Expert

Spend a few seconds thinking about your answer to this question: What is an expert?

By definition, an expert is someone with authoritative or comprehensive knowledge about a topic or skill. But who decides what the threshold is for “authoritative” or “comprehensive?”

In academia, you can demonstrate this with a series of degrees and research papers, all measuring up to different levels of expertise. In martial arts, you can become an expert over time and elevate your “belt” status. In business, you can prove your expertise by climbing the corporate ladder or leading successful initiatives.

But in many (most!) areas of life, there’s no way to quantify who is an expert. Even in the examples listed above, who decides the threshold when someone crosses over into “Expert” territory?

This is where imposter syndrome comes into the picture for many people, because whether you know it or not, you are an expert at many things. You just haven’t given yourself the credit to admit it yet.

Let’s work backwards and think of people who we as a society consider “experts” in certain fields. Martha Stewart was a stock trader by day and an entertaining enthusiast by night who leveraged that interest into a catering company. She was considered an expert at hosting parties by those who had attended her events, so she found it easy to get clientele. Then she fully stepped into that role and has made a life around it. How many domestic geniuses are out there who may not yet think of themselves as experts, but they are?

Then look at all of the podcasters, TV and radio hosts, etc., who have no qualifications to speak of other than their life experience, and the general public fully accepts that experience as expertise. Then those podcasters leverage that “earned expertise” to make a living out of it.

I had to face this idea when I started this Substack and then published Becoming 1% Better. Who was I to try and help people and give advice? But then I reminded myself, I have been researching and writing since I was a teen, deconstructing concepts and trying to make sense of them. I reminded myself that I have gone through the research requirements to earn an MBA and am every bit a research expert as most non-fiction writers out there.

Now, back to you.

How many times in your life have you thought you weren’t an expert because you didn’t feel confident, or you didn’t have the qualifications, or you hadn’t practiced for 10,000 hours, or any number of reasons?

The truth is that these fears hold us back from reaching our potential. When we listen to the small voice that says, “Maybe I’m not as good at this as I thought,” or “But that other person is way better than me,” we become thieves of our own joy. But when we are brave and step out to do the thing that makes us feel excited, the thing that we’re an expert at (whether we’ll admit it to ourselves or not), then we have a wonderful opportunity to give back to the world.

“Before you’re good at something, you have to be bad at it. So stop telling yourself you can’t try something new because you’re not an expert yet. Do it badly. Do it scared. Do it tired. Just get started.”

— Mel Robbins

The things you are an expert at are your gift to others. No matter how confident you feel about them, they are a gift. And when you dim your own light with doubt, then the world is a little less bright.

Now, you may be drifting off, wondering what you’re an expert at — after all, you’ve never considered that you might be one before! You’d be shocked at how many people are interested in what you’re good at.

Do you enjoy coloring books? There are countless videos on the internet of people simply filling in a coloring book, and others find it relaxing to watch them do so. It might have seemed strange at first to think of oneself as an expert at coloring in the lines, but that’s what they are. And when they share that, others benefit.

Are you a parent? Being an expert at knowing your kids is another skill that you can share just by helping raise good, kind people. Showcasing your expertise on a public forum isn’t necessary for your expertise to make a difference in the lives of those closest to you.

Maybe you’re really good at navigating corporate politics, and while you’ve never thought of yourself as an expert at it, you’re now realizing that you are. Share that knowledge with others who could benefit from it by becoming a mentor, writing a book, or teaching a college class to help people who are early in their careers.

You can be an expert at so many things. Just go look at your last 10 Google or social media searches. Chances are, you were looking for an expert on a topic to tell you something, or share some sort of information or entertaining moment. Those people who provided those query responses… they’re experts at sharing information with people.

Can you spend time today thinking about what you enjoy doing and what you’re also good at? It can be a small skill, a big skill, a tangible skill, an esoteric skill — whatever it is, start thinking of yourself as an expert at it. Little by little, you’ll gain confidence over time, and eventually you’ll start spotting all of the things that you’re an expert at. Don’t let comparison to others rob you of the joy in knowing that you are incredibly talented! You are the only one of you to ever exist, and only you can provide your particular brand of expertise.