The Learning Curve

Learning Curve

 
We all start at 0 - and we hate it.

We wanna be at Mastery, feeling competent and in control.  We like being the go-to person.

In order to get from 0 to Mastery, we gotta go through lots of trial & error experiences - every dot on this graph represents trial & errors.  That's just the way it is.

The trick is being kind to ourselves in the process.

We only get stuck at 0 if we refuse to try because we are afraid to fail.

If our core belief (our belief about ourselves way deep down inside) is that we are incompetent, then we don't dare risking failure because then EVERYONE will know what we (mistakenly) believe deep down inside.

If our core belief is that we are competent - that is, we can learn even if we don't know something right now, right now - then we are willing to risk failure because we trust that we'll figure it out, eventually.

When we are trying something new, rather than being in the moment - present to what we are doing and what is in front of us - we are in our head and it is not pretty:  "Am I doing this right?  Am I doing this wrong? Do I suck at this?  Can the client tell I don't know what the heck I am doing?  Is the client judging me?  Do I look stupid/silly/dumb/awkward doing this?"

I guarantee you will make mistakes - lots of them at first.  Each mistake (trial & error) will get you closer to mastery.  Get the first experience under your belt and the next experience will be that much better.  You gotta trust the process. 

In Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers, he writes that it takes about 10,000 hours (approx. 40 hours a week for five years) to become expert at anything.  So sit back and be patient - this is gonna be a long ride.