Through another's eyes
Have you ever driven down a road for the first time and been amazed by the beauty of the scenery or terrified of its unknown twists and turns? Perhaps both, at different moments.
Over time you get used to the drive. You no longer notice the view, you take the curves speedily and easily without a thought. You’re experiencing unconscious competence…not having to consciously think through all the steps of a complex activity.
There are loads of good things about unconscious competence:
- It allows you to move on to a new skill or task while doing the unconscious one
- Stress may be lessened as tasks begin to flow
- Self confidence rises with each new level of unconscious competence reached
There are some things about unconsciously competent that can be less fabulous:
- You may “not see the forest for the trees” that view that astounded you, seen it! The process of becoming so adept at one thing may leave you checked out to the little things.
- You may have a hard time seeing things from a beginner's eyes, teaching them a skill, having patience as they go through each step. This may cause you to be frustrated, passive aggressive or unkind to those still learning. It may sound like “I’ve already shown them this 3 times, I don’t know why they still can’t get it!”
- Your mind tends to forget the levels BEFORE a skill becomes unconscious. It takes a new skill set, to work backwards through each previous stage, allowing you to feel what someone just learning is feeling- the fear and uncertainty of each twist and turn.
We’ve ALL been there. Learning new things is fabulous, scary and everything in between.
We’re never “done” being a student of life. Learning to see the world through another’s eyes is an opportunity beyond measure.
