ou know how you know when you’re onto something worthwhile? Well, I think I am experiencing it right now! It jives with the Levels of Learning and I know you have experienced it too at some point in your life either recently or sometime past. Let me explain…
Not to over simplify the learning process and to make it easy to relate to, understand and recognize when you’re
going through each level, I’ll demonstrate the process in 4 levels.
When we learn something new… just before we learn, we’re at the Unconscious Incompetent Level.
That’s where you don’t know you don’t know… some say “ignorance is bliss” but it’s really not …more on that another day!
As we learn we move from the Unconscious Incompetent Level to the Conscious Incompetence Level. This is the place where you realize you don’t know. Just take moment and think about the feelings you experience when you realize you don’t know… Frustration, Anger, Panic, Anxiety, Distress, Being Overwhelmed… If you experience many of those emotions you might think about quitting. Most people do and as a matter of fact that’s when they do quit.
But hang on and savor the realization that just after you come through the Conscious Incompetence you begin to move on to the Conscious Competence Level.
Conscious Competence is where you hear your coaches voice in your head… It’s where you diligently and with full
determination you keep plodding on. In her book “Performance Intelligence at Work: The 5 Essentials to Achieving The Mind of a Champion” Dr. Julie Ness-Bell calls this the Determined Mindset. You still have anxiety and maybe some panic but when you’re here you know you can… “get this!”
When you really do get it… and you get it so well that you don’t even have to think about it… You’re at the next level,
The Unconscious Competence Level. Some call it “In The Zone” or “Flow” or maybe even “Mastery!” Dr Julie calls it
the Natural Mindset.
So how do I know I’m on to something worthwhile? I am at that place of being overwhelmed and sometimes frustrated. I am moving quickly to the Conscious Competence Level! Next time you’re at this place… hang on! A break through is just around the corner! Ergo the quote by Hamilton Holt, “Nothing worthwhile comes easily.”
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