PlusOne Method Mastery

PlusOne Agent Certification is a process where you can discover how much of The Method you truly know. There are 3 levels to the Agent Certification. For more information about becoming Agent Certified click here to see our Agent Certification Center.

Here, we will dive into the four levels of Mastery, which you learned about in the coursework. This time, however, you will learn of Mastery as it pertains to your grasp of The Method.

With each step of certification, you will earn a new badge displaying your level of certification, alongside this, you will receive a virtual certificate that is personalized to you! (The badge is displayed on the right side as we go through each step)

The Competency Quadrants

The Competency Quadrants are PlusOne Academy's symbol to represent the development one goes through in learning a skill. The Quadrants are as follows, Unconscious Incompetence, Conscious Incompetence, Conscious Competence, and Unconscious Competence. Now, let's get into each of these to see how they build off each other, eventually progressing toward a flow state.

Unconscious Incompetence

The first state of competency is one you don't realize you are in, unconscious incompetence. This describes a state in which you are unaware of how incapable you are in regards to a certain skill. For example, if you've never worked out before, you are likely have terrible technique while working out but don't even know it. You may think you are strong and would be good at working out but it takes practice and great form not just strength. In other words, you suck and you don't know you suck, this is what unconscious competence is. This state is important because it's the starting point of any person with any skill. They know nothing about the skill and accordingly don't know anything about how to become competent in it. This state, in terms of The Method, describes the place you were at before doing any coursework.

Conscious Incompetence

Conscious Incompetence, the second quadrant, is representative of the state you're in when you have awareness of how incompetent you are in a certain skill. For example, if you know a lot about the perfect form for workouts, but you personally aren't good at executing it you would be in this stage. This is because you understand what to improve to become competent in the skill, you just haven't accomplished it yet. This describes you once you understand The Method and what you need to do to become great at it, you just aren't there quite yet. The first level of Agent Certification is validating that you have reached this phase.

Conscious Competence

Soon after realizing what it is you need to do to become competent in a skill, you will slowly start to reach the third stage, conscious competency. This stage is where you are competent with a skill when focused on it, and you know why you're competent with the skill. For Instance, if you become competent at working out, but only when all your attention is going toward the workout you will have reached this stage. Now, what's the problem with that? Well, being consciously competent at a skill drains your willpower, with willpower being limited, you want to preserve it as much as possible. If you are consciously competent at working out, you'll likely be very inconsistent in your workouts. This is because working out will take so much willpower and focus that some days you simply just won't have the energy for it. You can only have one skill in this quadrant at a time. This is due to the fact that active memory is limited. You have to actively think about how to execute the skill properly, which drains your energy and makes it hard to properly perform the action. Therefore, you want to move skills through this quadrant as fast as possible. The second level of Agent Certification is confirming you possess conscious competency in PlusOne skills.

Unconscious Competence

Now we're down to the last stage of competency, Unconscious Competence or mastery. These are skills that you're competent at, even when not actively thinking about proper technique. A great example of this is breathing. You are always breathing without thinking about it, even when you are unconscious or sleeping. Now, how do we move a skill from conscious competence to habit? Well, in order to form a habit you have to eliminate the choice of not doing it. Say you want to form a habit of working out, if you give yourself the choice of not working out, you've failed. This is where purpose comes in, as purpose and desire dictate habit. In order to take a skill from conscious competence to unconscious competence, you've got to find a highly desired result and NEVER let yourself achieve any less. Once you've found a purpose and eliminated the choice, you'll properly form the habit and reach flow state. Now, what is flow state? Think of a ballerina dancer in the height of the best performance of her life. Is she actively thinking about every step she takes? No, she's unconsciously competent and therefore she is just flowing. To be unconsciously competent at PlusOne skills is the ultimate goal of an agent. This will slow the drain of your willpower, giving you more time to learn and refine new skills. Level 3 Agent Certification is affirming you have become unconsciously competent in PlusOne skills.

Level 1 Certification Checklist

Finish Coursework!
Score 80% or Above on all Assessments
Complete 2 Sizzle Sessions