Future Here Now: The Joy of the Beginner’s Mind

As the year winds down, I’ll be honest: this is the season when things can feel heavy.
The unfinished projects.
The risks not taken.
The money not made.
The people we meant to visit.
The trips we postponed again.

Maybe it’s the gray days and the cold, but reflection at year’s end has a way of turning into self-judgment. And this year, more than most, I’ve felt that weight.

That’s why this idea stopped me in my tracks: the joy of the beginner’s mind. 🌱

So much of Future Here Now is built on questioning our default assumptions—breaking old paradigms, noticing how technology and culture are reshaping our communities, and asking what we might do differently if we were truly paying attention. But this goes deeper than analysis.

There’s real comfort in remembering this simple truth:
👉 No matter how long you’ve been doing something one way, you can begin again.

The benefits of the beginner’s mind are well documented.
✨ Fewer expectations.
✨ More curiosity.
✨ A willingness to learn instead of perform.

But there’s more. Living as a perpetual beginner keeps life fresh. It helps us see connections between ideas that once felt unrelated. And when a hopeful beginning ends in spectacular failure—yes, even the kind that involves a scooter, a ditch, and a motorcycle license—it teaches us something essential: failure doesn’t end the story. It opens the door to another beginning.

🔁 A whole new beginning lies in wait.

This year, I took that idea literally. I got my first tattoo ever at the hoary age of 53. (It was meant to happen at 50, but a pandemic and a truly epic needle phobia delayed the plan.) It’s small. Simple. A line from one of my favorite songs, inked on the inside of my forearm:

🖋️ It’s time to begin.

Not next year.
Not when things feel safer.
Not when everything is figured out.

Now.

📘 Future Here Now (on Medium and LinkedIn) is an abbreviated version of the weekly newsletter our subscribers receive. Each week, we share stories and analysis about how technology and culture are laying the groundwork for better communities—if we learn how to use them wisely.

If this reflection resonates with you:
👉 Subscribe to the Future Here Now Substack for the full weekly edition https://wiseeconomy.substack.com
👉 Buy our books and go deeper into the ideas shaping the future
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🚀 The future isn’t something we wait for.
It’s something we practice—again and again—with a beginner’s mind.

It’s time to begin.
Let’s go get ’em.