According to a classic psychological model of individual learning, before we acquire any skill there are four stages of learning or competence that we go through.
It's probably no surprise to anyone that personal development, like anything else, entails becoming skilled at various positive behaviors. How could it not?
Everything we do requires awareness first, then learning and application and then practice. Merely reading about a healthy self concept, developing humor, resilience or positive thinking isn't going to get us there.
We must first figure out what skills we require and then proceed to incorporate them into our thinking and behavior. Easier said than done - right?
If we understand that there is, indeed, a process and that it takes place in stages, we can be more patient with ourselves and realize that nothing happens overnight. By understanding the four stages of learning a skill, we can concentrate on the learning process itself and not feel bad about where we're at and why we don't know everything already.
The same with roller or ice-skating. First you had to learn how get up and keep your balance. Not so easy! Then you'd fall a few times and maybe even get a little bruised (ouch!). In order to get better, you had to keep practicing until you got really good at it. After a while, low and behold, you no longer had to think about what you were doing and it became smooth sailing.
So it is with any skill. Keep improving and working on yourself until it becomes second nature. Not only will you get the most from life, you will live it to your full potential.
It's probably no surprise to anyone that personal development, like anything else, entails becoming skilled at various positive behaviors. How could it not?
Everything we do requires awareness first, then learning and application and then practice. Merely reading about a healthy self concept, developing humor, resilience or positive thinking isn't going to get us there.
We must first figure out what skills we require and then proceed to incorporate them into our thinking and behavior. Easier said than done - right?
If we understand that there is, indeed, a process and that it takes place in stages, we can be more patient with ourselves and realize that nothing happens overnight. By understanding the four stages of learning a skill, we can concentrate on the learning process itself and not feel bad about where we're at and why we don't know everything already.
- Unconscious Incompetence. At this stage you don't know what your problems are or how to identify them. You may or may not know that something is not working, but you have no idea what it is or how to go about fixing it. In other words you don't know what you don't know.
- Conscious Incompetence. With conscious incompetence you are aware of a lot of your problems, but you don't know how to correct them. You may understand what is needed, but have no knowledge or confidence in how to get it.
- Conscious Competence. In this stage you know how to correct your problems but it will take time and practice.
- Unconscious Competence. You know what you know and you no longer have to think about it. You have become so skilled at it that it's automatic and comes naturally. In fact, you do it unconsciously because you no longer have to think about it.
The same with roller or ice-skating. First you had to learn how get up and keep your balance. Not so easy! Then you'd fall a few times and maybe even get a little bruised (ouch!). In order to get better, you had to keep practicing until you got really good at it. After a while, low and behold, you no longer had to think about what you were doing and it became smooth sailing.
So it is with any skill. Keep improving and working on yourself until it becomes second nature. Not only will you get the most from life, you will live it to your full potential.
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