#maturity-4/5
Beginner’s Mind. Some things that seem out of reach are actually attainable.
We’re conditioned to think that we need to work towards all our goals. The only way to progress in your field is to put in the work. There is no way around it—or is there?
In Zen Buddhism you consider that most information is already available to you. Your mind is clouded, and thus, preventing you to access a deeper truth. The truth is that everything is already within your reach, but how does it apply to our specific case?
There’s nothing that entrepreneurs who raised money have that we have not. We know how to build apps and ship them. And at the core, there’s nothing else we need to know.
Some things need to be learned, but some things need to be unlearned. There is a certain posture of the mind, thinking you’re “here” and the people who achieve what you want to achieve are “there”, but this is an illusion. You can instantly be “there” because they are, in fact, nowhere else. It’s not about progressing, there is no progress, it is instantly available to you if you chose to see it that way.
I’m not saying that there are no skills. What I am saying is that “being” something doesn’t require you to have the skills. You’re “being” a developer by showing up every day and coding, and you’re being an entrepreneur by showing up day after day and shipping and talking to customers.
There is still practice involved to nurture this state of mind. But, contrary to practicing a skill, this practice yields immediate results. The mind shift its posture from not-being to being, in an instant. It can be as short as the snap of a finger,, and it’s accessible for each of us in this very moment. So, cultivating “what is already there” can be practiced daily, but you do not progress, you merely remind yourself each and every day that everything is all there is. You are already enough.