Helping to shine a light on our blindspots

When doing counseling or coaching work for folks who have anxiety and poor self esteem including Imposter Syndrome, I usually like to raise awareness around their unconscious processes or “blindspots”. The aim is to make something “unconscious” to more “conscious” for acceptance and/or change.

So what are they?

1. The unconscious competence. These are skills and talents that the individual has but they tend to undervalue it or even very unconscious of it. Other people may see it in them but they cannot see it for themselves. They may think that it is “normal” and “not a big deal”. They may not measure their self worth based on this.

2. The unconscious incompetence. These are stuff that they are very bad at but are unaware of. It’s their biggest blindspot. They may run into repeated problems but are perplexed as to why.

So if someone is born or stuck in a particular context where their unconscious competence is not being valued by their families, society or them, or their unconscious incompetence is often triggered or being exposed, then you are more likely to have an individual with significant uncertainty, anxiety and probable low self esteem.

I wonder if you can relate or see folks who match the above patterns.