Grant Yourself Permission to be a Beginner

Think about anything you have learned how to do: riding a bike, driving, doing your laundry, holding a job, the list goes on. All of these things took time to learn and you probably were not very good at them when you first started, and that’s the point. When learning something new or starting over in life, relationship, or career, you might not be very good at it at first. Let yourself be a beginner.

We create resistance to the very thing we are trying to learn when we put ourselves down for not being great or perfect right away. When there is resistance we restrict ourselves from leaning in and being an active participant in the process. In the last year alone, there have been numerous circumstances that required us to start over or learn something new, which can be uncomfortable.

Starting over doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It can be uncomfortable and frustrating, yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth sticking to. When starting over or learning something new, accept that you may not be great at it or it may not be comfortable at first and keep going. The more often you show up for it, the more familiar it becomes. Making mistakes is part of the process, when we can accept that truth we are more willing to release our expectations of ourselves.

We gain more in the process of learning than we do by already knowing. The next time you find yourself as a beginner, embrace the mistakes, trust the process, and keep going.

Allow yourself to be the beginner and expand your understanding of yourself.

Morgan Riley, LMSW