15 juin 2011

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. 

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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. 
  4. 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.

Gaby Da Silva, PCC Certified Life and Business Coach, ACC