It wasn’t until I received an electric toothbrush for Christmas that my eyes were opened to the fact that I had been doing something for the majority of my life without having to think about it.
After trying the toothbrush for the first time, I found that I was struggling to acclimatize myself to the new way of brushing my teeth. The reason for this is because I was unconsciously competent when it comes to brushing my teeth.
What do I mean by Unconsciously Competent?
There are four psychological stages of competency and learning that everyone moves through until we reach the stage of unconscious competence. This model is useful in understanding the learning process and managing expectations when it comes to success.
So, what are the Four Stages of Competency?
Unconscious Incompetence
You don’t know what you don’t know, it’s that simple. There may be a skill that you are missing, but for one reason or another, you aren’t aware of it yet. Now, you may not need to know all the ins-and-outs about Real Estate, but when it comes to your specific role, it can be catastrophic for you to not know what you are missing.
When it comes to your career and gaining success in it, it is important to identify our strengths and weaknesses in order to understand which skills we need to learn or improve upon.
Conscious Incompetence
This is the stage where you identify the skill that you need to focus on and understand the importance of acquiring this new skill. This stage can sometimes be demoralising and cause you to lose confidence, however, it’s important to stay positive and remember that while learning a new skill can be difficult or uncomfortable, it will pay off in the end and help you reach your goals.
Conscious Competence
In this stage, your competence has grown but the new skill is not yet coming naturally. You still have to work on it and it’s likely that will fail along the way, however, it’s important to learn from these failures and continue to build your knowledge. The key is persistence. Look for opportunities to use your new skill or knowledge as often as possible.
Unconscious Competence
This is the final stage where you’ve mastered the new skill to the point where you no longer have to think about it. You’re now performing tasks without any conscious effort and are confident in the success of what you are doing.
Have you ever jumped in your car and driven home from work, arrived in the driveway and then wondered how the hell you got there? That is a prime example of being unconsciously competent!
Once you’ve mastered one set of skills, it’s important to continue finding those gaps in your knowledge and skill set and working on them so they become second nature.
Just like with my new electric toothbrush, I’ve had to go through the 4 stages of competence. After a lifetime of brushing my teeth one way, I’ve now had to go back to basics and discover a new way of doing something I thought I had mastered 40 years ago.
If you don’t know where to start, that’s understandable. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know. Luckily for you, with coaching and training, we can fill those gaps in your knowledge and set you on the path for success.
To discover new skills and knowledge and to begin the path to becoming unconsciously competent, make sure you register for my next upcoming FREE 2-hour Real Estate Brilliance webinar. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain!
