When we’ve been doing something for a long time, it’s easy to forget the magic of being a beginner—the thrill of exploration, the openness, the curiosity. As amateurs, we experience palpable improvements early on. Progress feels tangible, and there’s a deep sense of satisfaction in gaining competency. 

But as we grow more experienced and gain confidence, we can also grow more rigid. Confidence can morph into arrogance, especially if we’ve had some accomplishment under our belt. With expertise, comes the ossification of mind—we becomes less receptive and open to receiving feedback and new information. If you were to plot if on a graph, you’d see this common trend: as skills increase, openness to learn will plateau and eventually decline. And with that, progress slows and can even regress, while expectations of ourselves rise. We can feel stuck, then defeated.

Unless we’re intentional, we rarely allow ourselves to return to that beginner’s mindset. But it’s a mindset we all need—no matter the tenure. As I slowly return to running after a year off, I’ve noticed a shift. I’m no longer pushing the pace, or treating each run as a test of my self-discipline and willpower. I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. People breeze past me and I’m cool with it. Running is less frequently, but I look forward to it more—it never feels like a chore, but a privilege. 

Instead of beating myself down for fitness lost, I get the rare opportunity to practice shoshin—the Japanese concept of beginner’s mind. Running still feels familiar, but my perspective is much different: it doesn’t feel tied to my identity and tethered to my sense of self, but rather an invitation to explore. Achievement-focus has faded to the background, and presence has emerged to the foreground. 

So if you’re coming back from an injury or returning to something after a time away, resist the urge to feel like you’ve lost something and are playing catch-up. Rather, see it as a new beginning—enjoy sucking again, the humility, and lightheartedness you once experienced. Enjoy doing for the sake of doing sans expectations. As Shunryu Suzuki wrote, in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, “When we have no thoughts of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. Then we can really learn something.”