I get ridiculously impatient with myself when I’m learning something new. Some madness within has me believe that as soon as I decide I want to know something, I should be masterful at it. Like the decision alone is some kind of download of adequate information and experience…
I loved watching Trinity download the pilot program in The Matrix
But I learned something about learning that I thought was pretty cool. It’s that there are four distinct phases to learning anything. And it makes so much sense…
- Phase I – unconscious incompetence (you don’t know what you don’t know)
- Phase II – conscious incompetence (you’re becoming aware of what you don’t know)
- Phase III – conscious competence (you’re becoming aware of your growing mastery)
- Phase IV – unconscious competence (mastery is now just part of your reality)
Think about something you’re learning about and figure out which phase you’re in. With any luck it will make you more patient with your process.
