(Mondays are Lynn Miles Peisker days at The Daily Blur. Lynn’s the Executive Sister and Chief Plate Spinner at the Imagination Advisory Group. Check out her growing archive of posts here.)
In his book, The Outliers: Stories of Success, Malcolm Gladwell points to Swedish psychologist Anders Ericsson’s 10,000 Hour Rule, which estimates the length of time to master a craft to be…
…wait for it…
10,000 hours.
249 weeks.
4.8 years.
Working 52 weeks a year, 5 days a week, 8 hours a day, it takes approximately 4.8 years to become an expert at your craft. This fact has been confirmed by my daughter, who is an actual, factual expert in her field.
Are you an expert in your craft? Have you put in the hours?
If the answer is yes, then let your customers know.
Don’t just tell them you are an expert. You’ve worked too hard to know what you know, you know. Show them. Teach them. Make sure your website and messaging are full of knowledge-based information, rather than just fluff that claims expertise without demonstrating it.
If the answer is no, then get to work. This week, add one of these habits each day:
1. Get up earlier. Even just a little bit. Make progress toward becoming an expert before the other guy is even out of bed.
2. Read more. Better readers make better writers. And smarter people. By the way, you don’t have to agree with everything you read. Honing those critical thinking skills is essential to developing expertise.
3. Record your progress. Taking notes reinforces your learning process. Blogging your journey can be a great basis for your messaging campaign.
4. Share what you are learning with others. Seek a group in pursuit of like-minded professionals in pursuit of excellence. LinkedIn is a great place to connect – it’s like Facebook for business people.
5. Don’t go to bed at night until you have done one thing to advance to your goal of becoming an expert in your field.
6. Move. Exercise. Walk. Give your brain a boost by moving every day. If you have no time for this, see #1.
7. Rest. You’ve earned it. Then get up tomorrow, rinse and repeat. See #1.
One week down, 248 to go. You’ve totally got this!
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