HOW TO TRULY BECOME AN EXPERT
By: Stephen Oluwadara Sangolade
Tags: Attaining Expertise, Professional Development, Mastery, Professional

Photo Credit: Freepik

You can’t help it but admire them, regardless of their field or profession. When experts render their service or products, they make it look effortless and seamless, as if they were endowed with the gift from the womb.

However, we fail to see the countless hours of practice, trials and errors that they had to go through. We idolise geniuses and worship them like demi-god forgetting that talent has never been and would never be enough.

Many people wish to become an expert but fail to take the necessary practical steps. They look for quick fixes, tips and tricks. Others fall victim to internet gurus who promise to make them masters within an unrealistic period.

These days, it’s easy to read titles like “Become a best-selling author in 30 days,” or a 7 days course on “Selling like a Pro.”

The loophole with most of these webinars, courses and master-classes is that they lead you on, like a naïve teenager and leave you high and dry.

What they do is give you the easy part of the process, psyche you with some motivational “aspire to perspire” stuff, and issue you a certificate which gives a false sense of expertise.

When you go try the stuffs you have learnt you realise its disjointedness, and your obvious lack of depth is glaring to everyone.

At the end of the day, the gurus keep their secrets and you remain the amateur that you have always been. So sad!

If we go back memory lane, when the concept of apprenticeship to mastery was first invented, things were different. The usual requirement was that an apprentice spends at least seven years under a master.

This will help the apprentice learn the craft, and slowly absorb the skills, techniques and thinking processes of the master. That outcome was inevitable since the apprentice would spend hours practicing, learning and growing.

Science proves that to become an expert in any field, you need at least 10,000 hours of intense focus. This would be enough to establish exceptional skill at a craft after practising way beyond the complexity and boredom.

There are no shortcuts to becoming a master, so trying to shorten the process would only end in short-changing yourself.

Also, it won’t happen automatically. Practical steps and concerted efforts have to be made by both the master and the apprentice to achieve the desired goal.

Here are actionable tips to guide you on your way to mastery:

Commit to the process

Remember that your journey is unique to you and different from everyone else’s. No matter how long the process takes, trust in it.

Attaining a high level of expertise would not happen by accident. It requires patience, resilience and never ending improvements.

Before anything would become easy and simple, it is first of all hard and difficult. Your commitment to the process would determine the duration of that conversion process.

Do not emerge and expose yourself when you are yet to attain maturity. If you do that, your ineptitude and lack of depth would badly expose you.

Take your time in practising, immerse yourself in all areas of the field and soon, your skill will take a definite form that represents your personality. So do it. Do it more. Do it afraid. Do it again and better.

Value knowledge over money

Every apprentice and young professional must avoid the trap of placing more value on money than knowledge. Be more concerned about the value you are bringing to the marketplace than your pay check.

Although, this might not bring you immediate return, in the long run, you will be able to demand the highest price for your value. Consciously seek practical knowledge, insights and opportunities to learn.

Be Born Again

No! I’m not referring to the religious cliché. What I mean is, you need to have a fresh and open mind to learn. For you to absorb the knowledge quickly, you need to jettison all prejudices and scepticisms.

Have you thought about why children are so adept at learning? Yes, they don’t question the answers presented to them and they maintain a curious mind.

Children listen to learn and not to reply. They also learn to practice not add to their knowledge bank.

That is the mind-set you need to become an expert. It might be a little bit difficult at the beginning but it is possible.

No Pain No Gain

There’s no substitute for practice anywhere, don’t be deceived. You have to practice far beyond the boredom and the pain.

George Washington Carver was famous for spending countless days locked up, and only coming out to grab his meal or when his work is complete.

80% of what would make you an expert is practical action and practice. Other factors are just building blocks to it.

Experts are not usually the most talented, they are usually the most hardworking. So you have to grind and exercise that ability.

Don’t give up

You must head towards the resistance and pain and practice way beyond it. Heading towards the easier route will make your work lopsided and lacking in depth.

There would be time when you will get bored, confused and frustrated. That is when you need to press on harder. Valuable things are usually found in depths. The deeper you practice, the better you become. So Practice! Practice!! Practice!!!

Attaining mastery is the culmination of countless hours of practicing, working, studying and years of experience.

Never fall victim to the trick of shortening the basic efforts again. Also, remember that talent alone would not get you there, but deliberate and proven steps.