Be More with Less

simplicity is love

The Upside of Beginning

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I remember learning to become a photographer.

It wasn’t in the dark room, or in art school. I was 11 or 12, and out on the docks in Newport, Rhode Island with my dad. I was shooting with my first 35mm camera, a chunky Minolta.

I had already learned how the camera functioned, but I hadn’t learned how to use the camera, until my dad taught me how to see things.

He showed me a pile of rope on an old fishing boat. At first glance, it looked like a pile of junk, but when he showed me how to see it through the lens of my camera, it was beautiful. It became art.

That day, my dad didn’t teach me how to take a picture, he taught me how to see the world.

When was the last time you were an absolute beginner?

Starting something new can leave you feeling uncomfortable, anxious, a little slow and even scared. Luckily, with those emotions comes exhilaration, pride and thoughtfulness. Look to the positive and keep things in perspective.

There are some things we grow up learning, like how to walk and talk, or how to be a kid, but as an adult, almost everything you do requires new skills. You aren’t born knowing how to be a husband, wife, mom, dad or best friend. You don’t know how to start a business or apply for a job. Those are skills you learn and grow into.

The upside of beginning, is that when you set out to learn one thing, the lessons that reveal themselves are often unexpected.

  • When I learned how to develop film, I didn’t just learn how to bring images to life, I learned about the magic of science.
  • When I learned to be a mother, I didn’t just learn how to change diapers, I learned about true love.
  • When I learned how to self administer intra-muscular injections to treat MS, I didn’t just learn how to insert a needle into muscle tissue in such a way to cause the least amount of pain, I learned that there was nothing I wouldn’t do to heal.
  • When I learned how to blog, I didn’t just learn how to use WordPress, I learned how to connect in a very genuine way.

When I became a mom, I had no idea what I was doing. I had wonderful teachers like my mother, and friends who were moms, but the one who really taught me how to take care of a baby, adore a toddler, and raise a teen, was the baby herself.

Count on your best friends to teach you how to be a best friend. Similarly, if you want to learn to be a good husband, learn from your wife, and wives, learn from your husbands.

10 Ways to start something new

  1. Pick something. Learn a new skill, start a new career or move to a new city. All of these things will challenge you and teach you new lessons.
  2. Make a Plan. Don’t aim for perfection, but outline your approach. This will give you something to lean on if things get tough.
  3. Tell your world. Let your tribe know that you will be starting something new. They will love you and support you. They will also give you advice. Take it or leave it, but know it probably comes from love.
  4. Be Vulnerable. It may take longer than you thought, or feel harder than you ever imagined to get the hang of your new thing. Let your discomfort teach you. Revel in being a beginner. If you don’t know what your doing, it really takes away the pressure to perform. Enjoy that. It won’t last for long.
  5. Learn from experience. Someone else has learned what you are learning. Ask them questions. Watch what they do and learn from their mistakes, and their success.
  6. Seek the simple. There are times when you might make things more difficult then they are. Instead of complicating the issue with fear and anxiety, appreciate the parts you find easy.
  7. Enjoy the newness. Be in awe over the new skills you’re learning and your capacity to grow and adapt.
  8. Trust yourself. You might not be an expert on your new thing, but you are an expert on you.
  9. Learn about being a beginner. Mary Jaksch wrote a brilliant post called How to Live Life to the Max with Beginner’s Mind.
  10. Reflect. Think about what you really learned from beginning something new. It may have nothing to do with the original lesson.

Maybe you’ll learn a new skill, start a new career or move to a new city. Maybe you’ll learn how to be there for someone in just the way they need you. The upside of beginning is that whatever you decide to do, if you’re ready, you’ll learn how to see the world.

Comments

  1. I love learning and starting something new. It’s like a whole world that I have never visited.

    Recently, I have committed myself to learning a lot if new things that will move me towards my goals. For example, I wanted to learn how to outsource and start a clothing line. So I dived into both outsourcing my clothing lines design. It was a lot of fun beginning this new journey. I didn’t look at the time I spent learning as wasteful. Rather it as an opportunity.

    Loved this article Courtney.

    Have a great weekend

    David Damron
    LifeExcursion

    • David, Sometimes it feels like wasted in the early stages, because you aren’t as efficient as you could be, but I am learning to embrace that slower pace. Real change happens slowly.

      • Accepting that learning something new is going to take time has helped me enjoy the process A LOT more.

        The effort can be just as rewarding as the result.

        David

  2. i think this is one of the most important things we can do as adults…continue to learn, and most importantly, not be afraid to continue to learn. right now i’m taking an intro to buddhism class with my daughter and we are learning how to meditate. it’s been slightly daunting and uncomfortable, especially with something that seems so abstract, but as i progress on this learning journey i have felt an incredible feeling of accomplishment. happy friday!

    • Tamara, Not only are you learning something new, but finding an interesting way to spend more time with your daughter. I love that.

      Remember that “uncomfortable” isn’t always bad.

  3. “Seek the simple, Enjoy the newness, Trust yourself” – all great advice, Courtney. Thank you for this post and the link to Mary’s post – they were exactly what I needed to read today. xoxo

  4. Hola 😀 La verdad que está muy bueno el post. Me ayudó a tomar la decisión de intentar aprender todos los días algo nuevo.
    Es bueno mantener la curiosidad siempre, así continuamos creciendo y desarrollando nuevas habilidades, las cuales nos pueden servir a nosotros o a los que nos rodean.
    Saludos

  5. Anakin,

    Before I translated, I thought this said, Hello, This is a good post. I made the decision to try something new every day. It’s good to stay curious and learn new skills….

    Then, when I used Google Translate I got…The truth that is very good post. It helped me decide to try to learn something new every day. It’s always good to keep the curiosity and continue to grow and develop new skills that they can serve us or those around us.

    Not so bad for a beginner 😉

    Gracias!

  7. Courtney,
    This wonderful post really resonated with me. I love learning new skill sets and refreshing my knowledge in areas of my *expertise*. I’m committed to a lifetime of learning, but time constraints and a little fear of not finding others to practice with have kept slowing me down in learning Spanish and Mandarin, in spite of picking up on language pretty easily. That is still a far cry from learning them but you’ve reminded me why I wanted to in the first place and motivated me in an area once again; thanks! Hopefully we’ll both soon be able to comment and translate comments in Spanish! 🙂

  10. Thanks for the reminder that being a beginner is good! It means you are trying something new and that is so healthy. Being a perfectionist, I always want to rush through the beginning stages to get to the part where I can somewhat do the new thing proficiently. Thanks for reminding me the value of being a beginner, and reveling in the fact that there is no pressure to perform, only the joy that comes when we stretch ourselves and do new things that we dream about.

    • Leah, I really had to train myself to enjoy the beginning and pay attention to small progress instead of the end result…especially with exercise. 😉

  11. Love this post! Very timely in my life, I might add. As a professional language specialist and ultra-snobby grammarian…I have decided to learn sign language and let my hands do the talking. It seems there are many opportunities to learn a LOT from those who are speech impaired..and there is no time like the present. Am researching avenues to learn this skill well enough to offer translation for those who sign.

    Best to you!

    • Susan, Keep me posted on that. Sounds like an amazing opportunity not only to learn something new, but to really help people.

  12. Great post – thank you! Your point about Telling the World is so true.

    I committed to doing/trying something new each week for a year and Telling the World on my blog http://changechallenges.net/. It’s fun, interesting and has really taken me out of my comfort zone. Support from so many people inspires me!

    All good wishes

  13. Hi. I know what you mean! We lived in a big city in Florida and moved to the country! Grant we all love it now, when we first moved here, it was miserable because we didn’t know anybody!! At all! Now that we’ve been here a couple of years, it’s not so bad! Because we’re starting to get to know people. and country living is great! Love your blog! Would love it if you followed mine?

    • Stephanie, Thanks! So glad you made it past miserable to what sounds like a great life in the country.

    • Thanks for checking in Bev! Hope the something you did was a good learning experience. 😉

  16. Courtney,

    I found your blog today as a first time visitor, & really enjoyed it! I love the idea of living simply, although it sounds like you are much more of an authority on that topic. I’m an in-progress girl, but so are we all, right?

    I too live with a terminal disease, which I found interesting when I learned that you have MS. I wonder if this gives a different perspective on life that we may have otherwise missed?

    Anyway, thanks for the insights! I’ll definitely be back. 🙂

    • Suzanne, I am an in-progress girl too, learning as a I go.

      While MS is not generally a terminal disease it does threaten to take away things that I love doing, like walking for instance. I think that when we are faced with something like that, we can better appreciate what we have and how great our lives are without more anything.

      I thought I was grateful pre-diagnosis, but I really see things differently now. MS was my wake up call, but I think people can rise to the occasion without a devastating diagnosis.

  17. Another great post, Courtney, and one that really resonates with me at the moment. I’ve been stuck in a rut for several years but am now taking steps to come out if it, rediscover my passions and embrace new things. It can be an uncomfortable experience, as you say, when you’re a complete beginner, but there’s also something quite liberating about admitting you have no skills or experience, and just having a go, no matter how terrible you are at first 🙂

    Thanks again for such inspiring content – I love your blog!

    Sally

    • Sally,
      Congrats on recognizing your rut. I can’t wait to hear about what you do next. Please share!

    • Marcie, Thanks for YOUR inspiring words. The ‘art’ of beginning makes the start seem romantic and fun.

  19. Your piece is so relevant to me, especially now. I’m a beginner in blogging and I recently launched my website/blog. This is a whole new world for me; it’s like learning a new language in a foreign country. I have to navigate my way through and learn as I go along, step by step. It’s very exciting and a bit intimitading. I feel proud each time I do something new or master something with my blog or WordPress. I try to keep my negative feelings – insecurity, doubts – to a minimum as I tell myself it will all evolve, bit by bit.
    I haven’t been doing this long enough to see, as you say, the unexpected lessons that will hopefully reveal themselves at some point.
    I love learning and revel in the self-pride that comes with new achievements. Learning and growing is the way to live an exciting and satisying life. There’s no end to what one can learn until death. That’s what keeps the spirit and soul alive with joy.

    • Harriet,

      I know exactly how you feel as a beginner in blogging. Congrats on your new launch and learning your new language. My advice to you is not to let all the technical stuff and widgets and tweets get in the way of writing really important posts.

      Write from the heart and write for real people and you cannot fail.

  20. “I learned about the magic of science.”

    This phrase is a great-soul song–a wonderful paradox of the world’s great alchemists.

    I think the “beginner’s mind” is a spot-on message for the post-industrial age. I’m going to work on #10 (as I’ve plunged into 1-9 in the last 5 years). I have forgotten to listen to my own stories–especially the Tear Jerkers. Thanks for this reminder =)

    Keep it up, Courtney.

  21. I started something new last year – training my dogs for Search & Rescue. Originally it was all about working with my dogs but it has metamorphized into something unexpected – the hope of being there for someone else in need. It’s a great feeling and you sum it up so well in No. 10 – Reflect.

    • Trudy, That is so cool. Search & Rescue people and dogs are saving lives and what is more important than that. Congrats, you have much to be proud of.

  22. I told my Dad recently…”My mission is to to everything that scares the crap out of me by age 30.”

    Welll…I’m half way there so far. 🙂 Beginner mindset all the way!

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