Everyone is an Expert
We all know something much better than someone else does.
Whether we know more about pizza or whether we know more about tennis or whether we know more about belly dancing or whether we know more about nature or whether we know more about religion, there is always something that we know more about than someone else does.
I think that Gary Vaynerchuk is someone I’d like to highlight for this piece. He talks all the time about following your passion and working relentlessly at what you love.
Gary has said, “I’ve only ever done what I’m good at.”
We are all good at something. We are all great at something.
There are many things that I see others doing that I realize, you know, I’m just not as good at. Now, I keep that in mind when I think about the things that I do.
I know that I am not an expert in certain areas, so I try to stay away from those things and let other people do them. I also take time and make an intentional effort to learn from those who are more of an expert in certain areas.
My belief is that not only can everyone learn something from someone else, but, my belief is also that everyone can teach something to someone else.
“Please squeeze the f*** out of life, cause you only have one at bat” — Gary Vaynerchuk
With that in mind, why spend time on anything that is not what we absolutely love and that we are the best at?
All of these ideas are things that I have taken to heart. As graduation is looming, I realize I can talk all I want about things that I would want to do, but, none of that matters if I don’t do anything with action.
I can talk all I want about something that I am passionate about. But, let’s be real, that is quite selfish.
How can I impact or help or benefit others if I do not take action?
What if you are the greatest writer but, you decide that all you want to do is talk about how much you love writing and never actually write anything? That is pretty selfish. You could be one of the most knowledgeable writers of this time but, because you never take action, your art is never shared with others.
What about someone who is an engaging speaker? If all they do is talk about the few presentations that they gave years ago but never continue to speak, are they hurting themselves? Possibly, but they are also hurting others too.
The point is this. We are all experts at something. I am not the best with experimenting and identifying various things within the experiment.
What am I pretty good is analyzing data and developing a conclusion off of data that has been taken. So, if I were to do both of those things, that would not be an effective use of my time.
There is someone out there who thrives when doing experiments. They love doing experiments and they could perform a better experiment with their eyes closed than I could with complete concentration and effort.
We are all amazing at least one thing, I would say definitely more.
Think about some of the people we may encounter during a typical week:
The waiter who is such a wonderful salesman that you could see them selling you anything
The hair stylist who paints as a hobby and fills her studio with breathtaking portraits
The college student who writes with a style that leaves the reader in awe
The parent who is so insightful in every situation and always encourages everyone
The first person could go into sales selling something more meaningful than food on a restaurant menu, the second person could share those breathtaking portraits with the world, the third person could publish their work and spread it with others, and the fourth person could go into professional speaking and provide that insight and positivity to people beyond their children.
We are all so good, so knowledgeable, so talented, so passionate about something. But, what is that thing? What are those things? And then, how do we utilize what we know or what we can or what we love to talk about for the benefit of others?
First, we listen.
When someone speaks, we listen.
In 2018, Forbes reported that the average doctor in the US waits 11 seconds before interrupting. Sarah Abell wrote in her book, “Inside Out” that recent research shows the average person listens a mere 17 seconds before interrupting.
The scary thing is this. We can learn from everyone. By interrupting, we essentially show that we do not have anything we can learn from the other person. By interrupting, we display that we think what we have to say is more important than what the other person has to say.
Second, we ask. Someone else knows what we want to know, and more often than not if they are passionate about it, they WANT to share what they know with you.
You might not know the most about art or business or literature or sports, but someone does. And, that person deserves to be listened to. We are all experts at something, we all have important things to say, we can all teach and we can all learn.
Third, we take action. We are ALL experts. We must share what we know with others while keeping in mind that not everyone wants to know what we have to say. The most important part is the action that we must take.
Listen, ask, then take action. Hear first, speak second.
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply, being willing is not enough, we must do” — Joe Duncan