A question I hear frequently is “how do I do this?”
I’ll sometimes also fall into that trap.
The do it yourself world has shown us where how-to’s work well. It’s when the task to be executed can be subdivided into a deterministic process. It’s a process that can be reproduced. It might be complicated. What it isn’t, is complex.
How-tos will also work with mathematics. It’s logic and one that repeats itself. Solving equations allows defining solutions.
Situations that involve the unknown can’t be dealt with a once and for all how-to. Whatever advice we might have received needs to be adapted to the situation. Which means that we have to integrate it somehow to be able to apply it. Looking back, the advice might have been the right solution. Looking forward it always is a leap to apply it. We’ll only know afterward if it worked and how.
It’s practice that teaches us how to evaluate situations and how to integrate the advice we received.
It’s repetition that establishes confidence.