Unconscious Competence
Remember when you learned how to drive? You had to focus on every little thing. Now you can drive, drink coffee, put on make-up, and talk on the phone. Not that you should do those things, but maybe you do because driving has become second nature to you. That’s unconscious competence – you are so competent in a task that you don’t even have to think about doing it – it’s automatic.
Think of all the things you do in your life that, once upon a time, you found hard and had to focus on doing – from being a new mom to learning a new skill to finding your way to a new job. At the beginning, it was hard and then it wasn’t.
Whenever you step out of your comfort zone, you are likely to experience each of the four stages of competence. Just remember, as you struggle with frustrations that come with new challenges and facing the unknown, you are in a stage that will eventually lead to success – unconscious competence. Let that thought encourage you when you are afraid to step out or when you think you’ll never “get” that new skill. Persist and eventually your competence in that new area will become as normal are walking, talking, dressing – it’s just another task you do well – unconsciously!
And remember: Victory is that stretch you make out of your comfort zone and into that greater expression of who you really are. The process usually isn’t easy. But the Victorious Woman understands that today’s challenge is tomorrow’s normal. Challenges, like goals, come and go; Victory lasts forever!
