Become Recognised as the Expert in Your Field

In this evolving and ever changing world we live in, it is becoming increasingly important to be recognised as the go to person or expert in your field. If I had to ask you who the best Body builder in the world was, you would immediately say A
old Schwarzenegger. He is seen as the expert, despite the fact that he has not competed in any body building competitions since 1983. He is still perceived as the best body builder or expert in the field of body building. Not many people know that although he won the Mr Olympia title six times, there are two people who have won the MR. Olympia competition a total of seven times each. So it is not just about actually being the expert in any field, it is about perception and what you are able to communicate about your abilities, which plays a factor in how you are perceived too. It is therefore not good enough to only be the expert in any field; you need to have an effective way of communicating this to the world around you.

Becoming the expert or go to person in any field, will increase your perceived value. You will be able to charge a premium for your services, which people will gladly pay, as they see you as the most valuable person available. Becoming the perceived expert in any field does not happen in a day, it happens daily over a period of time. If you want to move down the path of personal mastery and gradually grow into the resident expert in any specific field, you need to adopt a few new behaviours or traits. These new behaviours or traits will help you to master the qualities and develop a new success habit set, to support your progress towards becoming an expert in your chosen field.

Commit to a process of On-going and Never Ending Improvementr
The first and probably the most crucial, new habit you need to develop, is a commitment to constantly grow your knowledge and skills. When you commit to become a consummate learner and every day you strive to be just a little better than you were the day before. You equip yourself to gradually grow into an expert in your chosen field. Research has shown that becoming an expert in any field will take approximately 10 000 hours, of dedicated and focused practice.

If you have not read the book “Outliers – by Malcolm Gladwell, in which he outlines the 10 000 hour rule and describes how this rule separates, those people who do end up as experts in their field from everyone else. He shows that it takes a minimum of 10 000 hours of consistent, focused and perfect practice to develop great talent in any field. In other words if you want to become an expert in any field, it is imperative that you apply the principle of consistent, constant never ending improvement in your life. Only after 10 0000 hours of perfect practice can you expect to be a master at what you do. To become an expert in any field you need to be driven to constantly learn, grow and improve. This commitment must continue for the rest of your life, because if you are not growing, you are not standing still, you are actually going backwards. You can only coast in one direction.

The model of constant and never ending improvement, which really resonates with me is the one advocated by the late Steve Jobs and followed by Apple. Steve jobs had a mantra; in which he said “There has got to be a better way.” This philosophy of always raising the bar, striving for constant improvement, equips people to constantly look for ways to expand, innovate and grow.

Action Idea: Look at your life right now and have a crystal clear vision about where you want to go, i.e. what area do you want to master or become the resident expert in. Try to identify the greatest constraint, which is limiting your progress and stopping you from growing into that expert. Once you know the areas, which need improving, create a growth and development plan to start acquiring the knowledge and skills you require. Search and discover why it is important for you to grow into that expert. Finally commit to action every day to acquire the knowledge and skill you need. This process of learning and growth is a lifetime commitment. Although it will take 10 000 hours to master any new skill, it takes a lifetime commitment to become and remain the go to person or expert in any field.

Becoming the expert in any field, takes work and dedication, so before you decide to invest all the effort into learning and becoming, it is crucial you search and discover that deep rooted reason why acquiring the required knowledge or skill is important to you. You will never have the drive and determination to keep going, day after day, investing time to learn, expand and grow, unless you have, a clear vision and a real deep rooted reason why you want to become the expert. Your reason is unique to you and your circumstances. Whatever your reason is, it needs to be powerful enough to drive you out of bed every morning and keep you inspired and passionate all day, despite any challenges you may encounter.

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