Humility mindset

What do you do when you practice something you’ve done for a long time in a new environment, alongside new people?

You may decide to protect your egoic identification with your past and do things your way, blocking out—whether actively or passive‑aggressively—the novelties that naturally stem from the new environment. Closing down instead of opening up. Not allowing the new, subtle ways of doing the same thing to permeate you.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, you may discard everything you have done so far in order to fit into the new environment, be accepted by new people, and submit to the group personality.

In the middle, there is openness: the humility to absorb what’s new and worthy while keeping what’s already within you and effective. Not creating a shield against novelty and not subjugating yourself to the new methods.

It’s a posture of quiet openness—relaxed and attentive, awake and receptive. It allows for effective judgment, separating the wheat from the chaff, discovery, and a natural integration of the new into the old.

This can supercharge the process of learning something new or improving an existing ability cultivated over time. It applies practically when you change jobs, change colleagues, or train martial arts in a different location than your usual one, with a different teacher and style of training.