Expertise Not Required

Being an expert is not required. Becoming an expert takes years of focus and determination. Years of knowing exactly what niche area to pursue. Years of consuming knowledge passed on by those who know more than you. Years of practice and learning from your mistakes. Years and years and years until you can firmly say, and believe, that you are an expert at your particular craft. The 10,000-hour mantra makes sense for a reason. Put in the work, and become part of the top 1% at whatever you want to do. Experts are experts for a reason. However, expertise is not required to make a difference. Nor is expertise required to start. Everyone has people ahead of them and everyone starts from somewhere.

I was not and am still not an expert writer. There are probably grammatical errors in my work that slip through the cracks. There are paragraph structures that could be rearranged to be better. I have also produced a written newsletter every single day for over 100 days since January 1st, 2023. Over this time I know my writing has improved as I have consistently practiced on a daily basis. I also know my mindset and idea-generation capacity have also improved. The words flow more smoothly and my stream of consciousness runs as I sit down to type. I feel tangible progress in my development. I am no expert but I am ahead of people who are looking to start their own journey. That is the point. I do not need to be an expert to share my thoughts or experience. I am sharing perspectives that people can read and form their own opinions on.

Expertise is not required to help others. Experts can be out of touch with what beginners need to know because they were beginners so long ago. People also like learning from those only a few steps ahead of them because it feels more personal, it feels more real. If you individually start following a passion or new area of pursuit, after a short period, you will undoubtedly know more than someone else. You can be one step ahead. With this in mind, there is always someone who you can give guidance to. You do not need to be an expert to lend a hand or to make a difference in someone else’s life. You simply need to push on with your own journey and then choose to make it public. By putting your experiences in the public via social media, stories with friends, talking to people younger than you—really anything aside from keeping them stored inside your mind, you present those around you with the opportunity to learn.

Not being an expert does not mean you claim to know everything. It is quite the contrary. It is an open explanation of what you do not know while also sharing everything you do know. There will be people who view your work and benefit from what you have done. Expertise comes later and should not hold anyone back from helping others. Everyone can help, not just the experts.