Four Learning Stages to Master a Skillpar Gaby Da Silva, PCC
From the moment you were born, you entered a life of perpetual learning. You learned to breathe on your own in just a few seconds because you had to, you learned to crawl and walk because it served you and with time, you learned new skills and tried to achieve new goals because you wanted to. This learning cycle reoccurs continuously throughout your life. You have the privilege as human beings to go beyond learning the necessary. You can learn to be Olympic athletes, you can challenge yourselves and everyone around you to break records in amazing feats and you can become successful beyond your wildest imagination. You decide to learn a new skill, a new way of being or a new thought process. But you don’t always succeed.
So what differentiates the successful from the defeated? Unwavering perseverance is the difference. Sometimes, simply understanding that your obstacles and fears are a normal stage in your learning process can give you the push you need to persevere onto the next stage of learning.
There are 4 learning stages that I was thought while training to become a Certified Coach for the purpose of helping me better understand the emotions I will come across with my clients and with myself. Understanding the 4 learning stages helps reduce anxiety and reinforces self-confidence when confronted with difficulties.
- The Unconscious Incompetence is a pre-learning stage, you are in this stage before starting to learn something new; so in essence, it is present when “you don’t know that you don’t know" something. For example, before trying to walk, you didn’t know that you didn’t know how to walk.
- The Conscious Incompetence. This is when perseverance and work is required. At this stage, you realize that performing a new skill takes a lot of effort, it doesn’t come naturally to you and you’ve probably failed the first few times you tried it. This is when fear, procrastination, excuses and negative self-talk emerges, giving you all the reasons why you should quit. But if you decide to persevere just as you did when you were learning to walk, drive or read, you will be compensated with the achievement of your goal and the acquisition of pride along with the self-confidence to take on future endeavours.
- With Conscious Competence things get easier, you are aware that you can perform this new skill well, but you still take the time to prepare and practice before performing it.
- The Unconscious Competence stage is when your new skill is mastered. You no longer need conscious practice or conscious thought to perform it. Everyone can achieve this stage of mastery, it will take effort and perseverance but it is not limited to those who deserve it more – we all deserve it.
Great practice in this area might be to be aware of what learning stage you are in, acknowledge that it is a normal part of the learning process, keep trying and keep practicing. Persevere in what you desire, be it to make more sales, get more clients, think positively or eat healthier.
Don’t be afraid to learn something new, to take on a new project, to aim for success, for a better life, and for a better you. It will be hard, at some point you may even fail, but failure is not permanent, it is an opportunity to learn and do better. You’ve failed many times, you failed the first time you tried walking, you failed the first time you tried reading, you failed the first time you interviewed for a job but in the end, by learning from your failures and by not letting your negative self-talk, excuses or fear stand in your way you persevered and mastered each one of those skills.
Enjoy every step you take since there is no final destination but only a new journey to be started.
