Hi friend – Rob here.

Ever wanted to know more about Zen but it all felt a bit woowoo?

Let's fix that.

In this piece: a summary of 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind', by Shunryū Suzuki.

I read this book about a decade ago, struggling with grief, anxiety and depression.

(And not knowing i was struggling with grief, anxiety and depression – fun!)

It was, and continues to be, fundamental to how i operate now that i am healing.

Let's get into it.

📝 Five punchy ideas:

1. Always start stupid. Ok, so he doesn't use these terms, i'm borrowing from Dan Wieden here. But this is what he means. Approach everything with openness. Eagerness. No preconceptions. Like a toddler, your role is to continue seeing everything fresh, as if for the first time. Your 'i already know this' mind isn't helpful.
2. Practice is the point. Goals, ideals or expectations are easy. Zen is about being present in your practice. When i write, i am practising writing. I do it daily. When we do strategy, it's a practice. Sure, there is a goal at the end, but the process of doing it should be its own joy. Everything else is a bonus. Otherwise, you're bound to be frustrated most of the time (as many are).
3. Let go lightly. Zen detachment is an idea i always go back to. Care about your work. But also be detached from it. A possible resolution to this conflict: be very picky with your battles. If a project doesn't go your way, consider it may never have been in your control. Appreciate the ones that do go your way. Life's short anyway. You won't remember that annoying work email when you're 80 (hopefully!).
4. Change is a comrade. I am going really deep on the alliterations here, but we're in it, so let's see it through. Accept things are transient, impermanent. This too shall pass, for good and bad. Most suffering comes from trying to hold onto things that will inevitably not be there. There is honour in shrugging on occasion and going, oh well, it ain't perfect, but then again nothing ever is.
5. It's a daily duty. Five out of five alliterations! Damn. Ok, so the thing is that Zen is not a special activity. You don't meditate and reach nirvana. It's the day to day things. Simple joys that you feel deeply, yet calmly. Sitting and appreciating the comfort of the seat. Writing and appreciating the magic of words. Walking and feeling the ground in your feet (respectful shoes help). Interviewing a stakeholder and appreciating you learning for a living. The sacred things are baked into what we otherwise see as 'ordinary'.

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💬 Five powerful quotes:

• "If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few."
• "When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself."
• "The goal is always to be doing something, to let the doing be the end - no matter what it is."
• "Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure."
• "The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in its wider sense. To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him."​

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✍️ Five practical takeaways:

1. Befriend the basic questions everyone already assumes the answer to
2. Find ways to experience calm joy in daily habits within an otherwise hard project
3. Contemplate this question: "if this were to all go away right now, what's my last memory?"
4. Appreciate and reinforce what goes well, instead of just identifying what went wrong
5. Consider that "transformation" equals micro daily increments, not megalomaniac direct impositions