I got to experience incompetence and success in a short time period while in Bali and it was amazing.
This Blog Post Is Inspired by Seth Godin’s Blog
Experience Incompetence
At some point, grown ups get tired of the feeling that accompanies growth and learning.
We start calling that feeling, “incompetence.”
We’re not good at the new software, we resist a brainstorming session for a new way to solve a problem, we never did bother to learn to juggle…
Not because we don’t want the outcomes, but because the journey promises to be difficult. Difficult in the sense that we’ll feel incompetent.
Which accompanies all growth.
First we realize something can be done.
Then we realize we can’t do it.
And finally, we get better at it.
It’s the second step that messes with us.
If you care enough to make a difference, if you care enough to get better–you should care enough to experience incompetence again.
On one the first few days of Yoga Teacher Training we were asked to teach a Sun Salutation shortly after experiencing it during a morning practice. We hadn’t really learn how to break down cueing poses yet and most of us crashed and burned.
I froze at one point and kept my students hanging out in “forward fold” and didn’t know what to say next and it shook my confidence.
Then we started to learn how to cue better. We did posture after posture alignment clinics. We started practicing on each other. We walked the beach talking to ourselves pretending we were cueing a class and then we taught our practicums.
After that first day of trying to teach Sun Salutations I thought I was going to suck as a yoga teacher. Then halfway through the training I taught 3 poses in a row and didn’t refer to my notes and felt like I had conquered the world. I remember texting Mike all proud of myself and he replied “Progress is Inevitable”. Thanks Babe 🙂
So incompetence is simply what propels us towards excellence it just sucks to spend any time in that realm.
How have you experienced incompetence lately?