Every expert started a beginner
My name is Josh and I have an addiction. I am addicted to Ted Talks.
I should come clean, while Ted Talks is the real good shit, The Do Lectures, Podcasts, Blogs, all provide a suitable fix. In desperate moments I've even resorted to the odd Vlog (although these mostly leave me with a feeling of loathing for both myself and, overwhelmingly, the vlogger).
I can't get enough of hearing the stories of people who chose to do things a little differently. Business men and women, farmers, inventors, athletes, extreme sports stars, musicians, chefs, it rarely matters who they are, what I find fascinating is why they took a different path, what led them to do it and how they became such an expert in the first place.
It's the last piece that intrigues me the most. How did all these people who are leaders in their particular fields get to that point? How did they get so much experience and confidence to start?
The answer is they didn't.
What I've slowly realised is that every one of these experts was at one point in their lives as clueless as I.
This will probably come as no surprise to you (no, not that I'm clueless!) However, it has taken me the better part of my life to fully appreciate this. Every single person that I look up to as an expert, genius, or pioneer, at one point in their life was a self doubting amateur, stumbling around, trying to figure it all out.
Problem is, this realisation is both a gift and a curse.
It means that my excuses have all suddenly disappeared. No longer can I avoid trying to reach the heights of others simply because they had an unfair advantage over me as they were born more talented/gifted/fearless. Because it turns out they weren't. They faced the same second guessing, they faced the same fears, and they had to spend the same time learning. In reality, there seems to be only two things they have done differently:
- They found something they enjoyed doing.
- They started.
This is one of the epiphanies that led to me starting this website. I realised that not one of these inspiring people ever disliked what they did, in fact, the one thing they all have in common is that they love what they are successful at.
I enjoyed spending time living a lifestyle more connected to nature. I also followed a lot of blogs and envied the authors' ability to have their own platform to share ideas with the world. I had only just started learning about sustainability, growing my own food and permaculture, had no concept where the hell you're supposed to put a comma,(is that right?) or even how to write properly. But, I realised if I wait until I am an expert in these areas, then I will never become an expert.
I am not saying I will become an expert, there is a very high chance I have peaked already. What I do know, however, is that simply by starting something that interests me then I am, at least a little, more experienced than the guy who sat down to write the first blog post on here.
If you have a long term goal but feel that you don't have any of the expertise or talent to reach it, THIS IS NORMAL. It's actually probably a good thing because it means you're not over confident. All you really need to do is start and then simply not stop. You may fail along the way but there's no harm in that. At best you'll unlock some hidden talent you never knew was there and become an expert, at the very least you'll become more of an expert than you are now.
And if you enjoy what you are doing in the process then who really cares what the outcome is anyway?