Confusion… before you are ready to learn.
Just before you are ready to expend the energy to learn, you may find that you are actually confused. This feeling of being out of balance, of not knowing exactly what to aim at, or where to start, is important to your growth.
You do have to name the “confusion.” Is the confusion sourced by pain over the past, a lack of clarity about personal vision, or is it the flood of recognition, “I just realized I have a lot to learn”?
Knowing that you don’t know something is a gift. Because once you identify what you don’t know and establish the conviction that you do want to learn it… you can develop a plan for growth.
The best leaders lean into their disequilibrium. Instead of panicking, these leaders know the fog will clear as they discover more about this new topic, new job, or new reality. They will figure out what they don’t know. When they know they don’t know something they develop a plan of learning. They will find some books, a course, and some people capable to coach, teach, and help. Sometimes they just dive in, get busy, and learn along the way.
Growth oriented people actually welcome the confusion of “not knowing.” They know its a prerequisite to the success they hope for on the horizon just beyond them.
Are you retreating from your confusion or are you leaning into it?