Unconscious or Conscious Competence?

Warning: Today's message is a stream of consciousness meandering ... and I'm only writing this after I've written the whole thing, so proceed at your own risk!

So today I'm contemplating competence and wondering when we actually KNOW, not just suspect, that we are competent at a skill or task.

We try so hard to manifest and achieve that which we desire and then we accomplish it. Then we bask - very briefly - in the accomplishment of that. If we are acknowledged in public for our accomplishments, then sometimes it feels like we are set up to have to live up to that. So although we crave that external validation, sometimes we don't want others to know so we don't have to be accountable.

So how are we supposed to get "there" when we don't really know where "there" is? If we've never gone there in the world, can we program our results through our mind by visualizing and experiencing it there? I believe we can; however, there will always be the naysayers in the world who have the loudest voices, and seem to be able to easily derail our dreams and hopes.

If the loudest voice wins, what is winning? I believe that our inner BEING is more powerful than our outer DOING, although it's a much stiller and smaller voice, so we've really got to be quiet to hear it.

So I'm wondering if the goal is really unconscious competence or whether we want to stay awake and acknowledge our competence. If we practice a skill for so long that it becomes second nature to us, perhaps it will be more our BEING than our DOING that helps others along the way. Or maybe by the time we achieve unconscious competence it's not about teaching anyone else anyway.

Modeling is the best teacher, so to model is actually to teach anyway - just not in a conscious, ego-based way.

So, what conclusion can I draw from this verbal processing that I tend to do in public? That becoming unconsciously competent at a skill really doesn't need public proclamation, but that for me it may require a check, every now and then, against higher standards to ensure continued growth and expansion.

This would make sense, given that one of my life priorities is growth and learning.

Thanks for hanging in here with this post. What do you make of it for yourself? Conscious or unconscious competence? Or does it even matter?