I rolled my eyes when I read this question in a popular coaching book:
“What assumption am I making… that I don’t know I’m making… that gives me what I see?”
I remembered the usual: “Blind spots are called that for a reason – we’re blind to them.”
Take, for example, a practical issue: relevant emails going to the spam folder.
You cannot know the absence of something unless you knew it was supposed to be there in the first place. You’ll only find out about relevant emails going to spam if you actively think about the possibility and check. I had a similar problem with my email delivery from my servers, which cost me money since I didn’t know people were writing to me to work with me.
We need more concrete methods to identify where we’re unknowingly stuck, our limiting assumptions.
Still better, like in the case of investing, instead of trying to guess the problems, we can be better prepared. We can move towards our goals and consider whatever is on the way as assumptions and limitations waiting to be changed into possibilities and skills.
Obstacles Help
Moving Through the Slide Threshold in Indian Guitar
When learning detailed Indian music on the guitar, an early hurdle is moving beyond plain notes and starting to use slides.
Many students avoid this step. Even though they know slides make the music more fluent, they hesitate. Slides sound messy at first. They slow things down. Playing feels worse than before — so they stick with the safer, simpler version.
This is a mindset moment.
Carol Dweck helped us see the difference between growth and fixed mindsets. The distinction isn’t just intellectual — it’s visceral. Actively choosing to move toward the discomfort of change feels completely different from being pushed into it. Nothing else changes — just that slight shift: stepping forward instead of being dragged.
To help students cross this “slide threshold,” we start with compositions that include just a few slides — enough to stretch, not overwhelm. These are short, complete pieces that sound good when played right. That matters: they aren’t just doing drills; they’re making music. Motivation is built in.
At the same time, we break down the physical actions needed to get the sound — thumb, finger angle with the fretboard, pressure — and use a checklist of what to expect, where mistakes show up, and how to fix them. We’re not chasing a vague “perfect” sound. We’re developing specific, reproducible moves.
It changes assumptions.
This approach does more than improve slides.Many students believe “I just can’t do slides.” We don’t argue with that belief — we sidestep it. We walk directly into the challenge, whether or not confidence is present.Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) shows us how: move toward what matters, regardless of how you feel. You don’t need motivation to begin. You only need to take one small step in the direction that helps.
Progress doesn’t happen instantly. But by going straight into what feels “unsolvable,” we discover new sub-skills — and often, a new level of playing.
Going Toward the Problem
Like with slides, one of the best ways to uncover assumptions is to go directly toward what feels unsolvable or out of reach.As I’ve mentioned before, I was absolutely confident that I wouldn’t get through the JEE entrance exam. I was sure I couldn’t solve problems at the required level in those subjects. But I persisted. Eventually, the results made me change my mind — I realized I could do far more than I had believed.
Just like with playing guitar, this wasn’t a passive shift in belief. I had to work through months of focused practice, repeating patterns, avoiding mistakes. In the end, I had changed.
So, in a way, the part of you that sees current limitations isn’t wrong — maybe there are indeed specific skills you need to build in order to move beyond both the limitations and the belief in them. The very moment you step outside your comfort zone, you’re agreeing to develop a new set of skills.
That process itself may transform you.I’ve heard that simply intending to see a mental health provider or spiritual advisor already indicates a shift — that this action alone increases the possibility of change, more than in someone who doesn’t take that step.
The beginning is a joke
We often joke about these things.It was almost a joke when I first said I’d go to IIT — I didn’t think I could actually make it through.
Many milestones in my journey with music felt like jokes when I first imagined them.
Even now, when I look at others like me, with similar skills and in the same field, doing something bold, my first reaction is often: They can do it. I can’t.
But this is exactly why we must move toward goals that feel just out of reach.
That discomfort forces us to question our assumptions.
Because it’s often only those assumptions that are keeping us from going down that path.
Once we start walking it, yes — it takes time, and yes — it involves skill development. But it also takes us beyond the assumptions we started with.