First things first: the 10,000-hour rule is not a scientifically proven truth. Let’s get that out of the way. You only need to know a little bit more about the subject than the people in your audience in order to be regarded an expert in it.
Identifying the domains or fields of study in which you are most interested in becoming an expert is the most important step in responding to this question. You will never be an expert in every field, but if you begin from a foundation that covers a wide enough range, you will put yourself in a good position to succeed.
Learning new things and gaining experience are necessary steps on the path to becoming an expert. The key to becoming an expert is to take a methodical approach to learning new things and accumulating more experience. A basic taxi driver would break the procedure down into two stages: the first stage would involve gathering the necessary information on how various cars function, and the second stage would involve practicing. Take this matter very seriously. Learn to take pride in doing things well when you’re out there on the road. Make safety your top priority. When you’re behind the wheel, you should never, ever forget for even a second that your sole responsibility is to operate the vehicle. Do you use your mirrors? Turn signals? Do you have a working knowledge of the following distance calculation? Do you genuinely come to a halt when you see a stop sign? Have you got it together? Are you constantly working to improve yourself? Next, obtain some actual training. You should sign up for a one- or two-day training that is comparable to the ones that are offered by real driving schools on real race courses. Learn how your vehicle reacts when pushed to its absolute limits. Learn how to drive quickly, but make sure you only do so in areas where it is safe to do so.
Reading about marketing may often be quite dull and extremely repetitive, so if you’re a marketer or would like to become an expert one, you might want to consider reading some blog posts and a dozen books. In some cases, you could find that reading about marketing is helpful. Take a step back and ask yourself what other marketing-related topics might be more intriguing than the one you’re now focusing on. It is likely that this will lead you to Behavioral Economics, Evolutionary Biology, Artificial Intelligence (a relic from the days of EE), Investment and Finance, and other related fields of study.
All of these subjects are connected to marketing in some way or another, but the fact that they are sufficiently distinct from one another demonstrates to me that your knowledge covers a much wider range of areas than I had previously thought it did. This makes them much more interesting to discuss from my point of view.
If you keep doing this for a significant amount of time, you’ll discover that you start making connections between different subjects, and you’ll begin to recognize bigger patterns that you would have missed if you had been hyper-focused on a particular area of research. You will also start learning about completely new subjects that pique your attention for the first time.
For instance, the book that I am enjoying the most right now has nothing to do with marketing. It does not help me in any obvious sense, but it does give me a broader perspective on the world and a sharper intuition for a wide range of other topics.
The same logic goes for other professions, as well. As a computer specialist, the knowledge you acquire about hardware can assist you in furthering your understanding of software, and vice versa. To achieve mastery, it is not enough to simply know what to do and how to do it; you must also have an in-depth comprehension of why. Although I am more knowledgeable about software, I believe that you should be able to begin to comprehend hardware by reading some of the information that is available on the internet. Find out which texts are included in the MIT curriculum for the instruction of both computer hardware and software. Purchase them, read them, and base your practice on what you learn from them. Find online forums, peer study groups, and courses that are tailored to each of the activities that you participate in. No one ever becomes an expert simply via studying or practicing on their own. In order to accomplish meaningful and timely development, they require individuals as well as ideas that are either contradictory or supportive. The following are some further, more particular details on the items that you will study. You can also learn from the material that is available online, and you should do so; however, at some point, you will need to crack open some books and try to absorb the knowledge that they contain.
In my experience, achieving the level of expertise that I now believe myself to have, required me that kind of commitment to my work that spanned approximately five years. In contrast, only recently, I’ve been reading the memoirs of some of the best athletes in the world, and it seems that becoming an expert of that field takes anywhere from five to seven years on average. Acquiring expertise is a process that never ends; a determined professional and an established expert will continue to learn new things and advance their skills throughout their entire working lives.
As a result, if you are interested in becoming an expert on expertise, it is important to keep in mind that expertise itself is a term that is open to interpretation. How committed and enthusiastic you are about the task at hand will determine the outcome. Another comparable term is called a subject. It is dependent on the level of specialization and scope of the selected field.
I would propose that you choose a core subject that you are interested in to the extent that you are willing to be persistent and put in a lot of hard effort. The next phase is to acquire extensive knowledge on that topic while also looking at other topics that are only loosely associated with it. Start compiling all of the required information right away. What events took place in the past? What events are taking place right now? How the field might be enhanced in future? Pay attention to the smallest details, but at the same time, make sure you’re not losing sight of the bigger picture.
Always be open to gaining new knowledge. Your junior or senior, as well as your own poor actions and the experience they’ve brought about, are all potential sources of learning for you. Engage in study and conversation with an open mind. Spending a lot of time learning and letting the fresh information you acquire inspire you to pursue new interests. Maintain a high level of enthusiasm for both the area you work in and the contribution you make. There are pessimists in every community. You bring your attention back here.
The practice also requires a significant amount of patience on the participant’s part. Be patient to obtain skill. The show does not take place in a single day or overnight. And always keep in mind to be courteous. When you have reached your level of expertise, be kind and always willing to assist others. This means that you will occasionally be expected to impart some of your expertise to others. If you truly consider yourself an expert in a given field, you should never be bashful about sharing what you know with others. Sharing does not result in any kind of loss. 😉
Hoping this helps! 🙂
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