There is an interesting learning model call the conscious competency model. Basically, the theory asserts that everyone goes through at least 4 stages of learning. There are some people who also add a 5th stage, although it is not as supported in study as the first 4 established stages.

You progress through the stages and you can’t skip stages but you can regress. These stages are

1.  Unconscious incompetence–where you don’t even know what you don’t know.
2.  Conscious incompetence–where you know that you don’t know but you still don’t know
3.  Conscious competence–where you know and must practice and be aware to demonstrate knowing
4.  Unconscious competence–where you no longer have to concentrate to demonstrate knowing–it has become “second nature” to you.

Where are you on your entrepreneur journey? Do you feel you even know what questions to ask to start a business? And, if you don’t even know what you don’t know, and don’t know enough to ask, how do you get started, right? It can seem difficult to conquer, but there is a way.

One of the best ways to move yourself through these stages is to have role models who have already done what you want to do. Seeking out an insightful coach or mentor, who can see through the haze you’re in and is already on the other side of it, is a way out. Even in Stage 1 when you don’t realize you are lost, you can move forward.

Your mentors can be alive or not. You can learn through observation, training tapes, direct conversations or biographies. Autobiographies are especially helpful to hear it from the source. The only thing you need is an open mind and a curious outlook. Be willling to discard past patterns and presumptions. Start with the idea that you are determined to see differently. Be willing to be shown something new, maybe even challenging, to your current paradyms.

One thing I have found helpful is to observe how your teacher teaches. Yes, what a teacher says is important, but so is how they say it. If you are learning to be a motivational speaker, you’d watch the cadence and timing of your mentor’s words. You’d observe the sequence certain types of ideas are presented in and you would watch for jokes and where they are inserted. When do they include facts? When do they include an emotional plea? If you watch enough motivational speakers you begin to see the universal patterns. These are all guideposts for you on your path. These are the types of actions that will move you through the stages sucessfully.

One final thought: you have partners in this. You are not alone in your challenges. You can come to virtual communities like this one. You can reach out to others in your local area. It’s the ones who have gone before that are inclined to reach back to you–let them. In no time at all, you’ll be doing things by second nature that you used to not even know you needed to know. It takes courage to admit you don’t know something, but it’s a natural stage and you will make it through it. I believe in you and many others do too.

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

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