Balancing Growth and Self-Acceptance: The Master's Mind

In every area of life, we all have room to grow and more to learn. It's important to remember this to stay humble and cultivate what's known as a "beginner's mind." But on the opposite end of the spectrum, it can be helpful to cultivate what could be called "the master's mind."

The Master's Mind

I think of the master as someone who simply knows "I am enough." This concept came to me during my music practice when I grew tired of always chasing the next scale, speed milestone, or some metric that would tell me I was good enough. No matter how much I learned, it became apparent that my journey was only beginning.

When feeling discouraged about slow progress, I asked myself, "What would it be like if I already knew everything?" If I were already a complete master and virtuoso on the bass, what would I do then? Would I stop playing bass and move on to something else? No—the answer was that I would just show up and play. I wouldn't stress about whether I'm good enough; I'd simply be in the moment and enjoy using what I knew.

I realized that this is the mental space I want to operate from more often. Surprisingly, I find myself much more willing to show up when I might have previously talked myself out of it. And of course, showing up is actually how you improve. For me, the most important step in improving is to show up with a feeling that I don't need to improve.

Applying It

For me, cultivating this mindset of "enoughness" has been key to every transformation in my life, and therein lies the paradox. In health and fitness, I knew I had a lot of work to do to build muscle mass going into my 40s. But I also knew that if I focused on my lack, I'd be much less likely to actually show up and do the work necessary to transform.

So I kept telling myself, "I am strong enough." I tried to really feel the emotion that even if I didn't make measurable strength gains, showing up to the gym on any given day was still a worthwhile use of my limited time. And feeling that encouragement, I actually showed up, pushed myself, and I am now in the best shape of my life.

Finding Balance

At any given moment, we need to cultivate both our inner master and our beginner's mind. Always be learning, but always know that you can do a lot with what you already know. Appreciate the ways you have shown up for yourself, and know that by showing up, you've already won.