A Begginers Mind

Been a while but I warned you didn't I.
Lots of things I want to write about but never enough time. Today though I had to get in a quick one.

This is about the beginners mindset. A concept that has become vry important to me in my coaching career and athletic career and a concept I was reminded of by a good friend.

She posted a status online that read.

" I hope I never think so highly of my opinion that I lose the ability to allow others to have theirs.I hope I never think so highly of my opinion that I lose the ability to allow others to have theirs."

I loved this quote the moment I read it. It seems that with the Interwebs and all the social media out there that what could have been a great platform for sharing ideas and information has been smothered by people who simply like to piss others off. I seems that so many people cannot let others post their ideas with out tearing them down with what they already know.
Weather the idea has to do with weightlifting technique, Religion or politics. Every one out there already knows that they are right and must convince everyone else of that fact as well.

Before I continue I believe there are universal truths, that are always true, and often times their is one right answer. This post is not about everyone finding their own truth. Instead it is about acknowledging the fact that I probably don't have the whole truth yet, in any situation.

Here are some things you should know about me, this things also serve as examples of how I use the beginners mindset in my everyday life. I will explain what I mean with "the beginners mindset a little bit later.

I coach CrossFit and own a CrossFit Box,
I have a degree in Sports Medicine from Pepperdine university
I also coach and compete in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting, I consider my self to be a pretty darn good coach.
I have had  success coaching any number of people to their goals, and would not hesitate to coach any one else no matter their goals ( in CrossFit or weight lifting, I don't know jack crap about skeet shooting)
I can write programming, coach technique, and motivate you to succeed.

However I hired an Olympic lifting coach to write my program and correct my technique.
I participate in and ask questions on different strength and nutrition forums.
I take classes, read how to's, and get different certifications.

When ever I attend a seminar or hire a coach ( for myself)  I enter into the class or contract,  with what I call a beginners mindset. That means I try to get rid of all my accumulated knowledge on a topic, and look at the information presented with new and fresh eyes. I do not compare it to what I have been told before, what I have done in the past or what someone else said. I ask questions to understand, I follow instructions as best I can and I attempt to approach these situations not as if everything I know is wrong, but as if I did not know anything else in other words with the mind set of the complete beginner. I try to hold on to this mind set for a long as possible before starting to attempting to mesh it with all other information I have acquired (for reference I usually try to give something new a full year before tweaking it)

Too often I see people attend a seminar and immediately try to tweak the information they acquired, when you do this you are not actually following their program or system but instead creating your own with out ever learning what the original system does for you. In other words you have no idea if the changes you made were for the better or if you are shorting yourself. I see it with people who I write programming for, and I see it with people who ask me for nutrition advice.


The beginners Mindset can apply to any discussion, class, seminar, internet forum, or facebook post on any topic. The next time something comes up try to approach it as if you are brand new and no nothing what questions would you ask then, what would it take for you to understand, what can you learn from that person or situation, and then apply that in its original form to your life, or training for a while. When you look back that 6 month or year long experiment will grant you an enormous amount of knowledge that will help you find the real truth of a matter.