Portrait Of A Confident Businesswoman

Take a Journey Through the Levels of Learning to Increase Your Trust and Confidence

Healthy personal relationships and workplace cultures are built on a foundation of trust. When you have a workplace culture and personal relationships rooted in trust, people and organizations see improved communication, greater creativity, and innovation, along with increased revenue.  They also enjoy more fulfilling personal and professional relationships. When trust is broken, however, personal relationships and work environments become toxic. People who were once close friends, no longer talk to each other. Employees become stressed out and work in silos. There’s also low collaboration, poor morale, and a drop in productivity.

The need for trust applies equally to the need to have trust in yourself as well as having trust In those with whom you interact. 

There is a phenomenon called the competence-confidence loop.  Here’s how it works. The more you feel secure in your ability to do something, the more you become strong in your convictions. On the other hand, if you do not feel competent, you may also not have a great deal of confidence.

So, if you have had a difficult time trusting yourself, it may be a sign that you lack competence and confidence. You cannot develop much trust in yourself without also developing confidence in yourself, and your level of confidence may not improve until your level of competence improves. 

For some,  this might sound like being stuck in an endless loop which may seem scary to you. However,  getting out of the loop is not as difficult as you may think. No one is born with unstoppable confidence and no one is born completely competent in doing new things. Instead, competence, confidence, and trust are things that most people learn and develop during their lives. It’s the same for you. 

Unconsciously Incompetent

In 1969, Management trainer Martin M. Broadwell coined what he called “the four levels of teaching.” In this article, I’m going to refer to it as the levels of learning. Most people begin the journey of gaining trust and confidence in themselves by being unconsciously incompetent. At this level of learning, the person usually does not understand or know how to do something. Indeed, they may not necessarily recognize that he or she has a deficit when it comes to competence. They may even be in denial regarding the usefulness of the skill. This is where the unconsciousness comes into play. Before a person can advance to the next level of learning, they must first recognize their own incompetence and the value of the new skill.  

Conscious Incompetence

The next level of learning is conscious incompetence. In this stage, although the individual still does not know how to do something, they recognize they have a deficit, as well as the value of developing a new skill in addressing the deficit. Being willing to make mistakes at this level and keep on moving forward can be integral to the learning process. With ongoing practice, the person can move to the next level of learning conscious competence.

Conscious Competence

With ongoing practice, commitment and grit, people reach the point where they learn how to do something they once could not do. Performing the new skill at this level of learning, however, still requires the person to concentrate. At this level, the person may break the skill down into steps, and there is heavy conscious involvement in executing the new skill. This is an improvement, but don’t stop here because there is still room for more growth and increased confidence.

Unconscious Competence

At this level of learning, the individual has committed to conducting a great deal of practice to acquire a skill.  As a result, performing the new skill becomes “second nature” and can be performed easily. At this level, the person can perform the skill without consciously concentrating on doing it.

So if you want to increase the level of trust you have in yourself, then take the steps to develop and improve your skills which will, in turn, increase your level of confidence.  If you make that commitment, trusting yourself will become easy.

Fear is the Enemy of Trust and Confidence

Fear is the biggest detractor of confidence. The fear of not being very good at something is the biggest obstacle many people must overcome to begin the journey of transforming from being unconsciously incompetent to become unconsciously competent. When you give in to your fears, you will diminish your chances of building up your confidence and your competence. That is something that deepens if you don’t handle it quickly. So to increase your level of confidence, you need to develop a habit of facing your fears head-on.

That doesn’t mean you should throw caution to the wind and become reckless. Instead, you should take smart risks that won’t put your life or the lives of others’ in danger. This means there is no need to jump out of a plane without a parachute. Don’t make frivolous decisions, either. Confidence is also about knowing the difference.

Start Small Then Keep Going and Growing 

Start out with small tasks that you have been afraid to try in the past. Most outcomes will turn out better than you imagine, some will turn out no so good. That’s okay. If you try to project what will happen, and it is always a negative outcome, you will never make any decisions and you will not advance through the stages of learning. Take on those small tasks without thinking too much about what’s going to happen. Just get started. Take risks and be okay with making mistakes as you learn. Stick with it through what I call the “messy middle.”  It’s more than worth it. Working your way through the messy middle will build up your confidence as you’ve never seen before.

If you find yourself in a situation where you’re not sure what to do next, don’t stop.  Ask yourself questions about how you might be able to move forward when you aren’t sure about the situations you face. Then listen quietly for the answer and allow your subconscious mind to go to work finding a solution. Confidence is not about having all the answers. It’s about knowing where to find them and being willing to find others who have the knowledge that you need. It’s also about taking massive action when you have gathered enough information.

Take 100% Responsibility 

Confidence is about taking responsibility for your decisions and your actions. If you believe in what you are doing, you can portray that belief to others who will be affected by your decisions. On the other hand, you will come across as being weak if you start blaming others when your situation doesn’t go as planned. Once this happens, others will lose faith in you. In turn, that will cause your confidence to erode, and self-doubt will take over. When you make decisions, own them, even if they don’t work out.

When you increase your confidence, you will automatically gain greater trust in yourself and you can accomplish more than you ever imagined.