The Biggest Trap in Adult Decision Making

It’s simple:

“I won’t try something if I don’t know how.”

This self-sealing trap takes on circular reasoning. This basically means that the premise presumes the conclusion to the argument. More specifically, trying something in this instance assumes not knowing how. It guarantees that one will never do anything new, because by this logic you can’t try anything you haven’t already tried. 

My advice? Not knowing how to do things is built into the human experience. However, most assume it’s a signal of inadequacy. Consider that everyone who has the mastery you’re seeking got there without the benefit of having certainty that they’d be able to figure it out. Furthermore, is there any better builder of confidence than accumulating reps where you faced uncertainty and found a way to figure it out?

Keep trying.