility through seeing everything in life as ‘invented’. In other words, nothing is as fixed as we think it is.  Beginner mind helps us live in a world of greater possibility.

Why not practice beginner mind and open up possibility by trying one of these approaches when working with others in this coming week?

Become aware of assumptions, of fixed views we might have about people who we are about to meet up with. When you hear yourself thinking 'she's the sort of person who…’ perhaps cultivate the thought that she might just be the sort of person who could surprise you today and be open to that.

Open up discussion in team meetings by inviting others to cultivate beginner mind. Ask ‘what is it we dont yet know about this issue?’ or ‘what are we most curious about right now?’ or try my favourite phrase when I or others are becoming fixed in a viewpoint; ‘what else might be true here’?

Let go of the mantle of expert. It’s alluring to be seen as an expert. This can trap us into a fixed mindset and close us off to new insights. Notice when you are falling into ‘the knower’ trying to prove your existing knowledge and instead pivot to curiosity, with the intention to see reality as it really is, beyond your own frame of reference.

Adopt an "everything is possible" mindset. Acknowledge and then temporarily set aside logical constraints and use "what if" questions to explore creative, innovative solutions that might otherwise be dismissed. 

I know some of you use the HeadSpace App and this short video below explores beginner mind and how we can practice bringing it to the routines of our daily life - its just under a couple of minutes long, and worth a look.